Wednesday evening’s (Nov 19th) Danville District 118 School Board meeting included the official hiring of 2017 Danville High School graduate Megan Mattingly as the new DHS athletic director; replacing Gary Gritton, who passed away in September.
Mattingly played volleyball, softball, and basketball while at Danville High School. She went on to start 218 of 220 softball games while playing at Eastern Illinois, was named Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year; and had been working as Director of Operations for the University of Illinois softball team. But the chance to return home as DHS Athletic Director, where she fondly remembers Gary Gritton as a History teacher, was something Mattingly could not pass up. And District Athletic Director Mark Bacys is thrilled that she wanted to return.
AUDIO: (Mattingly) This is my home. And ultimately, I want to be a leader in sports. Mr. Gritton, he was one of my mentors; somebody I looked up to. So, definitely a sad situation; but thankfully I can come in and take after him, and build upon the foundations that he set for this program.
AUDIO: (Bacys) We always love when our graduates come back, and want to be a part of the community. That obviously means that her athletic career at Danville meant something; that she wants to come here and give back to it.
District 118 AD Mark Bacys announces Megan Mattingly as new DHS AD, Mattingly addresses the 118 Board, Interim Director of Business and Finance Gary Lewis announces a small drop in the tax levy.
Mattingly’s first day as DHS Athletic Director will be December 8th.
Meanwhile, retired Regional Schools Superintendent for Champaign and Ford Counties Gary Lewis has been serving as Interim Director of Business and Finance for District 118. He stated that thanks to the use of some district cash reserves, the proposed new tax levy should be dropped from last year’s $4.46 per $100 of Equalized Assessed Valuation, to $4.21 per $100 of EAV. Chatting with CIMG afterwards, Lewis said that he was in a situation where the taxpayer in him wants taxes held back, but the business and finance person and former regional superintendent in him wants to capture as much revenue for the district as possible. He says, with the help of some reserves, both sides can work out, but one in particular.
AUDIO: The taxpayer side won this time because like; we can lower this. And I know all the stuff that’s been going on within the world and money wise. People need more money in their pockets. They don’t need to pay more taxes.
Lewis has accepted a position as a student teacher supervisor at the University of Illinois. His final day with District 118 will be the day before the holiday break begins.
