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 at the Early Childhood Center (Former Sunrise Center
Building) on Monday, September 20, 2021 at 6:30pm. Board members present were Mrs. Mandy
Rieman, Mrs. Holly Farley, Mr. Bill Meinhart, Mr. Jerry L. Jed Earnest, Mr. Jason Kuhl, and Mr. Brady
Shull. Members absent: None.
All votes are considered unanimous unless otherwise noted.
Mandy Rieman called the meeting to order.
Agenda was approved as presented.
Mr. Johnson offered information on the recent deaths of 3 spouses of current and retired employees:
Andy Shull, husband of Jeannie Shull, aide at Newton Elementary for several years. Andy was a Jasper
County School Board Member from 1999-2007. He was the board secretary for a portion of his time on
the school board. During his tenure on the school board, the district consolidated the Junior High’s and
closed several outlying buildings. These moves were necessary to get the district where it is today to be
able to sustain solid educational opportunities with less enrollment and to help keep the district
financially stable. Andy will be missed but never forgotten for the willingness to donate his time to the
future of the JCCU1 school district and many student’s opportunities for success. Thank you Jeannie and
family for sharing him with us for so many years – we are here to help you and your family as you
progress through life without him and we appreciate your entire family!!
Brent Pitcher, husband of Roxanne Pitcher, secretary at Newton Elementary for many years. Brent was
a graduate of Newton Community High School class of 1978 and was a farmer all of his life. Brent
married Roxanne (Volk) Pitcher, she has been employed by JCCU1 since 1991 both at Grove Elementary
and Newton Elementary. She has been a very important part of so many students’ lives since 1991. We
are more than willing to help the Pitcher family with anything they need but we will for sure pray for the
days ahead!!!
Teresa Hartrich, special ed teacher in the district for 36 years and wife of retired teacher/athletic
director Mike Hartrich. Teresa began as a teacher’s aide at Ste. Marie and Willow Hill from 1973-1975
under Mr. Dill, Principal. On August 17, 1978 she was hired to be a special education teacher in the
district, she retired as a special education teacher on May 31, 2012. She was appreciated very much for
her commitment to our children. She will be greatly missed and we will pray for Mike and their family!!!
A moment of silence was held for Andy, Brent, Teresa and their families.
There were 3 FOIA requests. 1 from Andy Pullen, 1 from Jerry L. Jed Earnest and 1 from A.T. Cell towers,
antennae, etc.
Approval to pull bills, payroll, activity accounts, financial reports as well as FY22’ FFA Alumni/ JCCU1
Agreement and 3 Circles Ag Grant for John Lidy, Brock Tarr and Travis Tarr from the consent agenda.
Approval of the Consent Agenda:
Regular Minutes for August 16, 2021, there were no closed session minutes,
Destruction of closed session recording for July 15, 2019,
Volunteer – Brooke Wolf at Newton Elementary,
Donations: Anonymous Donation of $500 to be used for Newton Elementary classroom supplies,
$2,500 from Sports Boosters to help with the cost of the robotic painting machine for all outdoor
athletic facilities,
$2,000 from the Orell Farley Foundation Grant to purchase individual books for students in grades K-3
for the SY 21-22 to R.E.A.D., (Reading Excites All Dreams),
$7,500 for chorus/musical from the Orell Farley Foundation,
$2,000 to JCJH/NCHS for Guest Speaker Chris Heren from the Orell Farley Foundation,
$2000 for new Tennis Court lights from the First National Bank of Olney,
Donations for the official’s hospitality room at NCHS: $60 – Dieterich Bank, $810 – Peoples State Bank,
$140 – Daniel Utley and $60 – First National Bank of Olney.
