MORRIS – Don McKinney, superintendent and principal at Nettle Creek School District 24, signed a new three-year contract after the school board approved it Monday.
"He completed all of his goals and we like how he runs the school both financially and the curriculum," board president John Skrapits said Wednesday.
Attempts Wednesday to reach other school board members for comment were either not immediately successful, or the members could not be reached.
The contract term runs from March 1 to June 30, 2018, with a salary of $112,000 for the 2015-2016 school year and with the salary for the subsequent years being negotiated each fiscal year, for not less than the previous year's salary.
In addition to the salary, the board will contribute on behalf of McKinney to the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System an amount equal to his entire required contribution as well as his required contribution to the Teachers' Health Insurance Security Fund.
"I am very gratified that the Board of Education, by a 7 to 0 vote, agreed that the work that I have done moving Nettle Creek School forward has been of such caliber that they would like me to stay an additional three years," McKinney said in a written message. "I am very lucky to work with such a supportive board, such incredibly talented teachers, such awesome families and most importantly, such a great group of children."
McKinney said he's proud of the one-to-one technology initiative that he's rolled out with each kindergarten through second-grade student receiving a district issued iPad and every student in third through eighth grades having a district issued Macbook.
In addition, he said he is happy with the way the district has come together to align the curriculum to the Common Core Learning Standards while maintaining high test scores.
"We definitely want him to keep doing what he's doing," Skrapits said.
McKinney said he's looking forward to moving the curriculum forward and opening greater lines of communication between the school and families as well as the community.