Following is a summary of minutes of a regular meeting of the Board of Education of Jasper County
Community Unit School District No. 1 held on Monday, April 28 th , 2025 in the office of the Board of
Education. Board members present were Mr. Brady Shull, Mr. David Blecha, Mrs. Jackie Schackmann,
Mrs. Mandy Rieman, Mrs. Nichole Mulvey and Mrs. Mandi Utley. Board members absent were Mrs.
Holly Farley.
All votes are considered unanimous unless otherwise noted.
Mandy Rieman called the meeting to order.
Approval to Adopt the Agenda.
Mandy asked for Recognition of Guests and Public Comments. There were none.
The District has received ten FOIA requests from ABC email addresses requesting electronic financial
records from 2000 to present. The District also received one FOIA request from Lake County Gazette
and one FOIA request from Data Branch Group.
Approval of Consent Agenda as presented.
Regular and Closed Minutes from March 17 th , 2025,
Bills and Payroll,
Presentment of monthly financial reports,
Victoria Ochs as a Volunteer Coach for NCHS Golf for the 2025-2026 school year,
$640 from Athletic Boosters for pole vault poles for the NCHS Girls Track Team,
$300 from Athletic Boosters to the JCJH Girls Basketball Team for a summer tournament in Effingham,
$325 from Athletic Boosters to the JCJH Girls Basketball Team for a Shootout at OCC,
$400 from an anonymous donor to go towards student lunch accounts,
$300 from Scott Avenue Christian Church to go towards overdue student lunch accounts,
$250 from Brummer’s Cabinets and Customs to FBLA,
$750 from Newton Athletic Boosters to NCHS Girls Basketball,
$750 from Newton Athletic Boosters to NCHS Cheer,
$500 from Dirtbuster Car Wash to FBLA,
$100 from Borgic Designs to FBLA,
$300 from Peoples State Bank to FBLA,
$100 from St. Thomas to FBLA,
$654.38 from Newton Athletic Boosters to the NCHS Soccer Team,
Declare 21 student desks, 21 student chairs and 10 blue rectangular tables – non-folding, non-height
adjustable as surplus from Newton Elementary School,
Declare 14 old junior high volleyball t-shirts used for Heart Awareness games as surplus.
Declare various technology items as surplus,
Approval of the acceptance of the Canvass Results from Election Authority Amy Tarr.
Newly elected Board members, Evan Semple, Mandy Rieman and Brady Shull, took an Oath of Office and
then were seated as Board members. Their term will run until Spring of 2029. A special thank you to
Holly Farley for her years of services to the Jasper County School District Board of Education.
Adjournment of Sine Die at 6:35 p.m.
Joe Sornberger called the meeting to order.
Approval to appoint Mandy Rieman as the President Pro-Tempore.
Approval to appoint Jennifer Maxon as the Secretary Pro-Tempore.
Approval to appoint Mandy Rieman as President.
Approval to appoint Brady Shull as Vice President.
Approval to appoint Mandi Utley as Secretary.
Approval to appoint Misty Heath-Scott as the Board Treasurer.
Approval to appoint Jennifer Maxon as the Recording Secretary for the Board.
Approval to appoint Jackie Schackmann and Brady Shull as members of the Buildings and Grounds
Committee.
Approval of the regular Board of Education meetings dates at the Board of Education and Administration
Office for the 2025-2026 school year.
July 21, 2025
August 18, 2025 (need 30 days to post budget from August to September)
September 22, 2025 (4 th Monday of the month)
October 20, 2025
November 17, 2025
December 15, 2025
January 20, 2026 (Tuesday)
February 17, 2026 (Tuesday)
March 16, 2026
April 20, 2026
May 18, 2026
June 22, 2026 (4 th Monday of the month)
Under the Superintendent’s Report, Mr. Sornberger discussed how the Jasper County School District
continues to look at building an elementary addition to the Newton Elementary School. The Board was
given an update on the timeframe to complete this project. The goal is to have this addition built during
the 2026-2027 school year. The addition will be placed on the east side of Newton Elementary School.
The addition will be for the pre-k and kindergarten students from Ste. Marie. The addition will include
two pre-school classrooms, six kindergarten classrooms, great room space, and rooms/offices for faculty
and staff. This project will be paid for by a combination of the Energy Transition Grant, 1% Sales Tax and
District reserves out of the Operation and Maintenance Funds. There will not be a bond referendum
used to pay for this project.
Approval of the agreement with Upchurch Architects to render drawings for Newton Elementary
Addition.
Approval of Project Authorization for Pre-Construction Work for Holland Construction for the Newton
Elementary Addition.
Approval of the agreement renewal with OPPA Food Management LLC for the 2025-2026 school year.
Approval of the contract with Hudl for Sports Streaming.
Approval of the Quaver Ready Social Emotional Curriculum for Grades K-6 for the 2025-2026 school
year.
Approval to enter executive session at 7:46 p.m. for 1.5ILCS 120/2 (c) (1) – To consider information
regarding appointment, employment, compensation, performance or dismissal of individual employees
and 1.5ILCS 120/2 (c) (2) – Collective Bargaining matters between the public body and its employees or
their representatives or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees.
Approval to return to open session at 9:35 p.m.
Approval to accept the resignations from Cheryl James as a 6 th Grade NES Teacher, Kelsey Millsap as a
Kindergarten SME Teacher effective at the end of the 2024-2025 school year, Lily Hemmen as a NES
Teacher effective immediately, Andy Glosser as the NCHS/JCJH Assistant Principal and Junior High
Athletic Director effective June 30 th , 2025, and the letters of retirement from Vicki Wermert as a Title I
teacher at NES and Melissa Buerster as a District Speech Language Pathologist at the end of the 2027-
2028 school year.
Approval to hire Katlin Lidy as a NES Special Education Teacher for the 2025-2026 school year.
Approval to hire Jenna Kremer as a NES Teacher for the 2025-2026 school year.
Approval to hire Amy Tewell as a NCHS Mathematics Teacher for the 2025-2026 school year.
Approval to hire Kylee Frichtl, Brooklyn Herman, Ashley McLeod and Taylor Gray as Summer Bridge
Teachers; Grace Hartrich and Sidney Mayberry as Substitute Summer Bridge Teachers.
Approval to hire Dawn Meinhart as a JCJH Cross Country Coach for the 2025-2026 school year.
Approval to hire Eric Splechter and Harold Staley for the Strong Boys program.
Approval to advertise for three summer help workers for the Jasper County School District.
Approval to advertise for an Administrative Principal position with Junior High Athletic Director stipend
for the Jasper County Junior High School for the 2025-2026 school year.
Approval to advertise for a Newton Elementary School Teacher for the 2025-2026 school year.
Approval to advertise for a Ste. Marie Elementary School Kindergarten Teacher for the 2025-2026 school
year.
Approval to advertise for an anticipated JCJH Social Studies Teacher for the 2025-2026 school year.
Meeting adjourned at 9:46 p.m. Next regular board meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 19 th , 2025 at
6:30 p.m. at the Board of Education Office located at 1401 Clayton Avenue.
