A long-time Gillespie High School teacher and coach has stepped into the school board vacancy created by the death of veteran school board member Don Dobrino.
Members of the Community Unit School District 7 Board of Education voted unanimously to seat John “Jack” Burns of Benld to complete Dorbrino’s term during a special meeting of the board last Wednesday night. Burns was the only applicant to seek the position. He was sworn-in and seated before the meeting adjourned.
Burns will serve until the end of Dobrino’s current term, which ends next May.
Burns retired from teaching last year after a 30-year career teaching history, geography, social studies, college level world history and drafting. He coached track for 28 years and coached football 30 years, with many of those years as an assistant coach alongside Dobrino.
Additionally, Burns served 33 years with the Illinois National Guard, retiring last year with the rank of Commander Sergeant Major. His three overseas deployments during his tenure with the Guard included a stint in Germany, an 18-month deployment to Iraq and a 10-month tour in Kuwait.
In other action, the board accepted the resignation of Casey Sholtis as an assistant high school football coach, and voted to hire Alecia Landreth as a substitute bus driver.