Mandy Rieman asked for recognition of guests and public comments. Several staff members and
community members were present, approximately 75-80 guests. Guests who spoke regarding masks
and vaccinations were:
Toni Zumbahlen, Jamie Goss, Marla Britton, Michelle Rennier, Christine Winn, Jeffrey Finley,
Nikki Probst, Emily Deeken, Ben Carr, Mandi Utley, Monica Heuerman, Loret Newlin.
The regular meeting was temporarily adjourned at 7:19pm to convene a public hearing for the proposed
2021-2022 district budget. Mr. Johnson advised the budget has increased significantly, we have hired
more staff and this year will be the last for the rotation of new buses for the initial round that was
proposed back in FY18’. The tentative budget has been on display the past 30 days at the district office.
There were no public comments or public testimony. The budget hearing was adjourned at 7:24pm and
then returned to the regular meeting.
Approval of the FY22’ Budget as presented.
Approval of agreement with the Boys and Girls Park for 2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.
Approval of Task Order 14 with Farnsworth for a 3-story elevator at JCJH/NCHS. We will attempt to pay
this from Health Life Safety and School Maintenance Matching Grant. Ayes: Kuhl, Rieman, Farley,
Meinhart, Shull. Nays: Earnest. Motion carried. 5-1.
Approval of building permit for Early Childhood Center building for the purpose of upgrading the issues
pointed out by the Architects for the building to be up to code for after school program usage soon.
Once this work is all completed and the district has approved to occupy the building with students, the
afterschool program will begin. Ayes: Rieman, Farley, Meinhart, Shull, Kuhl. Nays: Earnest. Motion
carried. 5-1.
Approval to add Kindergarten Principal duties to the Special Education Director/Pre-K administrators’
contract and compensate for this addition.
Approval of the final reading and adoption of PRESS policies and 5-year review policies. Discussion from
Mr. Earnest on having all items read aloud was brought up. Mr. Johnson stated this has not been the
practice of the board in the past, but it can certainly be changed. Mrs. Rieman and Mrs. Farley both
stated they do not feel the entire information provided to us for approval from PRESS needs to be read
at the meetings. We have the information for over 30 days from Mr. Johnson, so if any questions are
needed we should ask him for those answers. Ayes: Farley, Meinhart, Shull, Kuhl, Rieman. Nays:
Earnest. Motion carried. 5-1.
Approval of the resignation of Kara Garner as Ste. Marie Principal/Nurse/switched to COVID nurse
effective immediately with the last day of work in JCCU1 being October 1, 2021. Kara has taken a new
job in the Olney area. We appreciate the time Kara worked for our district and we wish her the best of
luck in her new endeavor.
Approval of the resignation of Kayleigh Miller as NCHS dishwasher effective September 1, 2021.
Approval of a leave of absence for Kristie Finley 2 nd grade teacher at Newton Elementary from January
15, 2022 to February 1, 2022.
Approval to hire Megan McClard as JCJH Softball Assistant Coach, Brad Harris as JCJH Baseball Assistant
Coach starting immediately and Rachel Frohning as a paraprofessional at Ste. Marie Elementary to start
immediately.
Approval to advertise for a part-time COVID nurse to start in the district as soon as possible. This
position would help the Health Department with quarantine calls, testing of staff and students if
needed, potential paperwork and data entry for the JCCU1 School District. This position will create a
liason between the Health Department and the School District for COVID situations.
Approval of the bills, payroll and activity accounts which were pulled from the consent agenda. Ayes:
Farley, Meinhart, Shull, Kuhl, Rieman. Nays: Earnest. Motion carried. 5-1.
Approval of the monthly financial reports which were pulled from the consent agenda.
Mrs. Probst explained the school report card.
A special board meeting will be held Monday, September 27 at 7pm in the District Office to interview
and select one of the candidates to fill a public office including a vacancy. Four candidates will be
interviewed for Gordon Millsap’s open seat. One of these four candidates will be seated at this meeting.
There was no closed session.
Meeting adjourned at 7:47 pm.
Next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 18, 2021 at 6:30pm at the Board Office.
