Vermilion Co Bd to Meet for Early ROE Appointment

The Vermilion County Board has scheduled an emergency meeting for Tuesday night, to make sure the renovation of a Danville middle school gets started without delay.

For the work on South View Middle School to proceed, a building permit must be authorized by the local regional school superintendent. But the post became vacant last week, with the sudden resignation of lame-duck Superintendent Mike Metzen --- three months before the end of his term.

Because of that, Cheryl Reifsteck --- who was elected last November to succeed Metzen --- has already moved from assistant superintendent in the Vermilion County office to acting superintendent. But without county board action, she said she does not have the authority to approve the South View renovation work.

"I sought some legal assistance through the Illinois State Board of Education, to advise me that because Mr. Metzen had vacated his office, he could no longer sign that building permit," Reifsteck said. "And because I was not official(ly) appointed, I would have to be appointed before I could sign that as well."

Vermilion County Board Chairman Jim McMahon said the board will meet Tuesday night for the sole purpose of appointing Reifsteck as Vermilion County regional school superintendent. He said this will allow the Danville school district to get the construction work at South View started as soon as possible.

"The architect for District 118 will be in the audience," McMahon said. "So after she (Reifsteck) is sworn in, he'll ask her to sign the permit immediately. So I can tell you, that's how critical this is."

Vermilion County Republican leaders recommended Reifsteck to fill out the remainder of Metzen's term. She will be sworn in again for her full term in July.

Metzen resigned from the regional superintendent's post last week, to avoid having a scheduled salary reduction affect his pension.

The emergency meeting of the Vermilion County Board is scheduled for Tuesday, March 22nd at 6 PM, in the Courthouse Annex in downtown Danville.