Travis Duley, superintendent of the Paxton-Buckley-Loda school district, poses with retiring staff member Kara Harrison as she was recognized during last week’s board meeting.
PAXTON — The Paxton-Buckley Loda school board’s longest serving member will remain its president for another two years.
Dawn Bachtold of Paxton, a member of the board since April 2005 who was re-elected to her sixth four-year term last month, has served as its president since April 2011, when she replaced Mike Short, who had held the position for the previous 20 years.
During the board’s biennial reorganizational meeting on Wednesday, May 7, held immediately prior to the board’s regular monthly meeting, the board elected its officers for the next two years, with Bachtold again named president, Joshua Mullins of Paxton replacing Craig Loschen of Paxton as vice president, and Brittney Maulding of Paxton named to her second consecutive two-year term as secretary.
Loschen had been vice president since 2023. Like Bachtold, Loschen, who has been on the board since April 2017, was reelected to another four-year term in the April 1 consolidated election. Loschen’s replacement as vice president — Mullins — was appointed to the board in July 2023 and is up for election in April 2027.
Members of the Paxton-Buckley-Loda school board — from left, Brittney Maulding, Dawn Bachtold and Joshua Mullins — listen as they are addressed by several members of the 20-person crowd on hand for its May 7 meeting. Daniel L. Chamness photos/Ford County Chronicle
Maulding, meanwhile, has been secretary since 2023 and a member of the board since April 2022, with her current term expiring in April 2027.
Before the election of officers, the board reaffirmed the canvassed results of April’s election and administered the oath of office to Bachtold, Loschen, Jason Rust of Buckley and Christine Johnson of Paxton, who each won four-year terms on the board. Johnson, a former bookkeeper in the PBL unit office, is a newcomer to the board, while Rust has been on the board since April 2021.
Defeated in April’s election was Jason Dirks of Paxton, a member of the board for six years.
Also on the board is Grant Kleinsteiber, whose first term began in April 2023 and expires in April 2027.
Also during the reorganizational meeting, the board appointed a treasurer, approved a calendar of board meetings for the upcoming year, and adopted board policies. The assignment of the board’s seven members to committees will be done at its June meeting.
Regular meeting recap
During the board’s regular monthly meeting, held following the reorganizational meeting:
The board recognized staff members Kara Harrison and Kristin Oyer, who are retiring at the end of the 2024-25 school year. Oyer, a high school guidance counselor, was not present; Harrison, a math teacher employed by the district since 1991, was presented by Superintendent Travis Duley with a plaque recognizing her “loyal service” to the district and a lifetime PBL activity/event pass. Harrison received a round of applause. Oyer will receive a plaque and lifetime activity/event pass, too.
Izzy Eaglan, a 13-year-old eighth-grader, urged the board to consider relaunching the high school’s wrestling program, as was proposed last month by Panther Paw Wrestling Club coach Matt Greenburg. Eaglan said she began wrestling with the club in seventh grade and wants to continue to wrestle in high school. She said participating in wrestling has helped her be “less socially awkward” following the COVID-19 pandemic and helps kids not only stay in shape but learn self-defense techniques, too.
The board approved the resignation of Rachel Nulf as an elementary school vocal music teacher, effective at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
The board approved the hiring of Janet Puckett as junior high school custodian, Hayden Graham as junior high school physical education teacher and Hannah Wells as elementary school vocal music teacher.
The board approved an updated list of maintenance projects planned for this summer and their estimated costs. Duley said pricing was added to the list for two projects: the replacement of whiteboards in schools and the replacement of some melted siding on the old concessions building, which is now used for storage.
The board approved student handbooks, the faculty handbook, the athletic code of conduct, the extracurricular handbook, the acceptable use policy and the “1-to-1” technology handbook for the 2025- 26 school year. The student and staff handbooks and acceptable-use policy each contain language on the appropriate use of artificial intelligence, Duley noted.
The board approved student fees for the 2025-26 school year. Duley said there are no increases in fees from the year prior.
The board approved a consolidated plan for the school district to be submitted to the Illinois State Board of Education. “It’s a required plan that you have to have based on the number of grants you receive,” Duley said before recommending approval.
The board approved summer office hours for the administrative office of 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday from May 26 through Aug. 1.
The board tabled until June the approval of the renewal of student catastrophic insurance. Duley said pricing was not yet finalized but typically “comes in at around $2,500 per year.”
The board discussed the three PBL Alumni Hall of Fame nominees for 2025, as recommended by PBL High School Principal Hannah Eshleman: Jennifer Rheeling,
who helped create policy that requires athletic trainers to be on high school athletic teams’ staffs; Paul Flesner, the former vice president of Microsoft; and Nick Kottke, the former vice president of the Chicago Board of Trade.
The board approved optional student insurance renewal for 2025-26 with First Agency Student Insurance.
The board reviewed proposed automated external defibrillator and cardiac response plans. The plans, which were recommended as part of the district’s Regional Office of Education compliance review, will be up for approval in June, Duley said.
The board approved the disposal of items deemed no longer of use to the district — specifically, a non-salvageable piano that had been used by the music program.
As part of its approval of a consent agenda, the board approved an Illinois Records Commission certificate for the destruction of records.
Duley said eighth-grade promotion is Thursday, May 22, followed by high school graduation on Friday, May 23. Senior awards night is Tuesday, May 20.
Duley said the district will soon advertise for up to four student workers for this summer.