Superintendent announces retirement; committee forwards FY27 budget to finance after vote

Chris, superintendent of schools, told the committee on June 11 that he will not run again this November and plans to retire at the end of his term on June 30; he said he would work with LaSalle, Marshall and Putnam counties and asked the committee to pursue a resolution to appoint Ryan Meyers to the post so the office has a seamless transition.

The superintendent presented the proposed FY27 office budget, describing it as a single-line appropriation that this year had been $32,000. He said county contributions are apportioned by equalized assessed value, listing LaSalles contribution as $32,000, Marshalls as $27,831 and Putnams as $20,354. Chris asked the committee for a 3% increase (an additional $9,060) to cover rising insurance and personnel costs but said he would "gladly go at 4%" if that was the committee's direction.

Committee members questioned whether 3% would keep pace with inflation; Doug Stockley moved to increase the proposed budget to 4% and forward it to the county finance office, Ron Blue seconded. The committee discussed arithmetic adjustments to the totals on the floor and recorded an "All in favor" vote to move the request to finance. The transcript records the committee's procedural motion and unanimous agreement to forward the budget; the committee will submit the edited figures to finance for final processing.

Also on education operations, Chris described the offices food cooperative, which he said serves roughly 100 districts. He told the committee that a recent annual procurement drew three bidders and that the current distributor, Kohl's, won the bid and will continue under a renewable contract that can be extended up to five years. The co-op provides menu planning and bulk purchasing to lower costs for smaller districts.

Chris summarized several state bills the committee should expect to affect local district operations next year: Senate Bill 2953 (limits on in-class cell-phone use; districts set local policies), Senate Bill 3774 (requirements to document three written attempts before dropping a student for truancy), House Bill 2564 (limits certain late-career negotiated pay increases), House Bill 3772 (expands ALOP mentoring to K
3 and includes guidance to minimize suspensions/expulsions for students under third grade), House Bill 4416 (a proposed requirement to pay unemployment benefits to non-certified staff, which did not pass) and House Bill 5107 (encourages consideration of school panic-alert "blue station" technology and wearable alarms; the bill does not mandate adoption).

The committee approved the ROA bills presented that morning and later approved Carol's school-services report during the meeting. A motion was made and carried to enter executive session under 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) to discuss employment matters.

What happens next: the committee forwarded the budget materials to the county finance office for formal review and revision of totals. The superintendent said he will share resolution paperwork and personnel-transition materials with county staff as the July 1 handoff approaches.