Student of the Month presentations were made by board members Kyle McTeigue to WCMS/HS student Alyvia Faler (top) and Jeff Lowry to WCES student Liam Hopkins.

Radtke added the school has six teachers willing to pursue their master’s degrees in order to teach dual credit to help students achieve the ICC in addition to teachers Hillary Durie who just finished hers, and Greg Buschman who has been working on his. Guidance counselor Marci Kennedy met afterwards with junior parents to talk about getting ready for senior year. The school is looking at schedules and moving toward an eight period day next year.

In other business, Superintendent Dr. Cathy Rowe shared rate, levy and budget information with board members, as all information for the 2024 budget has been finalized.

Dr. Rowe also reported West Central and North White are working together to host a Senior Summit Friday, April 12 at West Central. This will be a unique opportunity to teach students those things that do not neatly fall into classroom instruction or courses (how to write a check, finding the dipstick in a vehicle, checking oil, knowing the difference between a debit and credit card, etc.).

The superintendent also:

• Reminded board members who were interested in attending the ISBA Spring Regional Meetings that signups are currently being held for our region on Wednesday, April 17.
• Reminded that WC will have a two-hour early dismissal on Monday, April 8; a snow make-up day on April 19; and an early release day April 26 for professional development. Staff will continue to work on curriculum maps in the area of English/Language Arts.
• Reported the end-of-year staff celebration will be May 24, and board members are invited to attend.
• Announced that staff is working to schedule summer school, but currently working on the list of teachers who would be willing to teach it. Summer swim will be June 10-14.
• Announced that as a member of the Pulaski County Child Care Coalition, the group will be meeting in a planning retreat next Tuesday, April 9.

Student of the Month presentations were made for WCMS/HS student Alyvia Faler and WCES student Liam Hopkins.

Personnel items

The school board approved the resignation of Amanda Davis, cafeteria employee.

Approval was also given to a request from Mary Spiehler, CSS, to transition to part time.

The board voted to approve the following employments, as presented:

• Brad Odom - Varsity boys basketball coach for the 2024-25 school year
• Scott Owens - Varsity boys basketball assistant coach for the 2024-25 school year
• Mike Holle - Junior Varsity boys basketball coach for the 2024-25 school year
• Mike Latimore - 8th grade boys basketball coach for the 2024-25 school year
• Corey Howat - 7tth grade boys basketball coach for the 2024-25 school year
• Dale Sampson - CSS paraprofessional

Leave requests were approved for Jerlu Santillana, April 1; and for Joy Schlatter, March 22 (afternoon).

Action Items

The school board voted to approve the Moake Park Group Professional Services agreement, as presented, as part of the bond project.

The board approved the school board policies as, presented, after their first reading last month and final reading this month.

Approval was given to the West Central 12-month employee summer work hours schedule, as presented.

The board approved the surplus equipment disposal list as presented.

Principal Reports:

Middle/high school principal Angie Radtke reported the FCA sponsored their annual 3-on-3 tournament to raise funds for Riley’s Children’s Hospital.

West Central just received its SAT scores. Seventy-three percent of the students passed the ELA (English/Language Arts, aka reading and writing) section, and 63 percent scored 1000 (40^th percentile) or higher.

The March early-release professional development covered vocabulary instruction and Mr. Santillana modeled some innovative uses of Cornell notes.

Miss Strus organized a trip to the Winamac Park and the Isis Theater for the third nine-week incentive. Mrs. Mahaffy and Mr. Sholey put on another successful Cabaret.

Caps and gowns have been delivered and passed out to seniors.

Elementary school principal Mike Carlson shared that there was a “flurry of activity” at the elementary during the short month of March.

Several grades had extra experiences. First grade again visited Parkview Haven, and Fifth Grade traveled to Lafayette for Junior Achievement Biztown. NIPSCO and the National Energy Foundation provided a great lesson on energy safety to both fourth grade classrooms. The classroom teachers did JA in a Day. Junior Achievement provided lunch and they’re hoping to get volunteers to continue next year.

Thanks were extended to PTC for the wonderful pies for the staff on Pi Day.

IREAD was completed and results have been mailed to parents. Next-step plans are in place. Boys and Girls Club is going well. More students are now being enrolled.

Kindergarten Round Up went very smoothly. The school has 40 prospective new students signed up.

Preparations are being made for ILEARN and gearing up for the other activities that are quickly approaching in May after a restful Spring Break.

Executive Session

The school board met in executive session immediately after the regular meeting, in accordance with state law, to discuss a job performance evaluation of individual employees.