Also in her report, the superintendent shared:

• Baseline data that showed in the 2022-23 school year, approximately 46 percent of students K-12 were involved in some sort of extracurricular, co-curricular or after school activity. Broken down by building, 63.1 percent of students at the middle/high school level were involved, while 9 percent of elementary students participated.
• The district is starting to catalog business partners in hope of recognizing those partnerships with the community.
• There have been great strides to provide professional development and a focus on the Science of Reading and teachers have started to share the gains in student achievement as a result. One of the benchmarks is a 95 percent graduation rate. Data from the IDOE in December shows the graduation rate for West Central at 95.65 percent which surpasses the state average and the local goal.
• The district is on target to maintain a 15 percent cash balance in the Education fund, and has met benchmarks with regard to spending and saving and energy efficiency.
• Second Step curriculum, including bullying curriculum has been purchased and is being implemented in both buildings.
• Building walkthroughs take place regularly and the district has been making improvements consistently in the past many months.
• The improvement project in the band/choir rooms is wrapping up and the “difference is amazing.”
• ProAudio by Brand was at the middle/high school before the Christmas break to set all lighting and sound settings back to default and gave the system a check-up.
• The Boys and Girls Club is looking for two to three more people to help, so until they get those individuals hired, it appears it will be Feb. 1 before the club begins. Interested persons should contact the school corporation office.
• Teachers will work on curriculum maps Jan. 18, the next early release is Jan. 26, and the next student count day is Feb. 1.

In the annual school board election of officers Jake Tanner was voted as president. Kyle McTeigue was elected vice president, and Mandy Sharpe was voted as secretary.

Board members who are applicable under the law have filled out and completed annual conflict of interest forms.

The board approved a motion to set the board meeting dates as the first Thursday in each month at 7:30 p.m., except for July meeting which will be July 11, for the 2024 calendar year.

Student of the Month awards were presented by the school board to middle/high school student Landyn McTeigue and elementary school selection Myra DeMoss,.

Personnel items

The board accepted the resignations of Deidre Hernandez, cafeteria manager, and  Kristy Wireman, CSS.

The board approved the employment of the following:

• Sarah Buche - elementary teacher, WCES
• Linda Hunter - MS/HS cafeteria manager

Leave requests were approved for the following:

• Taylor Hook - maternity leave starting March 25 through end of 2023-24 school year - CSS
• Devin Green – Dec. 11-19 (2023)
• Amy Anliker – Dec. 12-19 (2023)

Action items

The board voted to approve the appointments of the following individuals for 2024:

• Shannon Fritz - Corporation Treasurer
• Chassidy Leman - Corporation Assistant Treasurer/Human Resources
• Casie Allen - Extra-Curricular Treasurer
• Church, Church, Hittle & Antrim - School Corporation Attorneys

The board approved the Internal Verification Procedure for Food Service, as presented.

The school board approved the second reading and adoption of policies presented, with the exception of removing policy 4022: Non-Public Student Participation in Public School, which will be discussed next month.

Principal reports

Elementary school principal Mike Carlson shared December was a busy month at the elementary:

Donuts with Dudes had a great turnout. 353 students and friends came early in the morning for donuts, games, to have their picture taken, and to choose a book.

Families also enjoyed the Christmas program that kindergarten, first grade and second grade prepared with Mrs. Mahaffey.

Mrs. Bernal’s class had another enjoyable trip to Parkview to read and make cookies with the residents.

Benchmarking is almost complete. Absences put the school behind on some testing.

The staff is excited for fifth and sixth grades to join in a pilot program with the middle school. Training went well, and teachers are excited to see how it helps students’ reading.

Middle/high school assistant principal Michael Slys shared that December was a short but busy month:

Mr. Sholey and Mrs. Mahaffey put on an “absolutely amazing” band and choir concert.

The students took their mid-year NWEA tests. The goal this year is for 75% of the students to reach their growth goal by the end of the year, and the middle schoolers are well on their way in language arts. They had the highest growth seen in five years. The 7th grade had 70% of the students reach their goal in language usage and 70% reach their reading goals. The 8th grade had 79% of the students reach their goal in language usage and 67% in reading.

Miss Struss put on another successful carnival for the middle school incentive program. She also had a record number of students who qualified to attend.

Mrs. Spoonemore’s Sunshine Club helped collect and organize food baskets for West Central families in need. Family Express, Rose Acre Farms, Fratco, and Fingerhut Bakery all made generous donations to help fill the baskets.

Drake and Hayden Fritz, who both earned their 100th wrestling wins, were named co-athletes of the week for the second week of December. They were interviewed on WKVI radio Jan. 6.

Students played a school-wide game of Christmas Monopoly. Parents and local businesses came through in a huge way, donating all sorts of prizes. There was a lot of participation during lunchtime for the games, treats, and trivia the last five days. Everyone seemed to have fun and enjoyed themselves before they headed into a much-needed break.

Grades have been finalized and report cards have been sent out.

Board of Finance reorganization

The Board of Finance of the West Central School Corporation met before the regular board meeting..

In an election of officers Jeff Lowry was voted as president of the Board of Finance, and Mandy Sharpe was elected secretary. Shannon Fritz was designated treasurer, as the investing officer.

The board voted to designate Lake City Bank, Medaryville branch and Alliance Bank, Francesville branch as the depositories for the year.

Superintendent Cathy Rowe reviewed the current accounts, including checking, savings and certificates of deposit.

Superintendent Rowe also reviewed the report of the district’s financial condition as well as the fiscal and qualitative indicators dashboard per IC 5-13-7-8.