Mike Slife has taken over for the recently retired Cinda Meneghetti as the principal transportation consultant in the Illinois Department of Education’s Division of Funding and Disbursement Services, making him also the new state director of student transportation.
Slife was most recently the director of transportation at Harlem Consolidated Schools, District 122, in Machesney Park north or Rockford and about 90 miles northwest of Chicago. From April 2006 through last September he oversaw an annual transportation budget of more than $5 million and more than 130 employees.During this period he also served as an Illinois Association of Pupil Transportation board member and has been the vice president for the past two years. With IAPT, he helped set up and run state conferences and was responsible for the state school bus roadeo.
Slife started in the industry as a terminal manager for the Rockford Public Schools, District 205, in April of 2005. There, he earned his school bus CDL while overseeing program route supervisors and 295 unionized bus drivers. He also supervised dispatch, administered the district’s random drug and alcohol policy, tracked parent complaints and provided HR and payroll functions.
Slife graduated from Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan., with a bachelor’s degree in business with an emphasis on management and marking and a minor emphasis on accounting and economics. He received his master’s degree in business administration from Northern Illinois University.
Meanwhile, Meneghetti officially retired on Feb. 28 from Illinois DOE after working in the Division of Funding and Disbursement for the past decade. At the time, NASDPTS said it was “sad” to see her retire but wished her the best of luck in the future.
Meneghetti is using retirement to take care of her elderly parents and her 11-year-old son.
