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Danville Superintendent on Remote-Work Status: ‘They Can Call at Any Time’

By Steve Brandy Jan 17, 2025 | 11:04 AM

 THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE ARTICLE BY JENNIFER BAILEY

 

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DANVILLE — On Wednesday night, Superintendent Alicia Geddis was absent once again from the Danville school board’s regularly scheduled monthly meeting.

Geddis said Thursday said her remote-work status remains the same.

“I’m following the direction of the majority of the board of education,” Geddis said.

Geddis has said a majority of the board approved of her working remotely due to alleged threats against her.

Geddis has worked remotely for months, last appearing in person at a school board meeting in October, and nothing more has been learned about the results of a security company’s safety assessment on the district’s administration building.

The board released a statement in November saying Geddis should return to onsite work.

“The board takes threats to our employees seriously,” it said. “After considering the information provided by the Danville Police Department and given the current status of the FBI investigation as ongoing, the board has reached a consensus to have the superintendent return to onsite work. We’ll be working with her on her return to onsite work and will not be commenting any further on this, as this is a personnel matter and there’s still an open FBI investigation.”

Geddis said she watched Wednesday’s school board meeting live online, and was available for conference calls as needed, such as for closed-session items that board member Kim Corley asked about having her or Assistant Superintendent John Hart present.

“I’ve been available,” Geddis reiterated Thursday. “They can call at any time.”

She said she received no questions from the board during Wednesday’s meeting.

Geddis also said she prepared the board’s agenda with the board secretary, noting again that she’s following the directive of a board majority regarding her work status.

“We still get the work done” school board President Randal Ashton said. “There’s a little difficulty in the situation that we have. We do try to get things done, and it’s worked out to this point pretty well. Is it something that we want to continue on in the future month? Absolutely not. So, we have to get some work done and make some tough decisions, and that’s what (fellow school board member) Elder (Tyson) Parks was talking about. So, pray for us.”

Geddis said her intent is to complete her contract, which runs through the 2025-26 school year.

In other business:

  • The board again heard from Danville High School science teacher Anna Kelly, who suffers from major health issues and has had 12 surgeries so far caused by an aggressive cancer gene that runs in her family. She has asked for a policy change to allow employees to use other employees’ sick leave. Corley said she’s doesn’t know why the proposed change hasn’t been put on a school board meeting agenda.
  • The board also heard a request for a one-time $1.4 million health-insurance relief payment from the district by the teachers union.

Danville Education Association President Alan Rivers said it’s been hard for health-insurance committee, made up of union representatives and district administrators, to provide the best health insurance and premiums for union employees due to rising costs and claims nationwide. Out-of-pocket costs are seeing big increases, he said, and local employees have exceeded 110 percent utilization of the plan in a year.

“We’ve been high for a few years,” Rivers said, adding that they were lucky to get this year’s renewal quote of $4.3 million negotiated down to $2.3 million.

Rivers said because of the district’s high utilization rate, its broker usually gets at least one  quote that is much higher than its current insurer’s rates. He said in negotiating the current renewal, the committee implemented a $300 spousal surcharge and additional plans to try to keep costs down. He estimated that the changes will result in about $600,000 in savings for the insurance fund.

Rivers said the one-time $1.4 million payment would would amount to a 50 percent reduction in the extra burden imposed by the renewal on individual and family premiums. He said it would only apply to union members and would not affect the insurance fund.

“We can’t keep decreasing benefits and raising premiums as high as we do every time,” he said. “Our insurance is good insurance still. Our premiums obviously are high. But it’s a big thing here in District 118 to have good insurance, especially with the staff shortages that we see.”

  • The board heard a proposal to have the 2025 Danville High graduation ceremony on May 24 at the football field, with a rain date of May 25 at the David S. Palmer Arena, and the 2025 Step Up eighth-grade promotion ceremony on May 27 at the high school.
  • The board also approved moving its regular March meeting, set for the 19th, a week earlier to March 12 because of spring break.

Central Illinois Multimedia Group’s Steve Brandy contributed to this report.

 

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