Collinsville Community Unit School District 10 board members

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GARY PECCOLA

President

Gary Peccola was appointed to the school board in 2005 following the death of Ronald Ganschinietz. He successfully ran for election to a two-year term in 2007. In 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2025, he was re-elected to four-year terms. Gary served on the budget committee from 2005-2009 and in 2009 was elected President of the board and has served in that office since then. Gary achieved Master School Board Member status through the Illinois Association of School Boards in 2009 and has maintained that status each year since. He received the IASB Fellow Award in 2016.

Gary and his wife, Debbie, both graduated from CHS in 1974. Gary earned a Bachelor of Science degree from SIU-E in 1978. He is a former U.S. Air Force Captain and served four years on active duty. After leaving the service, he started his own construction company and worked in residential construction and development for over 30 years.

Serving on the board has been a very positive experience for him and he believes that the Unit 10 staff is the district's greatest strength. He visits all of the schools in the district and sees first-hand the dedication and professionalism that is demonstrated on a daily basis at all levels in the district. One of Gary's primary goals is to increase public awareness of the many positive opportunities offered by Unit 10 as well as the unique challenges the district faces. He is looking forward to continuing to serve on the board and is committed to helping make the district the best it can be.

Mr. Peccola completed his Professional Development Leadership Training and Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA) Training for School Board Members on November 22, 2013.

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JANE SOEHLKE

Vice President

Jane Soehlke was elected to the Collinsville Unit 10 School Board in April, 2011. Jane graduated in 1962 from the Academy of Notre Dame in Belleville, IL. She attended college at Southern Illinois University obtaining her Bachelor and Master's Degrees in Elementary Education. She continued her education at SIUE and Retired from teaching with 32 hours beyond her Master's. She taught three years in the parochial schools and 34 years in the Fairview Heights District 110. Upon retiring, she served as a substitute teacher for the Unit 10 schools for five years.

Jane was married to Jerry Soehlke (CHS Class of 1964), who passed away in 2019. The had two daughters. Their oldest daughter, Stacey Lauenstein (CHS Class of 1991), is an instructional coach with the District for grades K-2. Their youngest daughter, Sara Soehlke (CHS Class of 1994), is an assistant principal at Dorris Intermediate School. They have four grandchildren.

In addition to the classroom teaching experience, Jane brings to the Board a background of working on curriculum, teacher's negotiations, writing teacher evaluations, implementing student assistance program, and knowledge of the standards and goals of the State of Illinois. She wants the public to know about the good things happening in the Collinsville Schools and to focus on making Unit 10 schools a great place to obtain an education.

Mrs. Soehlke completed her Professional Development Leadership Training and Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA) Training for School Board Members on June 30, 2013.

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DENNIS CRAFT

Treasurer

Dennis Craft was elected to the School Board in 2015. Dennis is a 1966 graduate of Collinsville High School. He is a Vietnam veteran, having served the United States Air Force from 1967 to 1971. He graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 1974 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and received his Master’s Degree in Education Administration in 1978. Dennis continued his education and received a Doctorate in Education Leadership from Saint Louis University in 2001.

After proudly serving the students, staff, parents and community for 37 years as an elementary teacher, elementary school principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent in the Collinsville Unit 10 School District, he retired 2011.

Dennis and his wife Jean (CHS 1971) have been married for 48 years. They have two wonderful children; a son Jeff, who graduated from Collinsville High School in 1996 and a daughter Laura, who graduated from CHS in 2000. Jeff has a M.D Ph.D. and is a radiation oncologist in St. Louis County Missouri. Laura has her Ph.D. and is a speech-language pathologist in the Collinsville Unit #10 School District. Dennis and Jean are blessed to have four fantastic grandchildren.

Dennis brings a great deal of experience to the school board having worked with curriculum, personnel, negotiations, school finance, facility and building projects, student transportation, and student discipline issues. He also has a working knowledge and history of Unit 10 that he has acquired throughout his tenure in the district.

