An Easement, an Administrator, Awards & Agenda Alterations

LARWILL-Monday’s school board meeting marked several changes from the norm and lasted an hour; the seat normally occupied by the recently-resigned Tim Pivarnik was instead taken by Special Services Director Kari Walmer, who is handling the Lead Administrator role in the interim. Additionally, the school board has made changes to the way they publish agendas and allow public comment, though this may be on a trial basis, as it is unclear if any of the official bylaws have been changed.

Students of the Month were recognized:

AgendaPhoto byMelany Love, photo from display at meeting

• Whitko High School: Costanza Milazzotto, nominated by Mike Howard. Milazzoto was recognized, but no information was given, as Howard was not present.
• Whitko Junior High School: Breawynn Neer, nominated by teacher Rochelle Leininger. Neither Breawynn nor Leininger were present, so no information was given.
• Whitko Career Academy: Audra Brandenburg, nominated by teacher Amy Nicodemus. Nicodemus said, “Audra is an incredible example of all that we can hope for in a student who is graduating after having completed all aspects of the courses offered through the medical health [...] of Pathways.” As an athlete involved in tennis and volleyball and an excellent student, Brandenburg received additional recognition in last Friday’s Whitko Senior Awards ceremony. Nicodemus raved about Brandenburg’s compassion, work ethic, and dependability.
• South Whitley Elementary School: Dorothy Mynhier, nominated by teacher Anna Busz. South Whitley Principal Joel Holsopple read Busz’s statement, saying Mynhier could not be present, as she was not feeling well. Mynhier was described as a joy to have in class, someone who never backs down from a challenge, a problem solver, and an excellent and empathic student who always puts others first.
• Pierceton Elementary School: Sammy Lopshire, nominated by teacher Cheri Bryan. As Lopshire was still on the way to the meeting, his recognition was skipped and come back to when he arrived. Bryan praised Lopshire’s growth in reading comprehension, where he is working on fifth grade sight words (as a second grader), and his math fluency, where he has a propensity for learning math “way beyond his level.” Lopshire’s award was accepted by himself and his toy Godzilla.
• Whitko Early Learning Academy (“Little Cats”): Emma Anderson, nominated by teacher Katie Bromley. Though Anderson was not present, Bromley described Anderson as very helpful, often without being asked.

In Headliners:

• School Board President Annette Arnold shared congratulations to Sydney Navier for being selected to be a member of the middle school division team for the 2024 NASP Academic All American Team; this honor was earned through her excellence as an archer and for her academic achievements. Last year Navier was recognized as the Elementary Female NASP Bullseye National Champion.
• The Whitko Band earned the ISSMA All-Music Award for the second year in a row; this is accomplished by gaining a gold rating in every category (jazz band, marching band, concert band, and solo & ensemble (a solo and an ensemble, each)--something many Indiana schools and even fewer small schools are able to achieve or even compete for, as not every school has all the required programs or the participation and excellence required for a gold rating in the solo & ensemble portion (which grades individual students and small groups of students, not the band as a whole). The current band seniors were additionally recognized, as the band has earned the All-Music Award three times in the last four years with their participation. While 2024 information is not yet officially posted on the ISSMA website, here are 2023’s winners.
• Pierceton Elementary Teacher Angie Speicher was recently named the Indiana Department American Legion Auxiliary “Educator of the Year.” With 30 years of service, Speicher works in Special Education.
• Several Whitko Art students’ artwork will be featured in the 2025 Cooperative Calendar of Art; Whitko has had at least one student’s artwork featured in it every year since 2001, a feat no other school in the state has accomplished. This contest is open to Indiana schools and selects a winner and an honorable mention from each grade for each of the months. For more in depth information on the contest and winners specifically, check out this article by InkFreeNews. The school board commended art teacher Daniel Malicki for his art instruction and tireless dedication to the Whitko art department.
• The Whitko FFA Livestock Judging Team placed 2nd and will compete nationally this October.

Photo byMelany Love, Compiled Image

Whitko winning art entriesPhoto byMelany Love, Compiled Image

The Pierceton Sidewalk Project Representatives gave a special presentation outlining their plans (more specifics on that here, from last Wednesday’s Work Session, and here and here about the project in general), which included the hope that Whitko would donate the chunk of land needed for the easement (5’ on either side) and the 6’ wide sidewalk, rather than the town of Pierceton paying market value for it. The board requested that the town of Pierceton provide maintenance on the area for the next ten years, rather than their proposed five years, and the representative agreed with the idea.

