Niemann leaves board, but not Sullivan West

By Dan Hust
JEFFERSONVILLE — July 23, 2010 — After five years on Sullivan West’s school board, Anna Niemann tendered her resignation on July 10.
“I think the whole board is going to miss her,” lamented SW Supt. Ken Hilton.
And she them.
“I feel like the board is my family,” Niemann emotionally related yesterday. “Certainly, it was an enriching experience.”
The Youngsville resident had served the past school year (July through June) as the board’s president but had not run this year for that time-demanding position.
Her accounting business was expanding, and she and her family were greatly engaged in caring for her sister, who passed away on Tuesday.
“It got to be too much,” Niemann explained, and she reluctantly gave up her seat on the board.
Nevertheless, she remains proud of helping bring financial stability to the still-young district.
“I’ve learned a lot from being on the school board,” she said. “And I think I’ve been an asset to the board.”
She thinks the world of the business office and administrators, especially Hilton. And that feeling is returned.
“Anna’s experience as a CPA, as an auditor, as a school auditor, and her life experiences in the community, have been invaluable to me as a superintendent,” affirmed Hilton.
In fact, he said her gracious and welcoming kindness played a key role in him and his wife, Annie, choosing to come work with and live in Sullivan West.
Hilton doesn’t plan to recommend to the board that it hold a special election to fill the year remaining on Niemann’s seat, though the board could also appoint a temporary replacement. (The board does already have a new president: Mary Scheutzow of Kenoza Lake.)
But Niemann indicated that she’s not disappearing – in fact, she intends on showing up at meetings, this time as a concerned district resident.