Dr. Craft’s primary goals include providing the best educational programming for our students; ensuring the school district retains the neighborhood and community elementary school concept; making sure students are given the opportunity to prepare for a career path of their choosing by offering advanced placement courses, STEM, and vocational courses; and increasing community awareness of all the educational and extra-curricular opportunities our district has to offer. He is also committed to be fiscally responsible to the taxpayers of our district.

Dr. Craft completed his Professional Development Leadership Training and Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA) Training for School Board Members on May 19, 2015. He also received the IASB Fellow Award in 2020.

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VICKI REULECKE
Secretary

Vicki Reulecke was elected to the Board of Education in April 2019 and is serving her second term as an elected member of the Unit 10 Board of Education. She was appointed in January 2019 to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of Board Member Wayne White. She served as vice-president of the board from October 2023 until May 2025.

Mrs. Reulecke is a 1974 graduate of Collinsville High School. She attended Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1977 and a Master of Science Degree in 1981. Both degrees were in the field of Education. In August 2008, Vicki graduated from McKendree University with a Master of Education Degree in Educational Administration.

Vicki is an educator by trade and spent 36 years as an employee of Collinsville Unit District 10. During that time, she collaborated with other district professionals to provide services to students and parents as a Title 1 Teacher, Special Education Teacher, Special Education Supervisor, Director of Services for English Language Learners, Elementary Principal, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, and Assistant Superintendent.

Since her retirement in 2014, she has returned to Unit 10 to temporarily serve in the roles of Expulsion Hearing Officer, Administrative Coach and Interim Special Education Director. Serving Collinsville Unit District 10 in multiple capacities has afforded Vicki the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience in instructional practices, curriculum, assessment, grants and finance, student discipline, school improvement planning and personnel.

Vicki believes Collinsville Unit District 10 has much to offer its students and families. She is especially pleased to be a participant in conversations about curriculum and instructional improvement for our diverse population of learners. Vicki supports a clear vision and goals for the Unit 10 School District, policies and procedures to support the achievement of those goals, and ongoing efforts to improve educational outcomes for all Collinsville Unit 10 students.

Vicki is a lifelong Collinsville resident. She is married to Larry Reulecke, also a lifelong Collinsville resident and a member of the Collinsville High School Class of 1972. Prior to Larry’s retirement in 2019, Mr. and Mrs. Reulecke were co-owners of Larry’s Automotive in Collinsville. They have two sons; Brian, who graduated from Collinsville High School in 2001 and Matt, who graduated from Collinsville High School in 2003. They are also the proud grandparents of a current Unit 10 student.

She completed her Professional Development Leadership Training and Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA) Training for School Board Members in June 2019.

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LORI BILLY

Lori Billy was elected in April 2025 and joined the board of education in May. She is very excited to start her first term as a Unit #10 school board member.

Lori is a 1986 graduate of Collinsville High School. She attended Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and received her Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education in 1990. She then went on to receive her Master's Degree in 1995 and finished her 32 hours beyond her Masters in 1997.

Lori began teaching in 1990 at Caseyville Elementary in third grade and then went to Kreitner Elementary in 1991 to teach second grade. She taught there for 32 years. During her career as a teacher, Lori also served as an officer in the teacher's union, a member of the negotiating team and chair of the Special Education Concerns Committee.

Lori coached 5th and 6th grade girls basketball at both Caseyville and Kreitner until 1999 when she became the Junior Varsity Coach for the CHS Girls Basketball Team. After holding that position for 11 years, Lori became the Head Coach of the girls team in 2010 and retired from coaching in 2020. Lori retired after 33 years of teaching in Collinsville in May of 2023.

Lori is a lifelong resident of Collinsville and the daughter of Don and Theresa Billy. Don was an Industrial Engineer for Emerson Electric in St. Louis and Theresa was an educator for Unit #10 for 37 years. She was also a member of the Board of Education for 12 years.

Lori is dedicated to this community and to the school district. It is her belief that there are many wonderful and amazing things happening in our district and we are often overlooked and underrated. Our district is providing educational excellence for all of our students and our staff is second to none. It is her hope to continue the work of the current board and looks forward to working to secure future excellence for our community and school district.

