After retiring amid COVID, former Belleville superintendent wanted to get back to school
When former Belleville 201 superintendent Jeff Dosier announced his retirement in 2019, he didn’t expect that, when the time came, he’d be retiring in the midst of a pandemic.
During his last months, there were no students in his schools. He spent the summer helping with the transition to a new superintendent amid the uncertainty of what schools would even look like in the fall.
“I think this is a difficult time for educators,” Dosier said. “It’s been a very difficult time, and I felt like I wanted to go back and be part of it.”
After looking at selling insurance part-time, Dosier found a local opening that would get him back in education. He officially takes over as the chief financial officer for East St. Louis School District 189 on July 1.
Dosier’s contract goes through June 30, 2024, with a starting salary of $157,000. As superintendent District 201, he made $176,274 in 2019, according to the Belleville News-Democrat public salary database.
Based on the 2020 salaries for District 189, Dosier will be the second-highest paid employee in the district after Superintendent Art Culver. The retiring CFO, Sherry Whitaker, made $153,031 in 2020.
“We are fortunate to hire Dr. Dosier as our Chief Financial Officer. He is well versed in school finance, having served as Chief School Business Official for Belleville 118 and Belleville 201,” Culver said in a statement. “Also and very importantly, his experience as a principal and superintendent will be an asset to our executive cabinet.”
Illinois’ Teacher Retirement System (TRS) allows retirees to continue to collect their full pension unless they accept another job that includes a TRS benefit. Since it does not require a school administrator’s license, the district’s chief financial officer does not qualify for TRS, said Director of Communication for District 189 Sydney Stigge-Kaufman.
In addition to his annual salary from District 189, Dosier will collect an annual pension worth up to three-fourths of the average of his five highest-earning years. After eight years, he may also become vested in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, which would pay him an annual pension equal to the average of his four best years.
Brian Mentzer, the current superintendent of Belleville 201 and a long-time colleague of Dosier, said he wasn’t surprised that his predecessor went back to work so quickly.
“I could have predicted it was going to be extremely difficult for (Dosier) to sit still,” Mentzer said. “I kind of knew in my mind that he would find a spot somewhere. He is extremely highly regarded among the education leadership community.”
Dossier, 56, started in Belleville 201 in 2007 as assistant superintendent, becoming superintendent in 2011. Prior to that, he worked in Belleville School District 118.
“The pandemic has created new challenges, and honestly, things have changed even since I left, just in one year,” Dosier said. “I’m an optimist by nature. I think there are some really innovative things coming out in District 189.”
This story was originally published June 27, 2021 at 6:00 AM.