New Beginnings, Changes, and a Need For Full-Time Subs

LARWILL-With an Executive Session scheduled prior to the regular school board meeting and two Grievances heard as part of the agenda, Monday’s meeting was an unusual one with more content than most. All board members were present. As school has only been in session just over a week, there was no recognition of Students of the Month.

The football teams and managers were praised for their community service efforts, which was also covered by 21 Alive News. Yearbooks from 1972 through 2013 are available to view for free on the Whitko Alumni page. Congrats were also given for students involved in local and county fairs through 4-H.

• Pierceton Elementary Principal Christy Haupert praised the staff in starting the new school year, and she said 252 students attended Back to School night. August 30th will be Picture Day, and the first PTO meeting of the new school year will be Wednesday, September 11. September 16th will be a presentation on the ARC curriculum which will aim to get kids excited about the program and help inform parents about it. September 16th is the Fall Fundraiser Kickoff.
• South Whitley Principal Joel Holsopple said the school is working on procedures and expectations, building schedules, and implementing positive encouragement strategies to reinforce good attitudes and behaviors, what they call “The Wildcat Way.” Strategies include the students earning printed paper slips that they can exchange for rewards.
• Chris Benedict of Whitko Career Academy spoke very quickly, sharing that the students are doing their OSHA training and that the construction trades have partnered with The Giving Gardens in Columbia City to renovate an old trailer in early September. They have also received a $100,000 grant from the Whitley County Community Foundation, which they plan to use towards some new machines. WCA plans to use the remainder of their Cyber Security Grant from the Whitley County EDC to complete some certifications, and they have 52 seniors enrolled in the Career Academy programs.
• Whitko Jr/Sr High Principal Jodie Clark said Whitko saw a 15% increase in attendance for Back to School night from last year, and they have five new staff members. In addition to Life Skills moving to the Career Academy building, several other moves and repurposing of rooms and offices has occurred, including giving the SRO and Mental Health Therapist offices in the front office of the Jr/Sr High. Clark said some new policies have also been implemented, aimed at helping “empower our students a little bit more,” including the new “no cell phones” policy, and Clark says the students have been very cooperative and positive towards the experience. She hopes this will cut down on cyber bullying and improve focus in classrooms. Whitko has also begun having the students wipe down lunch tables themselves, which they hope also helps get kids to know each other better. Safety Week was the first week of school this year, covering all the different emergency drills right away, rather than the usual covering of a new emergency situation each month. School Board President Annette Arnold questioned how the “no cell phones” policy was being enforced, whether phones were being left in a specific place or something, and Clark responded that some teachers do have specific places to put phones, but mostly the policy has been more, “If we see it or hear it, we’ll take it,” and that students have so far been very cooperative.
• Athletic Director Barry Singrey focused on the many updates to the Whitko facilities, saying the new (safer and less steep) steps at the football stadium have been installed, and new wind screens have been ordered for the football field as well; wind screens for the softball field are ready to order this fall, and those will need replaced about every two years going forward, with the intention being to stagger their purchases so as not to order them all at once. Two new track covers (one each for the home and away sides) are also being ordered to protect the two-year-old track. Covers will have the Whitko brand on them to add “a little more color,” and protect the track a little better. Fall sports have started, and schedules are finalized and available on the athletics website. The first JV and Varsity Volleyball matches are this week, and the first home Football game this Friday at 7 against Prairie Heights, where they will recognize the TRC champion winning teams from last year: Girls Basketball and Girls Track. Alumni Night will be September 13th, and Homecoming will be September 27th. Singrey also thanked the Athletic Boosters for their success in the August 10th Golf Outing fundraiser and for their recent donations and uniform purchases.
• Director of Operations Rhonda Snavely said that Whitko has two new bus drivers, and despite needing four substitute bus drivers the first day of school, all routes are now filled. Snavely said fortunately the subs were seasoned and did a great job. Drivers recently attended a WCCS-hosted workshop that provided Special Needs training, and the groundskeeper position is still open. A new playground has been installed at South Whitley Elementary, and appointments can be made to tour the building improvements completed so far at the Jr/Sr High. Work has been done on the D-Wing restrooms including the fixing the drains and moving the water main; they are waiting for sinks and fixtures to come in, and they will be painting the ceilings in the next two weeks.
• Director of Special Services Kari Walmer said they have approximately thirty incoming students across the district in the Special Services Department. She praised Sally Gilbert, the Administrative Assistant, for all her work and the time spent outside school hours to accomplish the needed processes. Walmer announced a potential partnership with Easter Seals, which would be intended to help special needs students find meaningful employment after their high school career. The only remaining opening in the department is for a Developmental Preschool Teacher.
• Whitko Early Learning Center (Formerly “Little Cats”) Director Rachel Hardy thanked food services for their help with the breakfast and lunch programs. She echoed the need for the new preschool teacher and said they hope to open a new 3’s room in January, although they would need another teacher to do so. She said that new, state-approved curriculum has been purchased and will arrive in 5-7 days, and Pre-K and kindergarten curriculum training will start September 14th. They are in the process of applying for a grant for an infant/toddler playground, and the Early Learning Center has received a Keys Grant through the Community Foundation (which will allow for the purchasing of supplies) and a Dekko Foundation Grant as well. They are utilizing the Employee-Sponsored Grant to furnish rooms and allow a 50% discount for Whitko employees.
• Caleb Logan of Alternative Services shared that over the summer all the programs were moved from a combination of APEX and another program to exclusively APEX, which required a new licensing agreement; the new agreement covers 100 students, rather than the previous fifty. APEX allows for supplemental learning, credit recovery, alternative programs, etc.; there are currently 59 students participating in Alternative Learning.
• Theresa Knepple, in a new position under the heading Technology, Curriculum, & Testing Schedule, said they are working on the change in leadership and are continuing to work with Winona IT, the company helping with Whitko’s recent security breach involving PowerSchool (see former articles). Knepple said although a hiccup had caused the reset of all student passwords on the second day of school, they are learning to improve communication and handle things with grace and patience. Knepple said the K-2 teachers have felt that ARC’s phonics portions have been weak, and they are supplementing the curriculum with UFLI in all buildings. ARC is driving the 7-9th grade classes through independent reading and small group discussions. Additional reading support through Laura Farlow is also being added for the 9-10th grade students. Whitko is one of the 81% of Indiana schools that is piloting the new ILEARN for grades 3-8, which will include four smaller tests throughout the year rather than one large, end of the year test. Fall NWEA testing will be delayed about a week due to the password/technology hiccup.

