Quincy School Board
My name is Richard McNay. I have been president of McNay Truck for 46 years. Over the last 35 years, I’ve served on several boards in Quincy. I realize the type of individuals a board needs to make it effective. After watching the candidate forum and reviewing posts on social media, I’ve come to the conclusion…
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Club Muddy CLUB MUDDY PODCAST: The two sides of Mike McClain and of the Quincy School Board 'slates' Play Episode Pause Episode Mute/Unmute Episode Rewind 10 Seconds 1x Fast Forward 30 seconds 00:00 / 00:40:31 Subscribe Share RSS Feed Share Link Embed Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 00:40:31 | Recorded on…
Read Full Article Frankie, Bobby and Ashley return to their Crown Peach roots and talk politics while Bobby doesn’t let the Cardinals lack of pitching on Opening Day distract him.
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Democracy is not easy. When an elected school board is seated, its members pledge to work together for the greater purpose of educating within a school district. As individuals, overreaching intellect, self-interest, overly cautious inaction, ego, the need to be popular or to promote their own values or time restraints take second place, as they…
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QUINCY — A large full-color mail piece showing support for the three incumbents and one newcomer who are candidates for the Quincy School Board hit voters mailboxes this week. Quincy School Board President Shelley Arns, board members Jim Whitfield and LaTonya Brock and newcomer Curtis Sethaler are featured on the 11-inch by 13-inch piece printed…
Read Full Article I have a vested interest in the Quincy school board election. Our grand daughter is a student. In addition, my wife and I are QHS graduates, as are our two children. I very much appreciate the value of those public school experiences. I also appreciate the value of the League of Women Voters forum this past…
Read Full Article As a career educator in the Quincy Public School system, including four years as superintendent, I’ve seen school boards run the gamut of effectiveness. Our current board is the best board during and since my time in the district. After graduating from Quincy College, I began teaching in Quincy Public Schools in 1963. Thirty years…
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Dear Fellow Union Member and Resident of Quincy Public School District, We are honored to write to you on behalf of the QF union groups in Quincy Public School District. Our councils have enthusiastically decided to support the following candidates for school board: Shelley Arns, James Whitfield, Curtis H. Sethaler, and Latonya Brock. Our schools…
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The April 4 election may seem unimportant with no mayoral race and few contested alderman races, but one of the most important roles in our community is that of a board member for the Quincy Public Schools. We have the opportunity to continue exemplary service to our community by the three board members willing to…
Read Full Article Video provided by Randy Industries. QUINCY — A packed house turned out to watch and listen to six of the seven candidates for Quincy School Board discuss why they wanted the public’s votes on April 4. Incumbents Shelley Arns, Jim Whitfield and LaTonya Brock, who are campaigning as one slate of candidates, appeared along with…
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QUINCY — The League of Women Voters of Adams County will hold a Quincy School Board candidate forum at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 23, at the First Christian Church, 1415 Maine. The public is invited to attend. The event will follow LWVAC forum standards with questions from panelists and the audience. This is the first…
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I’ve been paying attention to national and geopolitics since I was a teenager. Generally, I’ve found macro news events to be exciting and local politics to be less exciting. It wasn’t until recently, during the lockdowns, that it dawned on me that who we have governing us locally is a really big deal. It really does…
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I proudly write this letter in support of three former partners, teammates and great friends — Shelley Arns, Latonya Brock and Jim Whitfield. Our time together at Quincy Public Schools was fairly chaotic. We built five new schools, moved 400 of 490 teachers, transitioned to a grades 9-12 high school and a grades 6-8 junior…
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As I leave the Quincy School Board, I wish to acknowledge some colleagues. Accountability, good relationships with students, staff, parents and community I learned from Herb Jackson (a friend deeply missed). I thank (Tom) Dickerson and (Bill) Daniels for bringing the district into compliance fiscally and for treating all staff fairly. We hired Tom Leahy,…
Read Full Article When sworn into office, Illinois School Board members take an oath to uphold federal and state laws, while “fostering excellence for every student in the areas of academic skills, knowledge, citizenship, and personal development (Illinois School Board Oath of Office).” However, there are instances when our local standards may be in conflict with the State…
Read Full Article This letter is in response to Tom Van Dyke’s claim of politicization of the Quincy School Board race. Advocating for freedom, local control and parental rights are not political but traditional American ideals. It is a response to the political decisions and non-decisions the current school board has wrought upon the citizens of Quincy for…
