Parent Presents Possibility Pivarnik Pushed Off Potential Problems

LARWILL-The Whitko School Board Meeting on February 26 began at 6:00 as scheduled, following a 5:30 Executive Session in the TAP room to “discuss personnel matters.” All members except Georgia Tenney were present, and the meeting lasted about 45 minutes.

Photo byMelany Love (image compiled from official agenda)

Students of the Month for each building were recognized:

• Chaselynn Neer (not present), Whitko Senior High, nominated by teacher Laura Farlow (not present, presented by Whitko Jr/Sr High Principal Amy Evans)
• Hunter Long, Whitko Junior High, nominated by teacher Mike Hanback
• Gabriella Griffith (not present), Whitko Career Academy, nominated by teacher Megan Lindsey
• Remington Miller (not present), South Whitley Elementary, nominated by teacher Jennifer Craig (not present, presented by Pierceton Principal Christy Haupert)
• Victor Meyo-Tecuatl, Pierceton Elementary, nominated by teacher Stephanie Henson and corporation translator Magda Smith
• Axel Odea, Whitko (Little Cats) Early Learning Academy, nominated by teacher Katie Bromley

Headliners from around the district recognized the band students who performed at the state level last weekend for Solo & Ensemble. Small groups and individuals are scored by a judge using a point system, with gold, silver, and bronze medals awarded based on those scores. Each judge evaluates only specific instruments all day long, and each performance takes only a few minutes and is one selection of music from a provided list. The piece each entry plays was chosen back when they registered for Solo & Ensemble, a couple of months ago, and that they performed a couple of weeks ago at the local level. 35,000 participants from all over Indiana turn out each year for that competition (according to here), with hundreds earning a score high enough to continue on to state. Whitko’s Clarinet Trio of Ethan Huber, Bastien Love, and Micah Slabach earned a gold rating, as did Alayna Kreps for her trumpet solo (with Distinction and a perfect score) and Reid Deneve for his baritone solo. The Saxophone Quartet of Maggie Clark, Bastien Love, and Jose and Juan Macias, and Bastien Love’s clarinet solo earned a silver rating. Some students from the high school raised $1,000 to help fight leukemia and blood cancer, and the school board thanked the Shriners for keeping the tradition of the annual trip to see the Shrine Circus alive.

In news from around the district, Parent/Teacher conferences at the elementary level are approaching, as are picture retakes on March 21. A music program, art showcase, and student awards are also coming up soon, and the Student Council made $400 and donated $200 to the Animal Welfare League. They are planning a service project in March to help a Kosciusko homeless shelter.

At the Career Academy, second-year nursing students will begin their medical rotations, and criminal justice students will visit courtrooms to observe. Paragon Medical and WCA are “very close to a partnership,” according to Chris Benedict.

The JR/SR High will celebrate Jarrod Day the week before Spring Break and welcomes donations for that fundraising cause. A blood drive is coming up March 7 and is open to community members as well. The band and jazz band have several events coming up--the jazz band will perform at festivals at Carroll High School on March 2 and at Northrop High School on March 9, and the Winter Band Concert is March 14. On March 16 the Jr. High band has a competition. Superintendent Pivarnik gave his opinion of band director John VanPatten as an “outstanding teacher” and said it is “so rewarding to see the progress” of the students from where they began in middle school to where they are now. It has certainly been a struggle for the band in recent years, as sixth-grade band was removed from Whitko’s curriculum for a year and reinstated this school year, effectively creating two years of “first year” band students.

The athletic director said winter sports are wrapping up, with a boys’ basketball game this Wednesday. Athletic programs and participation continue to grow, and spring sports contracts and schedules are being finalized. Whitko has Club Wrestling this Saturday at the high school for $6 a person or $20 per family, and they are hosting a wrestling camp through Manchester March 16-17.

The transportation department hopes to get a larger bus that is wheelchair-accessible, and their drug audit went well, as always. They are looking for a new floating maintenance and groundsperson and are working on repairing roof leaks at South Whitley Elementary.

The special services department is partnering with Mass Mutual to offer a free virtual event for special needs families.

Sieara Arnett, who serves as the new Interim Director of the Whitko Early Learning Center (formerly known as Little Cats), reported that they are currently level 1 of four, but they expect to be level 3 soon, once they meet the state’s requirements. Arnett replaced Jamie Paino last month, when allegations about Little Cats’s leadership publicly surfaced (more on that here).

The tech department head reported that teacher training at all locations has been completed, and they continue to push the new ticket system. Since its implementation, things are reportedly working much more efficiently, with less issues going unfixed. The tech department deals with well over 100 tickets a month, with ⅓ of those being related to student Chromebooks. Powerschool will be doing a mandatory update in the spring, which will bring some changes, and they are doing a wi-fi/network audit to maximize efficiency there.

Superintendent Tim Pivarnik touted the ARC curriculum’s success in raising the district’s low reading levels and praised all the staff for their implementation of it. He read a speech about the value of good teachers and the impact they have, and he announced the meetings he plans to have with each of them individually in March to “find out how [he] can better support them and find what they need to be successful.”

During the public comment section (51:54 mark in the original YouTube video), parent Marcus Rich spoke about the "recent" Little Cats issues, claiming to have evidence of “major systemic problems since 2022.” If substantiated, this could mean that the swift and serious action was in response to the public outcry, and not in response to the issues, which were allegedly already known and ignored by Pivarnik. Rich said he had emailed Pivarnik multiple times about the problems he had experienced and had been told things were taken care of and was now choosing to speak up because he has realized this is a community problem. Rich said he believes Little Cats is a needed part of the community. His documentation for the eyes of the School Board Members was left with Teresa Carrano, Pivarnik's secretary, though he noted that she has already seen the emails as well.

All financial items, the memorandum of understanding between the Whitko Classroom Teachers Association and Whitko Community Schools, the provision of bus drivers and buses to a local church for an annual retreat, and the approval of field trips all passed unanimously and with no discussion.

The next School Board Work Session will be held in the Whitko JR/SR High Media Center at 4pm, and the next regular School Board Meeting will be in the WCA lecture room again at 6:30pm.

Photo byMelany Love (compiled image from Whitko.org & Little Cats Google Image)