CCSC Board approves administrative contracts

The Cloverdale Community School Corporation (CCSC) Board of School Trustees met in regular session on May 12 to approve routine matters, recognize student and staff members of the month, and to address several items under the new business portion of the meeting. Board member Joe Mann was not in attendance.

Under routine matters, the board voted 5-0-1, with board member Mike Rightmyer II abstaining from the vote due to a previous meeting absence, to approve meeting minutes for executive and regular sessions held April 14.

Acting on a motion from Rightmyer, seconded by Donna Fidler, the board voted 6-0 to approve the latest claims and financial reports, which CCSC Superintendent Greg Linton advised totaled $2,443,720.21 since the board's previous meeting.

Also under routine matters, the board voted 6-0 to approve Board Policies Volume 37, No. 1. Next, the board recognized the corporation's Student of the Month honorees for May, which included Cloverdale Elementary School (CES) student Brylie Jones, Cloverdale Middle School (CMS) student Aven Harrell and Cloverdale High School (CHS) student Jesse Carroll.

Whitney Roberts, CES special education teacher, was recognized as the latest Staff Member of the Month.

CCSC School Resource Officer (SRO) Roger Tonna was in attendance to recognize the corporation's Citizens of the Month for May, which included CES fourth graders Ross Pace and Wade Bartlett and CMS student Eden Parrish.

"I want to congratulate all of you," board president Vivian Whitaker said at the conclusion of the presentations, addressing the Student of the Month recipients. "You set a wonderful example for your classmates and your schoolmates."

Next, the board heard an update from Project Manager Bob Ross of Indianapolis-based Schmidt Associates. Ross noted the corporation's new training and practice facility will consist of an additional 20,000 square feet. In addition to the renovation of 1,375 square feet of existing space. In addition to site improvements and drainage repairs in and around the football field area, Ross said the project will include enhanced athletic facilities to improve safety and support athletic improvement, enhanced curricular opportunities for the corporation's physical fitness curriculum and increased opportunities for community engagement.

Construction is anticipated to begin in the spring of 2026.

The board later cast individual 6-0 votes to approve the CHS summer school session and 2025 summer Marching Band/Color Guard program. Karl Turk, Dana Lorenze and Anick Taylor were approved to teach/supervise the 2025 online summer school program, while band director Jared Metzger and Guard instructor Rebecca Raisor will guide the summer Marching Band/Color Guard program.

Acting on a motion from Fidler, seconded by Emily Haltom, the board voted unanimously to approve a request from Old National Trails to provide summer school services for one CHS student. The duration of the summer session is 18 days, three hours per day, during the months of June and July. A teacher and instructional assistant were also approved at rates of $38.25 and $17.37 per hour.

The board also voted 6-0 to approve one-year contract extensions for administrator Sonja Stoltz, Mary Jane Elkins, Chelsey Meluch, Cathy Ames, Brent Sailor and Ethan Linton. The extensions provide each administrator with contracts through June 30, 2027. The approval effectively placed each building principal, assistant principal and curriculum director on a two-year contract.

No pay increases were included.

"I believe the school corporation is very fortunate to have the current group of building administrators working in their current positions," noted CCSC Superintendent Greg Linton. "They are dedicated to our students and community and spend the necessary time to ensure their job responsibilities are completed."

The board later voted 6-0 to approve expanding the CMS math department by adding Tyce Jackson as a fulltime teacher. According to CMS Principal Ms. Meluch, the staff addition will enable the school to better allocate its special education resources and provide a consistent instructor for all eighth-grade pre-algebra students. In addition, the school will be able to modify its seventh-grade math schedule, she said, to allow for two sections of seventh grade prealgebra to be taught.

Unanimous 6-0 board votes also approved the hiring of a homebound instructor for a student at CMS, and the hiring of Debbie Atwood, Jessica Burdge and Abbie Kenworthy to aid with summer bus maintenance.

Also under new business, the board approved letting CHS baseball and softball scoreboards as surplus, with no scoreboards to be donated to the Cloverdale Community Youth League (CCYL).

In other athletic news, the board unanimously approved a recommendation from CCSC Athletic Director James Wade to allow Cloverdale Football to join the Southwest Football Conference, beginning with the 2026-2027 school year.

The Southwest Conference is currently comprised of four schools – North Central-Farmersburg, North Daviess, North Knox and Eastern Greene.

"It is my desire and Cloverdale football's desire to find a football conference for our student-athletes to compete so they can experience the journey of fighting for a championship and academic and athletic honors that playing independently does not afford," Wade noted in his letter of recommendation.

"Beginning in 2025, we will already play North Daviess and North Central-Farmersburg as part of our regular season schedule, and our school size aligns well with all the schools in the conference. This conference would be a great fit and opportunity for our school and football program."

The evening's meeting included one addition to the agenda, the reappointment of Derrick Raymer to the Owen County Public Library's Board of Directors. Raymer, who currently serves as president of the board, was unanimously approved to serve a second four-year term.

In addition, the board unanimously approved the following professional leave, field trip, and facility use requests:

Professional Leaves
April 17 – Julie Dix, CHS kitchen remodel.
April 24-25 – Karl Turk, National Career Development Conference/JAG, JW Marriott, Indianapolis.
May 5 – Rachel Newton and Angie Banard, taking the Praxis 5205, CMS.
May 9 – Kenzie Piper – Putnam County Fourth Grade Field Day, Putnam County Fairgrounds, Greencastle.
June 5-6 – Alison Dobbs – Conference for Continuing Ed (LMC licensure), Plainfield.

Field Trips
April 17 – CHS junior and senior classes, Area 30.
April 24 – JAG, JW Marriott, Indianapolis.
May 8 – CHS freshman class, Indianapolis Indians game, Indianapolis.

Facility Use
June 24-25 – CHS gymnasium, CHS boys' basketball Summer Shootout.

Additional personnel matters receiving unanimous board approval included:

Resignation
Tracy Young – CHS instructional assistant.
Sarah Campbell – CES instructional assistant.

Employment
Jamie Nees – CES special education teacher.
Alexis Mumma – CCSC choir teacher.
Tori Maldonado – Knox teacher.
Silas Plasters – CMS temporary custodian.
Asyria Ford – Transportation summer help.

Coaching Resignation
Drew Boyette – CHS assistant varsity football coach.

Coaching Volunteer
Anthony Vermillion – CMS seventh/eighth grade volunteer assistant football coach.

The Cloverdale Community School Board will meet again on Monday, June 9 beginning at 7 p.m. in the Arthur L. Johnson Administration Building, 310 E. Logan St., Cloverdale. Members of the board include Vivian Whitaker, Katrina Lewis, Donna Fidler, Melissa Carrell, Emily Haltom, Joe Mann and Mike Rightmyer II.