Read Full Article QUINCY — The Quincy School Board heard an update from the District Improvement Committee at a brief meeting Wednesday night. There were no reports from the Building, Finance or Policy Committees as none of them had met during February. According to the student discipline report, Quincy High School had a decrease in out-of-school suspensions, but…
Read Full Article I find it egregious that three candidates for Quincy School Board have seemingly, as evidenced by yard sign plantings, formed a PAC with political endorsements of a politician who supports those who have election fraud and conspiracy theories and a litigant happy ambulance chaser. Our school system should have no tolerance for politicizing the Quincy…
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I enjoyed reading Mr. Gough’s article on Mr. Dade speaking to the QHS School Board. It was very well written and is a topic that needs to be discussed. In my opinion, Mr. Dade is talking about equity, while the administration is talking about equality, which we all know are two separate things. Equity in…
Read Full Article QUINCY— Mike Dade said he just wants his daughter to have the same high school basketball experience that his son had. Dade spoke at Wednesday night’s Quincy School Board meeting and said the district “doesn’t support the (Quincy High School) girls basketball program as it should.” “A reasonable effort to address this problem would begin…
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For the second year in a row, the Quincy School Board recognized former educators with the district’s Legend Award. The late teacher, coach and principal Paul Koscielski and former teacher and principal Melanie Schrand are this year’s recipients. Koscielski’s career spanned more than 30 years and all levels of the Quincy Public School system, working…
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QUINCY — Five people have filed to run for the Quincy School Board as filings for the 2023 consolidated election have begun throughout Illinois. Three incumbents — Quincy School Board President Shelley Arns and board members Jim Whitfield and LaTonya Brock filed on Monday’s first day of filing. Two other people also filed on Monday:…
Read Full Article QUINCY — The Quincy School Board approved its tentative 2022 $42.873 tax levy Tuesday. The Board will have a public hearing on the levy at its December 14 board meeting and will consider at tax rate of $3.93, down from the previous year’s rate of $3.99. Adams County estimates the taxes for 2022-23 will have…
Read Full Article QUINCY — Before exiting to executive session, the Quincy School Board conducted a quick meeting in front of a crowd of about 20 people. The only new business was the approval of the Memorandum of Understanding for the Regional Safe Schools Program. Board members Jim Whitfield and Carol Nichols each received accommodations for Distinguished Board…
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QUINCY — Superintendent Todd Pettit and School Board President Shelley Arns both said Wednesday night the Quincy School District’s policies about COVID are … well, back to what they were before anyone had ever heard of COVID. “We’ve posted on our website our typical flu criteria and what we typically do,” Pettit said after Wednesday’s School Board…
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QUINCY — The Quincy School Board unanimously elected Shelley Arns as president and Rachael Petty as vice-president in a brief special meeting Tuesday afternoon. Sayeed Ali resigned as board president, but will remain on the board. Arns had been vice president of the board since April 2021 when she took over for Mike Troup, who…
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Sayeed Ali discusses his tenure as Quincy School Board president as it draws to a close. MRN This Week is furnished by Harvey’s.
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Dear MRN: I have a question about the Quincy School Board’s decision to hire a St. Louis company to replace a heating and air conditioning unit in one of its buildings. Why wasn’t the contract put out for bid? The Quincy School Board unanimously voted at its March 23 meeting to approve a proposal from…
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QUINCY — When Jennifer Bock Nelson learned Quincy School District officials were considering eliminating valedictorian and salutatorian honors, she wanted to share her thoughts with the Quincy School Board. Nelson, a Quincy artist, was the valedictorian of her graduating class in 1997. She believes it’s a “terrific idea” to get rid of the academic honors…
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QUINCY — The Quincy School Board has an item on Wednesday’s agenda to “consider/approve contingency contract to purchase real estate at 1600 N. 43rd.” That property is where K&L Arena is located, a multipurpose sports facility owned by Greg and Deb Shierling. Mays LLC Realtors is handling the sale of the property. The 5.32-acre property…
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Melvin J. “Bud” Niekamp, a self-proclaimed watchdog of taxpayer money while simultaneously holding elected office on two public bodies before being challenged in court for his service, has died. Niekamp, who made “Bud votes no” a standard part of many local reporter’s stories over the years, was taken to court in 2009 by a group…
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Todd Pettit was a ground-breaking choice to be Quincy’s next school superintendent. All of Quincy’s previous superintendents have been straight (as far as we know), white males, none of whom graduated from Quincy High School. So Pettit is the first QHS grad to be chosen to lead the district. At age 51, he might end…