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JENNIFER HASAMEAR

Jennifer Hasamear was appointed to the board of education in October 2023, following an application and interview process, to fill a vacancy left by the passing of her father-in-law, Tim R. Hasamear. She was elected to the board of education in April 2025.

Jenn is married to Tim P. Hasamear, they have two boys, who both attend Collinsville schools. She is also a mother to Tim's two children from a previous marriage, both were CHS graduates. Unfortunately, Tim's son passed in 2009, and Jenn found the community support to be nothing short of amazing. She is also a grandmother to two beautiful granddaughters.

Jenn is a 1995 graduate of Ursuline Academy in St. Louis, MO. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from Webster University. Jenn became part of the Collinsville community in 1999 when she worked as a reporter for the Collinsville Journal and the Collinsville Herald with the Suburban Journals of St. Louis. Shortly thereafter, she began writing for the Belleville News-Democrat (BND), working out of the Collinsville office, located on Main Street. She served as a Community Reporter for over 10+ years, writing about Collinsville, Maryville, Caseyville, Troy, Highland, Glen Carbon, and Edwardsville. After leaving the BND, Jenn went on to work in marketing communications at United Way of Greater St Louis, Saint Louis University, FGM Architects, and now S. M. Wilson & Co, where she is the Communications Manager.

Over the last 20+ years, Jenn has been an active volunteer throughout her community. The most recent involvement has been with the following organizations: Kreitner Elementary PTA President for three years, Collinsville Teepee Board Member / Marketing Chairman for 10+ years, CMT YMCA Riptide Swim Team Parent Advisory Committee for one year, Gateway Rush 2011 Boys Fundraising Committee Chair for 2 years, and Collinsville Baseball Softball League (CBSL) Assistant Coach for 3 years. Other volunteer involvement has included: Collinsville Aquapark Gators, Learning Tree Preschool, KIXX United FC, Metro Alliance FC, Metro East Titans Swimming, Collinsville Area Soccer Association (CASA), Maryville Khoury League, and Italian Fest.

Jenn understands the importance of the Board of Education and is proud to serve the community as a board member and continue forging the path that her father-in-law had started during his time on the board. Her goals are to continue providing the safest environments for our students, faculty, and staff within our facilities; while also giving our students the best opportunities and technology to leave our district and go into the world with the confidence and fearlessness to take the next step.

Mrs. Hasamear completed her Professional Development Leadership Training and Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA) Training for School Board Members in February 2024.

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MICHELE STUTTS

Michele Stutts was elected to the Unit 10 Board of Education in April 2019, and re-elected in 2023.

She is a 1968 graduate of Wayne City High School in Wayne City, Illinois. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Special and Elementary Education from SIUE in 1976. Ms. Stutts began teaching that same year in North Junior High (now Dorris Intermediate School) in the Special Education Department. She served as Department Chair and IEP Case Manager for several years.

While at the junior high she also served as an assistant girl’s basketball coach for a time and also started the dance team there. In the fall of 1993 Michele transferred to Collinsville High School where she continued teaching and was both Boys and Girls Varsity Tennis Coach for the next twelve years. She retired in 2007 after 31 years in Unit 10.

Michele is the proud mother of four CHS graduates. Her daughter Stephanie graduated in1989 and taught in the Fort Zumwalt School District until taking on the role of School Psychological Examiner there. Oldest son Jeff graduated in 1992 and is a DDS from the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Michele’s other son Adam is a 2000 graduate from CHS. He too is a DDS from the University of Colorado School of Dentistry and along with his brother practices in Bozeman, Montana. Her youngest daughter Katie is a 2001 graduate and teaches third grade at Kreitner Elementary and all three of her sons attend Unit 10 schools. Michele has ten grandchildren and two but soon to be three great grandchildren.

Michele believes whole-heartedly that Collinsville Unit Ten offers wonderful educational opportunities and is excited that so many exceptional things are happening within our schools and plans to give it her utmost to insure that safe, excellent and opportunity filled education is afforded to all the precious ones who inhabit the halls and classrooms of CUSD # 10

She completed her Professional Development Leadership Training and Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA) Training for School Board Members in June 2019.