Todd Yager was named president of the Mexico Board of Education at the April meeting after a vote on the reelection of Dustin Pascoe to the role deadlocked.
Pascoe has served as the school board …
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Todd Yager was named president of the Mexico Board of Education at the April meeting after a vote on the reelection of Dustin Pascoe to the role deadlocked.
Pascoe has served as the school board president for several years and has been a member of the board since 2011. His nomination was put to an initial vote, but failed to gain a majority at 3-3 with Yager abstaining.
“He’s a tremendous person, and everyone does a great job,” Yager said. “But I feel you need to change things up every so often.”
Yager’s name was then put forward, with four votes in favor, three against.
Heather DeMint retained the seat of vice president, and other officers remained the same, as well. Kelli Teel will serve another term as treasurer, Bethany Collins as secretary and Teel as delegate to the state board.
Nicole Jahn is the alternate delegate.
Yager said he believes the addition of Keith Louder and Marci Minor, who were voted to the board in the April municipal election, will bring the new insights he seeks. Both are education veterans who know the district well.
“They’ve seen the positives and negatives,” Yager noted. “I love the school district, you just want it to be perfect.”
The board held a special work session on Tuesday to approve a new pay scale for teachers and administrators. They voted to increase the base salary of teachers by $1,000 for the 2021-22 school year, boosting administrator pay by 4 percent.
During the session, Community Teachers Association president Sarah Keithley encouraged the board to address the support staff pay scale and create longevity incentives for all district employees.
“It’s not just about money that makes people stay and come to work and be loyal and want to grow as educators,” Keithley said. “It’s about culture.”
Yager agrees with the sentiment.
“You see administrators leaving — you don’t want it to trickle down,” he said. “Teachers can succeed if they know they have the backing of administration.”
Pay scales for secretaries, nurses and paraprofessionals will be addressed in this month’s board meeting. The final budget for the next school year will be voted on in June.