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QUINCY — Four long-time employees of the Quincy School District comprised the inaugural class of recipients of the Legend Award, which was presented by Quincy School Board members at its Wednesday night meeting. The board recognized four men who died during a nine-day span last fall. Sayeed Ali, president of the board, presented surviving family…
Read Full Article QUINCY — The interviews are done and now the Quincy School Board must make its decision. Superintendent Roy Webb told the Quincy School Board at its Wednesday meeting the search for his replacement is nearly complete, which was basically informing the public as board members were already aware of this. Webb reported the eight-person committee…
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QUINCY — Quincy School Board Vice President Shelley Arns said the field has been narrowed in the search for the Quincy School District’s next superintendent of schools. Arns was on Muddy River News This Week and said the eight-person committee has reduced the number of finalists to two and the School Board will be doing…
Read Full Article QUINCY — The Quincy School Board had several reasons to be in a good mood when it met Tuesday night. It was the board’s last meeting before celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday. It also heard a report from the finance committee that had long-time board member Carol Nichols gushing, The finance committee, which met Monday, heard…
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Quincy School District Board of Education meetings were moved to the Quincy High School cafeteria to accommodate larger groups of people when they were showing up to speak regarding QPS’s COVID policies. But at Wednesday night’s meeting, there were only about a dozen people in attendance and three people spoke for about 30 minutes to…
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Quincy School District's $85.9 budget approved; citizens tell School Board 'they're not being heard'
QUINCY — After mostly hearing complaints from citizens for the first 75 minutes of Wednesday’s meeting in the Quincy High School cafeteria, the Quincy School Board took about two minutes to unanimously approve an $85.9 million school district budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year. The budget includes a three percent increase in salary, a one…
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QUINCY – The Quincy School District appears to be on its way to following Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Pre K-12 mask mandate for Illinois schools due to an increase in COVID Delta Variant cases. In an e-mail to his leadership team, Quincy Superintendent Roy Webb said “QPS will follow the executive order of the Governor.” David…
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QUINCY — Leroy Rossmiller enjoys sitting on the front porch of his home on Hampshire near the middle of the double-block between 20th and 22nd streets. The wood floor squeaks softly as he leans back in his rocking chair, and the leaves rustle softly in the early morning breeze. And then the buses start moving…
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QUINCY — Quincy Superintendent of Schools Roy Webb wrote in a social media post on Friday morning that his “guidance” to the Quincy School Board regarding how the Quincy School District will deal with its COVID-19 response is being reviewed with the start of school looming next month. “I know many of you have seen…
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Randy Industries provided the videography from the Quincy School Board meeting, where the focus was on masks for students during the upcoming school years. Masks are required to ride busses, but they are not mandatory anywhere else on school property. The caveat being as long as the COVID numbers don’t go back up and the…
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QUINCY — Superintendent Roy Webb released Tuesday afternoon on social media the proposed COVID-19 guidelines for the 2021-22 school year that will the Quincy School Board will vote on during its July meeting on Wednesday night. The proposal, which Webb posted on his personal Facebook page, “highly recommends” masks in indoor settings for unvaccinated people. …
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QUINCY — LaTonya Brock, executive director of the Quincy Chamber of Commerce since 2017, was sworn in Thursday morning to become a member of the Quincy School Board. Brock will replace Mike Troup, who stepped down from the School Board after winning the mayoral election in April. She will complete the remainder of Troup’s term,…
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QUINCY — The Quincy School Board’s unanimous vote to approve a one-year contract with the Quincy Federation of Teachers and Educational Support Personnel for the 2021-22 school year came at about 6:40 p.m. The teachers’ union followed with its own approval less than an hour later. Seventy percent of the union’s 652 members turned out…
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QUINCY — Sayeed Ali and Brandi Many got their assignments done early this year. Negotiators for the Quincy School Board and the Quincy Federation of Teachers and Educational Support Personnel reached a tentative agreement last Thursday on a one-year contract. Ali, the Board president, and Many, the teacher subgroup president for the teachers union, signed…
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Before taking over Monday as mayor, Troup attends final School Board meeting QUINCY — Mike Troup says becoming Quincy’s mayor was “never on his bucket list,” but he believes his six-year tenure as a member of the Quincy School Board helped prepare him for his next venture. Troup attended his last School Board meeting on…
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