On July 1, Dr. David Hoffert will have served as Warsaw Community Schools’ superintendent for 10 years.
The Warsaw School Board celebrated Hoffert’s upcoming anniversary at its meeting Tuesday.
Hoffert is a fourth-generation Warsaw Tiger, beginning with his great-grandfather's arrival in 1901 after serving in the Spanish-American War. His grandfather, grandmother, father and mother are all graduates, and Hoffert himself graduated in 1998. His sons, Ryun, Robinson and Roosevelt are continuing this legacy at WCS, according to a news release from WCS.
The board adopted a resolution Tuesday of congratulations, gratitude and appreciation for Hoffert’s anniversary. The resolution noted Hoffert has attended over 450 general board meetings, work sessions and executive sessions, all with perfect attendance. Hoffert has overseen several initiatives, including STEM accreditation, dual language immersion Leader-in-Me® schools, the dual credit program and career pathways of study.
The resolution also stated Hoffert has worked on a professional development system that supports growth and best practices for student instruction. He has worked to improve WCS facilities.
In addition, under Hoffert’s leadership, WCS has addressed retention and recruitment with an on-site childcare facility, an employee health clinic and over 150 staff members have received strategic professional development through academic scholarships for graduate degrees, stated the release.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Board President Heather Reichenbach said there is also an online tribute to Hoffert, which she said he could watch when he had time. She said it’s basically 51 minutes of a card shower.
Hoffert said the recognition of his 10-year anniversary as superintendent meant a lot to him. He also said he had three families: his cabinet family, his board family and his real family.
Later in the meeting, Jeremy Skinner, city of Warsaw community and economic development director, updated the board on the city’s tax increment finance (TIF) districts. He said he updates the board every year.
During his presentation, Skinner said economic development projects are a direct result of capital improvements made by capturing TIF increment or increment captured from economic bonds.
He said if there were no TIF district, the resulting lost revenue for the city would be $4,307,474 in 2023 and an estimated $4,047,042 in 2024.
Skinner said projects being worked on in the Northern TIF includes housing projects. On the north side of the city, Warsaw is working on three housing projects.
He said the city has had a heavy focus on building more housing, which includes the Owen, Buffalo Street and Gatke projects.
On the south side of the city, Warsaw is working on connecting Eisenhower Elementary School to things like other subdivisions. He said it is one of the main projects the city is planning on focusing on in the next five years.
In other business, the board:
• Recognized Vincennes University for its partnership with the Warsaw Area Career Center for dual credits. WACC Principal Ben Barkey said Vincennes donated three machines for the WACC’s machining programming.
• Learned from Director of Human Resources Sheila Howe the school corporation is in need of teachers for dual language immersion for sixth grade and special education for next school year. She said as far as bus drivers and bus aides, she believes WCS is in good shape for next year.
• Approved the acceptance of several grants: a $31,350 digital learning grant from the Indiana Department of Education, a Health First Indiana grant of$123,750, a United Way - Start United grant of $18,000 and an Indiana Commission for Higher Education - Teacher Residency grant of $45,000.