School Board members listen to a presentation about the Pierceton sidewalkPhoto byMelany Love, Compiled Image

In Department Reports:

• Pierceton Elementary: 45 packets were handed out during Kindergarten Round Up, A full grant was received to help provide mentoring and programs covering anti-bullying and hygiene (which Stephanie Meyer was instrumental in obtaining), and librarian Dawn Kreger rounded up donations from the community and businesses on behalf of students who might not normally have been able to purchase books at the book fair. The last Virtual Art Presentation will be May 23rd, Student Awards will be May 28th from 8:30-11:30, Field Day is May 29th, 6th Grade Graduation will be May 30th, and Summer School runs June 3-20. Principal Christy Haupert also said that the current overall reading proficiency is over 50% for almost every grade level.
• South Whitley: Principal Joel Holsopple shared his experience with the ARC program; Holsopple said South Whitley has grown from 20% to 64% reading proficiency and that the teachers have reported positive experiences with using it, citing their comfort in the teaching material and the ability to easily track progress. He said the students have taken ownership of their own learning process and are proud of their accomplishments, eagerly wanting to be tested to move up and be challenged. He praised the learning coaches and all the work they have done in helping with this new program.
• Whitko Career Academy: Five programs offer dual credit opportunities through Ivy Tech, and two teachers plan to pick up additional training towards helping with that over the summer. A tour and scavenger hunt were held last week, Ag Day was May 17th and was fun, and Karla Yeager is retiring at the end of the year; she has served Whitko for 24 years.
• Whitko Jr/Sr High: Not present.
• Athletics: Spring sports are finishing up, softball sectionals are starting, and multiple girls track members made regionals. Boy’s Golf TRC is May 29; their sectionals are June 3; summer Youth Camps are coming up, and four seniors were recognized at the TRC Senior Awards Banquet.
• Operations: Working on summer school routes, cleaning buses and the garage; construction is ongoing.
• Special Services: Nothing shared; Kari Walmer present as Interim Lead Administrator.
• Whitko Early Learning Center (Formerly “Little Cats”): Sharing for the first time at a school board meeting since being recently hired, Director Rachel Hardy said they are working on purchasing items through a grant for their new before and after school programs. Due to website updates, online enrollment is not working, so Hardy suggested parents call to enroll their children. Little Cats is working on professional development through a grant, choosing a curriculum, and helping students learn to self-regulate. They will be closing for the summer to remedy the items they are not in state compliance with, including fulfilling licensing requirements.
• Tech Department: Director Jason Cline mentioned upcoming device pickup and some upkeep items that must be accomplished before the upgrade project in July; he gave a shoutout to student intern Dawson Bradley, and said, “We are also working with Winona IT to…uh…shore up some of our cyber security…uh…understanding…and [long pause] that’s all I’ve got,” and apologized.

In donation news, WCA metals-welding classes received an anonymous donation of $500 as a memorial to Mr. Holloway, and Pierceton businesses donated a total of $625 to support the elementary school’s book fair; WCA Robotics Team received $830 Mastercard donation from the VEX Team’s volunteer hours.

Before moving to public comment, School Board President Annette Arnold explained that the school board had discussed changing the publishing of the agenda and how public comment is handled. The new plan is for the Monday agenda to be discussed at the Wednesday Work Session and then published on the school’s website the following Friday at noon. Arnold said there is no requirement from the state for agendas to be released ahead of time, only posted on the building prior to the meeting, so by releasing the information ahead of time, the board members hope to demonstrate an improvement in transparency. She said the public comment portion would need to relate to agenda items, limit each speaker to three minutes, and allow for a maximum of thirty minutes, per an attorney’s suggestion. At the end of the meeting, there would be additional public comment time to allow for non-agenda-related comments (still with a three minutes per person limit and thirty minutes total time limit). Arnold said comments would be allowed at Work Sessions as well, following the same limits, and then she also specified that comments would not need to be responded to by board members, nor questions answered, though the board would “take comments under advisement.” She then stressed again that allowing the second public comment portion (for items not related to the agenda) was an option they would allow in their attempt toward listening to the public.

