Lillian Collins, the director of the Exceptional Child Education Cooperative in Houston, is retiring effective the end of the current school year.
Collins’ resignation was accepted at Tuesday night’s monthly school board meeting.
A Summersville High School graduate, Collins took the reigns as director in 2011 from Eileen Fronterhouse. She worked 10 years at the co-op, including three as Fronterhouse’s assistant before becoming director.
“She has done an amazing job. We are very appreciative of her efforts,” Houston Superintendent Scott Dill said. “At this point she filed for a well-earned retirement. We wish her well.”
Created in 1977, the Exceptional Child Education Cooperative serves 13 area school districts and is designed to allow those districts to each have access to a complete staff of special education specialists. The co-op staff includes individuals with qualifications covering many aspects of special education, including early childhood, speech therapy, deaf education and others.
Dill said the cooperative board – consisting of himself and the other 12 superintendents from co-op schools – will appoint a sub-committee to review applicants and conduct initial interviews. The group will make a recommendation to the Houston school board, which will also interview the candidate and make the final hiring decision.
The co-op director is an employee of Houston Schools and meets weekly with Dill as part of the administrative team.
Also at the monthly meeting, school board members:
–Accepted the resignations of Terry Mayfield (middle school principal), Jack Johnson (permanent substitute) and Jennifer Scott (special services).
–Employed Barry Wheeler as head high school volleyball coach, girls’ track coach and wellness coordinator.
-Set summer school for June 1-26. Limited transportation will be provided at pickup points in the district.
“Summer school is good for kids and good for teachers,” Dill said. “I feel that the more we can have our doors open, the better off we are and the better off the kids are.”
-Received a construction update from Dill, who said work is being done on the “guts” – installation of electrical work, conduit, ductwork and sprinkler system – of the building. He said the staircase on the south end of middle school, which connects to the new construction, was removed during recent snow days.
-Updated the mowing bid form to indicate when the district’s Building Trades home sells, it will no longer be part of the contract.
-Approved a policy from the Missouri School Board Association related to the selection of speakers at district events.
-Heard a report from Pat Oakley representing the salary and welfare committee, which had previously met with Dill. The group asked continued health insurance, salary steps, increased pay for substitutes and expansion of the bereavement police.
PDF: Minutes from Houston school board meeting