The Church, Church, Hittle & Antrim law firm of Noblesville was appointed as school corporation attorneys.

Conflict of interest forms were completed by board members who are applicable under this law, as required.

In her superintendent’s report, Dr. Cathy Rowe shared the timeline regarding Tecton and Moake Park architecture firm’s progress on the band/choir room project. She said the design is scheduled to be complete by the end of March, and another meeting to talk design will take place in the next few weeks.

Rowe said West Central has been notified that a generous scholarship donation is being made available to students this spring in honor of Earl Teske.

The superintendent also reported:

• On the Jan. 2 teacher in-service day, Michelle Grewe from the Northern Indiana Educational Service Center provided inservice regarding Depth of Knowledge and Effective Questioning and will return on Jan. 27 during the next early release in-service.
• Average Daily Membership will take place again on Feb. 1 and the school corporation looks forward to seeing an enrollment increase.
• A Communicator newsletter is in the works and should be coming out in the next few weeks.
• Teachers will engage in curricular mapping in February.
• The school board will engage in strategic planning on Feb. 16 with more details forthcoming.
• The school corporation’s online auction will be up and running soon with items the board has declared surplus, and a link will be available on the school corporation’s website.
• A description and explanation of traditional ELearning, Synchronous and Make-Up days was given as well.

Board Member Mandy Sharpe was pleased to present the MS/HS winner Destiny Gibson with her “Student of the Month” certificate. Jeff Lowry was happy to present Envee Grandchamp as the recipient of the Elementary Student of the Month award.

Personnel items

The school board approved the resignations of David Reif (middle school track) and  Patti Kem (Cooperative School Services Director), as presented.

Approval was given to employ Maribeth Benesh to the cafeteria staff.

Leave requests were approved for Leanna Nielsen, maternity leave April 14 through end of school year; and Jodi Wash, afternoon personal leave on Dec. 16.

Action items

The school board approved the resolution to transfer friends within the Education fund as presented.

Approval was given for the agreement with Administrator Assistance to assist with school board strategic planning.

The board voted to approve the Laffoon and Associates Technology staffing agreement as presented..

Approval was given to Francesville First Baptist Church’s request for the rental of a bus to transport a group to Bazz’s Roller Rink Wed. Jan. 4.

The board voted to approve the high school wrestling team overnight trip to Franklin on Jan. 6-7.

A motion was approved to grant the WC Trojan Wrestling Club request for use of facilities without charge.

Principal Reports

Elementary school principal Mike Carlson shared December “flew by.” The school had a wonderful turnout for “Donuts with Dudes,” and was able to hold the first Christmas program since 2019. kindergarten, first grade, and second grade demonstrated their hard work and talent. Mrs. Mahaffey put together a very nice program, and the gym was full of families.

Reading and math winter benchmarking was completed last month. Scores predict the school is on track for the same growth rates as last year. Planning will be done to meet the increased goal for this year.

It is Science textbook adoption this year. Unit Leaders will attend the caravan this month to begin looking at new materials.

It’s been a smooth start coming back from break, and the staff is looking forward to a great semester.

Middle/high school assistant principal Michelled Miller shared December was only 12 days long and jam packed with activities.

Senior Audrey Kroft had one of her pictures from photography class chosen to be published in the LightStream calendar. She was also awarded a Visa gift card.

The band and choir had their winter concert.

The school provided 53 food baskets to families in need. Organizers extended thanks to Fratco for donating turkeys and hams, Lewis Bakeries of LaPorte for donating bread, and to Family Express headquarters in Valparaiso for donating a gallon of milk for each basket. Also, a huge thank you goes out to Shelby Powell and Holly Benesh for delivering the baskets and to Mr. Odom’s Civics class for helping collect and organize the food.

The middle schoolers took their winter NWEA, and they showed a lot of growth in math and language arts. The sophomore’s and junior’s PSAT scores came in. As a group, the sophomores scored 21 points above the state average, and the juniors scored 72 points above the state average.

The middle schoolers who had good grades and behavior were able to participate in the carnival put on by Miss Strus. The high schoolers finished up the semester with exams, and the whole building went to the gym to compete in the Reindeer Games. Students with perfect attendance were put into a drawing for a chance to win gift cards donated by the following businesses: The Isis Movie Theater, Medaryville Pizza King, and Tippy’s.

The boys basketball team wrapped up 2022 as the champions of the South Central Holiday Tournament.

Board of Finance

The Board of Finance Committee of the West Central School Corporation also met Thursday, Jan. 5. Jake Tanner was elected president of the Board of Finance. Jeff Lowry was elected secretary of the Board of Finance. Shannon Fritz, was designated as treasurer and investing officer. Lake City Bank, Medaryville, branch and Alliance Bank, Francesville, branch were designated as the depositories for the year.

Superintendent Rowe reviewed the current accounts, including checking, savings and certificates of deposit. She also reviewed the report of the district’s financial condition, as well as the fiscal and qualitative indicators dashboard per Indiana Code 5-13-7-8.