A superintendent sharing agreement with the Pekin School District will dissolve this summer after a decision by the Sigourney School Board. Through this academic year, the districts have shared the services of superintendent Kevin Hatfield. At a Sigourney board meeting April 13th, they agreed unanimously to continue the agreement through the 2022-23 school year. At a joint board meeting of the two districts May 2nd, that agreement was discussed, with Pekin citing concerns about language in the contract, prompting them to present a blank template for a shared personnel agreement with the Sigourney board. The Sigourney board agreed to review the document and present changes to discuss at a future meeting.

At their May 11th meeting, Sigourney added a superintendent sharing agreement contract to their action items. The board then chose to rescind their April 13th decision to share a superintendent with Pekin, as Sigourney holds the employment contract. As a result, on May 16th students at Pekin schools staged a peaceful protest, walking out of school at the start of their lunch period, in protest of the Pekin board’s actions or lack thereof. In a statement issued by the Pekin board, they say that while they are disappointed in Sigourney’s decision they are focused on options for filling their superintendent vacancy and providing the best educational opportunities for their students.