Interim Superintendent Dr. Tom Edington listed the recent donations, which included: $2,115 from the DEKKO Foundation for STEM Enrichment at the Whitko Early Learning Academy, $7,450 from the DEKKO Foundation for the Whitko Strummers at WJSHS, led by teacher Sara Skow, $5,496 from Whitko Booster Club Inc. to support athletics, $1,000 from Chad Ebbinghouse, Medtronic Foundation Volunteer Grant Program to support the WJSHS baseball team, and $3,875 from Benevity to the Robotics Club.

There were no public comments on Agenda items.

Business Reports and Consent items were all voted and accepted unanimously and without discussion. The business buyout bonds were explained by Lynn Leininger as they were at Wednesday’s Work Session, with the only additional information being that all seven individuals who have departed Whitko recently are fully vested and will have earned their payouts. This item regarding the buyout bonds was approved unanimously, and field trips were unanimously approved. In old business, the second and final reading of changes to policy (regarding cell phones and attendance) were also approved unanimously. The second and final reading of the naming to the position of public access counselors in the Whitko Grievance Process of the Mental Health Counselor and the school’s Superintendent was also approved unanimously.

Dr. Edington said the first week of school has gone well, but “Initial enrollment is down a student or two per grade level across the district.” He announced convenient blood pressure readings and flu shot programs available to staff in the building, while at school. He said Justin and Nick worked hard over the summer with Winona IT.

During the Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items portion, Pierceton Elementary Teacher MaryHelen Gensch spoke. Gensch is beginning her 31st year teaching at Pierceton, that she tries to stay up to date on what is going on in the district, and that she heard that the board was considering eliminating the position of a full-time substitute teacher (mentioned in the Work Session last week) and wanted to address it as a teacher. Gensch said that (at least at Pierceton), the sub crisis still exists, and that at the elementary level, when teachers are missing with no coverage available, it is often the support staff, master teachers, Title 1 teachers, etc. that are pulled from their duties to cover classes. This hurts the students already needing daily interventions, and that learning is crucial. She said she recognized that the cost existed, but that a building being able to at least count on one sub being available every day has value and is greatly appreciated.

Photo byMelany Love

The next Work Session is Wednesday, September 11th in the High School Media Room, and the next regular School Board Meeting is Monday, September 16th in the WCA Lecture Room. Five-minute recess was then held before addressing the remaining agenda items, Article V(B) Grievance and Article V(D) Grievance, at 7:25. These grievances are covered in another article on the subjects of Whitko teacher Dawn Rummel, in her quest to recover sick days that were not paid to her by Whitko, and in her claim of sexual harassment from former Whitko Superintendent, Tim Pivarnik, who resigned earlier this year (and whom I have covered prior here).