Ball Chatham board elects officers, approves bids, contracts and technology projects
April 23, 2026 | Ball Chatham CUSD 5, School Boards, Illinois
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At its meeting, the Ball Chatham CUSD 5 Board of Education reorganized leadership and approved an array of contracts, bids and technology projects.
Elections and officer appointments: Following nominations, the board declared Dwayne Murphy elected board president by unanimous ballot. Joe Bello was approved as vice president by unanimous consent, and a nominee identified as Amanda was approved as board secretary.
Procurement and personnel actions: The board approved a motion pulling and later approving the corrected contract for Tricia Burke (salary corrected to $129,199.35), adopted an MOU with the Ball Chatham Education Association to add competitive cheer to the pay schedule, and approved a compensation adjustment for the head football coach James Dahlbacher (an adjustment from $5,625 to $5,700 was recorded). The facilities director recommended and the board approved awarding the 2026–27 furniture contract (presented value $50,695.30) and an art-workstation contract ($34,614), both funded from leftover bond funds and building inputs. The board accepted a $949 donation from boosters to buy a drum set for the jazz band; the district will purchase the item and add it to the district asset list.
Technology and operations: Director of Technology Josh Mulvaney presented plans for desktop rotation (roughly 110 machines in the middle and high schools), a proposed vendor award for Lenovo ThinkCentre systems, and a copier-lease extension that Mulvaney said would lower the annual lease payment from about $8–9k to $4,200 and include service guarantees. Mulvaney reported completion of an underground fiber project for key school links and noted an E-rate category 2 allocation of $958,263 (five-year pot) to spend on internal connections that will require a 50% local match on projects. He also flagged that a Chromebook lease for roughly 3,500 devices will expire next year and that administration expects to issue an RFP.
Votes at a glance: The meeting record shows unanimous approval (voice roll calls) for the agenda amendment to pull Tricia Burke’s contract, approval of closed-session minutes, consent agenda and personnel consent items, adoption of the competitive-cheer MOU, coach compensation adjustment, furniture and art-workstation awards, acceptance of the jazz-band donation, desktop/technology-related procurements and the approved copier lease arrangements. The board concluded by moving to return to closed session under statutory citations to discuss personnel matters.
What’s next: Administration will implement approved contracts and return on budget or implementation details as required; technology staff will move forward with E-rate planning and a Chromebook-leasing RFP timeline.
Elections and officer appointments: Following nominations, the board declared Dwayne Murphy elected board president by unanimous ballot. Joe Bello was approved as vice president by unanimous consent, and a nominee identified as Amanda was approved as board secretary.
Procurement and personnel actions: The board approved a motion pulling and later approving the corrected contract for Tricia Burke (salary corrected to $129,199.35), adopted an MOU with the Ball Chatham Education Association to add competitive cheer to the pay schedule, and approved a compensation adjustment for the head football coach James Dahlbacher (an adjustment from $5,625 to $5,700 was recorded). The facilities director recommended and the board approved awarding the 2026–27 furniture contract (presented value $50,695.30) and an art-workstation contract ($34,614), both funded from leftover bond funds and building inputs. The board accepted a $949 donation from boosters to buy a drum set for the jazz band; the district will purchase the item and add it to the district asset list.
Technology and operations: Director of Technology Josh Mulvaney presented plans for desktop rotation (roughly 110 machines in the middle and high schools), a proposed vendor award for Lenovo ThinkCentre systems, and a copier-lease extension that Mulvaney said would lower the annual lease payment from about $8–9k to $4,200 and include service guarantees. Mulvaney reported completion of an underground fiber project for key school links and noted an E-rate category 2 allocation of $958,263 (five-year pot) to spend on internal connections that will require a 50% local match on projects. He also flagged that a Chromebook lease for roughly 3,500 devices will expire next year and that administration expects to issue an RFP.
Votes at a glance: The meeting record shows unanimous approval (voice roll calls) for the agenda amendment to pull Tricia Burke’s contract, approval of closed-session minutes, consent agenda and personnel consent items, adoption of the competitive-cheer MOU, coach compensation adjustment, furniture and art-workstation awards, acceptance of the jazz-band donation, desktop/technology-related procurements and the approved copier lease arrangements. The board concluded by moving to return to closed session under statutory citations to discuss personnel matters.
What’s next: Administration will implement approved contracts and return on budget or implementation details as required; technology staff will move forward with E-rate planning and a Chromebook-leasing RFP timeline.
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