Taylorville’s newest school board member was sworn in Monday at the Taylorville School Board’s regularly scheduled board meeting. Steve Curtin was selected by the board to replace Bruce Barry on the board after Barry’s resignation to become the mayor of Taylorville.

Curtin says he wanted to join the board for multiple reasons.

Curtin says he hopes he and the board can help educate kids in the best way possible, no matter what route they take into the workforce.

A budget amendment hearing was held prior to the board meeting Monday night, amending the actual spending for the 2017 fiscal year compared to what was planned going into the year.

Most action items dealt with Monday were house-keeping items, but it did include most of the hirings necessary for the 2017-18 school year. Those hired include:

• Rachael Ward as THS Musical Director.

• Courtney DeClerck as a 4th Grade Teacher at Memorial Elementary.

• Katherine Webb (Thompson) as a 2nd Grade Teacher at Stonington Elementary.

• Kevin Loveless as a 1st Grade Teacher at North Elementary.

• Annie Michalek as a 2nd Grade Teacher at North Elementary.

• Nicholas Ulferts as an English Teacher at THS.

• Hayden Eldred as a Math Teacher at THS.

• Amber Akins as a Pre-K Teacher at Washington School (Pana).

• Sean Pieper as a Social Science Teacher (Part-time) at THS.

• Ashley LeVault as an 8th Grade Language Arts Teacher at TJHS.

• Jenny Campbell as a Secretary (5.75 hours) at Memorial Elementary.

• Angela Morrison as a Library Aide (5.75 hours) at THS.

• Mary Vaughn as a Assistant Computer Aide (5.75 hours) at Stonington Elementary.