Two community members spoke during the public comment section, and as they had not been allowed/able to speak at the last three sessions, they both used their full three minutes. Samantha Coburn suggested that the school’s new Superintendent should not also be the district’s Compliance Officer, as this is not conducive towards resolving issues in situations where people may have complaints against the superintendent, something that happened on at least a few occasions with recently-resigned Tim Pivarnik. She also said that she has done some research on the recent PowerSchool/brownout situation and feels it’s possible that the school was actually hacked, that it wasn’t merely a “perfect storm” situation. According to Coburn, in such a data breach situation, schools are required to notify parents within 48 hours, something which did not occur. Coburn said that since the PowerSchool incident, she has experienced data attacks on credit cards, emails, and passwords, and to this day she still cannot access PowerSchool. She then said that on May 15, the school board held a Special Session that was not publicized on the school’s calendar--only on Facebook, where not everyone had the opportunity to see it. Finally, Coburn requested that Work Sessions not be held in the TAP room, where the noise is too great to properly hear what is said, the room is too small to accommodate more than a handful of people, and last week the doors apparently locked, barring eight people from attending the meeting.

Jarrad Lancaster began by thanking the school board for making changes to try to allow the public to be heard, then mentioned the difference in the superintendent’s pay ($127,500 according to his publicly available contract) and the checks paid to him by the school in 2023 ($160,807.15--according to Whitko’s financial records, obtained through official request). Lancaster offered that perhaps there was a simple explanation that the public was not privy to and asked for a followup on where that approximately $33,000 difference came from. He asked if the $127,500 mentioned on the contract was a net or gross number, but the school board opted not to respond or answer his questions. Last, Lancaster mentioned the large amount of teachers and staff lost each month (nine this month, not counting those moving position or retiring) and questioned if we know why that is happening and how we change it. He pointed out that losing teachers disrupts the children and can cause them stress.

For the business portion of the meeting, it was very difficult to hear most board members, but especially Deb Thomas at all. Business reports were accepted unanimously with no discussion. Fifth grade teacher Beth Woodard and WCA Administrative Assistant Karla Yeager were congratulated on their time at Whitko and upcoming retirements. Jody Clark was introduced as the new Whitko Jr/Sr High Principal; Clark has 20 years of administrative experience, and comes “highly recommended” from Prairie Heights, where she served as Assistant Principal and Athletic Director.

New Whitko Jr/Sr High Principal Jody ClarkPhoto byMelany Love

The easement for the Pierceton sidewalk project was gifted to the town through three unanimously approved actions: the resolution transferring the property for free, a waiver of acquisition rights to the Town of Pierceton, and a Memorandum of Understanding for all involved. After School Cental’s request to use a school bus and driver for their June 26 Kings Island trip was unanimously approved with no discussion. The approval of new and updated school board policies in NEOLA Volume 36, No. 1 was unanimous without discussion; the second and final reading is anticipated at the June 17 school board meeting. Field trips were also unanimously approved with no discussion.

Pierceton teacher Laura Cassidy spoke of her experience in fourteen years at Whitko, with her children who were blessed by the teachers at who poured into her children and helped them succeed. Though Cassidy says God is leading her in a different direction, she spoke of the great lengths so many went through to help her child progress from being a struggling preschooler into a very functional adult. Cassidy challenged everyone, “Don’t forget your ‘why’” and thanked the teachers who encouraged her to continue her own education.

Arnold announced an Executive Session on Wednesday, May 22 at 4pm in the WCA TAP room, followed by a Special Session at 4:30, also in the TAP room, which is open to the public. Neither were mentioned on the official Monday agenda and do not currently appear on the district calendar, news section, or official Facebook page as of time of writing this article. The next School Board Work Session is Wednesday, June 12 in the WCA TAP room at 4:00pm, and the next regular meeting will be Monday, June 17 at 6:30 in the WCA lecture room.

Photo byMelany Love, Compiled Image

*Author's Note* There were several moments that were difficult to hear, and a few names were not printed, so if I misspelled anything, please let me know so I can fix it. I’m an independent writer, and I do the best I can to be as thorough as possible. If you appreciate the work, please consider subscribing.