District #18 School Board Accepts “With Regret” Two Teacher Resignations

Action was the order of the day for Elgin Public Schools.
Meeting last week, the District #18 Board of Education accepted “with regret” the resignation of two teachers.
Superintendent Dan Polk read the resignation letters of Wes Prater and Taylor Spiegel.
Prater, a social science teacher, has resigned to accept a similar position at Elkhorn Valley High School in Tilden. There, he will be joining his wife Danielle, who teaches science.
The second resignation was from first grade teacher Taylor Spiegel. Her husband Ben Spiegel, a teacher at Pope John XXIII Central Catholic High School has resigned his position to accept a teaching position for the 2017-18 school year at Eustis-Farnam. Both she and her husband are from that part of the state, Polk said. He added that the replacement process has begun and the district has already received some applications.
The board voted five-to-zero to accept the resignations (board member Doug Jones was absent from the meeting).
On another personnel matter, the board approved a contract for the 2017-18 school year for K-12 Principal Greg Wemhoff. On a unanimous vote, the board approved the contract, several expressing appreciation for the job he has done in the four years he has served the district.
“I think you’re doing a great job,” Board President Steve Heithoff said. “We appreciate everything you do.”
Salary compensation, with the new contract, will be settled at a later date.
The other major item which the board acted on was the purchase of a new school bus.
Having received bus cost estimates from the board’s transportation committee, the board approved the purchase of a 2018 Bluebird activity bus from Nebraska/Central Equipment Inc. The cost of the new bus, which be be able to transport as many as 72 passengers, will be just over $95,000. The new bus will have a storage compartment underneath.