Washington Principal Resigns, Interim Principal Named
September 27, 2022 at 1:23 a.m.
By Jackie [email protected]
According to Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert after the Board meeting, Burden resigned “last Thursday” to spend with his family. His last day was Friday.
Cheri Sleighter was named as interim principal. She was an academic coach with Warsaw Community Schools. WCS will go through the hiring process for a new principal at the end of the year, Hoffert said.
Burden was named principal at Washington after Tom Ray retired after the 2020-21 school year.
According to an April 2021 news release from WCS, Burden was a teacher in North Carolina and moved to Washington STEM Academy in 2013. In 2016, he became an instructional coach for Washington STEM and Madison Elementary School. In June 2020, he accepted a position as principal for LaVille Elementary.
In other business, the Board held a hearing for its 2022 general obligation bonds projects.
Due to Indiana code, before the school corporation can finance any project for more than $1 million to a build, repair or alter a school building, there has to be a hearing, said Chief Financial Officer April Fitterling.
The maximum amount the school corporation is looking for is $5.7 million and it will go toward improvements to buildings throughout the corporation. The list of possible projects include roofing projects and upgrades to corporation buildings, said Fitterling. The school corporation is looking to start the projects in summer 2023.
The Board approved three different resolutions in regards to the general obligation bonds - a project resolution, an additional appropriations resolution and the preliminary bond resolution - in order to proceed with obtaining the bonds.
Before the bond hearing, the Board held a hearing for its 2023 proposed budget. It totals $96,161,258. The education fund is $50,700,000. The operations fund is $25,540,000. The debt service fund is $15,340,258. The referendum fund is $2,881,000. The rainy day fund is $1,700,000.
Fitterling said she advertised the tax rate to be at $1.18 per $100 of assessed valuation. She said she always advertises the tax rate high, but expects it to come down.
The Board also heard from Warsaw Community High School Principal Troy Akers as he honored several AP scholars at the high school.
There are three different awards that are awarded by the AP College Board. The first is the AP Scholar, who is a student who has scored at least a 3 on three different AP exams. The second is the AP Scholar with Honor, who is a student that scores at least a 3 on four AP exams. The last one is the AP Scholar with Distinction, who is a student who scores at least a 3 on at least five AP exams.
Akers recognized four students who received the AP Scholar with Honors distinction: Ethan Betances, Parker Bonifield, Ryun Hoffert and Kevin O’Neil. They all scored at least a 3 on four exams.
Akers said the four students had an exam average of a 4 on all their exams.
Akers then recognized the students who received the AP Scholar with Distinction: Kellar Bailey, who scored at least a 3 on six AP exams; Jason Benyousky, who scored at least a 3 on seven exams; Cordelia Grandon, who scored at least a 3 on eight exams; and Edward Robison, who scored at least a 3 on five exams. The average exam scores for the four students was 4.27.
In other business, the Board recognized Jefferson Elementary nurse Xochitl Cervantes and Human Resources Generalist Tracy Beiler.
Jefferson Principal Josh Wall recognized Cervantes for her “grace under pressure” during her work at Jefferson and the amount of care she puts into her job.
Human Resources Director Sheila Howe recognized Beiler for the work she has done in the department and being part of the IASBO Leadership Academy.
According to Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert after the Board meeting, Burden resigned “last Thursday” to spend with his family. His last day was Friday.
Cheri Sleighter was named as interim principal. She was an academic coach with Warsaw Community Schools. WCS will go through the hiring process for a new principal at the end of the year, Hoffert said.
Burden was named principal at Washington after Tom Ray retired after the 2020-21 school year.
According to an April 2021 news release from WCS, Burden was a teacher in North Carolina and moved to Washington STEM Academy in 2013. In 2016, he became an instructional coach for Washington STEM and Madison Elementary School. In June 2020, he accepted a position as principal for LaVille Elementary.
In other business, the Board held a hearing for its 2022 general obligation bonds projects.
Due to Indiana code, before the school corporation can finance any project for more than $1 million to a build, repair or alter a school building, there has to be a hearing, said Chief Financial Officer April Fitterling.
The maximum amount the school corporation is looking for is $5.7 million and it will go toward improvements to buildings throughout the corporation. The list of possible projects include roofing projects and upgrades to corporation buildings, said Fitterling. The school corporation is looking to start the projects in summer 2023.
The Board approved three different resolutions in regards to the general obligation bonds - a project resolution, an additional appropriations resolution and the preliminary bond resolution - in order to proceed with obtaining the bonds.
Before the bond hearing, the Board held a hearing for its 2023 proposed budget. It totals $96,161,258. The education fund is $50,700,000. The operations fund is $25,540,000. The debt service fund is $15,340,258. The referendum fund is $2,881,000. The rainy day fund is $1,700,000.
Fitterling said she advertised the tax rate to be at $1.18 per $100 of assessed valuation. She said she always advertises the tax rate high, but expects it to come down.
The Board also heard from Warsaw Community High School Principal Troy Akers as he honored several AP scholars at the high school.
There are three different awards that are awarded by the AP College Board. The first is the AP Scholar, who is a student who has scored at least a 3 on three different AP exams. The second is the AP Scholar with Honor, who is a student that scores at least a 3 on four AP exams. The last one is the AP Scholar with Distinction, who is a student who scores at least a 3 on at least five AP exams.
Akers recognized four students who received the AP Scholar with Honors distinction: Ethan Betances, Parker Bonifield, Ryun Hoffert and Kevin O’Neil. They all scored at least a 3 on four exams.
Akers said the four students had an exam average of a 4 on all their exams.
Akers then recognized the students who received the AP Scholar with Distinction: Kellar Bailey, who scored at least a 3 on six AP exams; Jason Benyousky, who scored at least a 3 on seven exams; Cordelia Grandon, who scored at least a 3 on eight exams; and Edward Robison, who scored at least a 3 on five exams. The average exam scores for the four students was 4.27.
In other business, the Board recognized Jefferson Elementary nurse Xochitl Cervantes and Human Resources Generalist Tracy Beiler.
Jefferson Principal Josh Wall recognized Cervantes for her “grace under pressure” during her work at Jefferson and the amount of care she puts into her job.
Human Resources Director Sheila Howe recognized Beiler for the work she has done in the department and being part of the IASBO Leadership Academy.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092