Whitko Sees Several Administrative Vacancies

PIERCETON - Whitko School Corp. has several administration vacancies to fill.

Along with its ongoing search for a new school superintendent to replace the retiring Dr. William Worl, the school board Monday officially accepted the resignation of director of curriculum Dr. Diana Showalter, Whitko High School athletic director Nicholas Eccles and Whitko High School principal Larry Stoner.

Showalter has accepted the position of superintendent of Manchester schools. She told the board she submitted her resignation with mixed feelings as it will be hard to leave the Whitko School Corp., but opportunities don't always happen twice. Her six years at Whitko were good years, she said, and she will miss everyone.

School board president Hal Trump said the board has pared down the superintendent candidate list to three. Today, Wednesday and Thursday, the school board will conduct interviews with the final three candidates in executive session.

Because of the North Central Indiana Cooperative dismantling, the school board approved hiring several employees to take care of Whitko's special needs students. Those hired include Dee Maggard and Heather Peebles, behavior coaches at Pierceton Elementary; Kimm Mobley, school psychologist; Kim Umbaugh, special services administrative assistant; Victoria Cornell, mental health therapist; and Jennifer McCauley, special services consultant.

Showalter said Whitko schools already had those positions in place, "but they were not always all ours" because other school corporations in NCI shared the use of them. Other part-time special needs positions within the school corporation will be contracted out and will be paid a pro-rated amount. The amount is determined by how many students Whitko has with disabilities.

The money for the services won't come out of the school corporation's budget, as the federal government will pay for them. The money was going to NCI, but now since NCI has disbanded, Whitko's share of money will go to Whitko.

"For the most part," said Showalter, "students won't see any difference."

In other business, the school board:

• Reported pursuant to fire prevention inspections during January that Pierceton, South Whitley and Whitko Middle schools have received letters indicating full compliance and satisfactory status. Two minor corrections were noted at the high school and both have been corrected. A letter indicating full compliance and satisfactory status is anticipated in the next few days.

• Approved the construction of a 8-foot by 10-foot wooden shed near the middle school greenhouse to store supplies and equipment.

• Approved the donation of two automated external defibrillators from Parkview Whitley Hospital, one each to the middle school and high school.

• Approved the grounds maintenance agreement to cover the care and maintenance of the athletic fields at the middle and high schools during the 2003 growing season.

• Heard April 29-30 is "Special Notes for Special People" day and Spirit Day at Pierceton Elementary; April 22 is kindergarten round-up at South Whitley Elementary; 7 p.m. Wednesday is the Whitko Middle School's concert; April 2 is parent-teacher conferences at the high school; and March 26 is the National Honor Society induction.

• Recognized John J. "Jay" Ocken, industrial technology teacher at the high school, for being selected a Teacher Creativity Fellowship from the Lilly Endowment to study silversmithing techniques.

• Announced the next regular meeting of the school board will be April 21 at 7:30 p.m. with an executive session at 6 p.m.

Members of the Whitko School Corp. Board of School Trustees are Hal Trump, E. Marie Trump, Pete Mitchell, Dave Tranter and Michael Braddock.

• Delay procedures explained

PIERCETON - During times of severe winter weather, school corporations have to make a determination as to whether to have school or not, delay school or dismiss school early.

Monday, Whitko Community School Corp. Superintendent Dr. William Worl explained the procedure for making such determinations. A Whitko High School student, Joe Shepherd, then explained his frustrations with the decision-making.

Worl said the winter weather procedure is one of the most difficult and most thankless decisions the school corporation has to make.

"The safety of our students is really what governs our decision," he said.

Three administrators, including Worl, begin driving roads in each section of the school district as early as 4:30 a.m. They meet at the administration building in Pierceton at 5:30 a.m. to discuss the conditions. They contact the Kosciusko and Whitley counties' sheriff and highway departments and try to make a decision by 6 a.m. They also look at computer models using NEXRAD and National Weather Service Doppler radar so their decision can be based not only on what the weather is like early in the morning but also what it may be during the entire day. The superintendent makes the final decision with the director of transportation and director of maintenance.

On days when the weather is severe, Worl said, parents are encouraged to have their students use bus transportation. All buses have a radio communication system in place and the bus drivers stay in contact with each other, reporting to one another on the driving conditions.

With Public Law 221, Worl said, schools are required to increase student achievement dramatically. While the school corporation needs to be very careful about students' safety, there also is a need "to keep an eye open" for learning opportunities.

"Every year is unique," he said regarding cancellations and delays. "Our criteria hasn't changed."

So far this school year, there has been one one-hour delay, two two-hour delays and no closings.

Shepherd said he was at the school board meeting to let the school board get a "real student's point of view of the delay situation," specifically the severe weather conditions on March 5.

On that day, he was in a minor incident and his vehicle went into a ditch. But there have been many mornings this school year when parents, students and even some staff thought differently from the corporation regarding delays or closings, he said. He understood that no matter what decision the school corporation made, however, someone always will disagree.

On March 5, he said, there were 40 accidents in Kosciusko and Whitley counties involving students, parents and even staff. Some did involve "inexperienced" drivers, he admitted, but not all. Many parents called their students in on that day and said they would not be attending or would be late - and those were excused absences or late arrivals. If the schools allowed these students to be late to school, perhaps the school corporation should have considered a delay for all students, Shepherd said.

After talking to administrators and listening to Worl on the corporation's procedure for calling delays and closings, Shepherd said he feels better about the process, but if the roads are going to be bad, students should not be sent to school.

• Parents express concern about alternative school

PIERCETON - For several South Whitley Elementary School parents, one of their worst fears has happened.

On March 5, a police officer was requested at the elementary school concerning a suspicious substance found on an alternative school student. Half an hour later, the juvenile was arrested for allegedly possessing marijuana.

South Whitley Elementary PTO president Valerie Warner, also a parent of two elementary students, said Monday she was again at the school board meeting to inquire about the alternative school program being held at the elementary school and if it is going to be relocated. She said she knew when she brought the matter up at the November school board meeting that the location of the alternative learning program wasn't going to change this year, but she hoped it would by next school year.

At the November meeting, she told the school board she understood the alternative learning program is an academic program, not necessarily a disciplinary program, but typical high school behavior is not appropriate for an elementary school. The major concern, she said, is not of the program as a whole, but the location is wrong.

Monday, Whitko Schools Superintendent Dr. William Worl said the school board was not in any position right now to get into any detail about the alternative learning program.

Warner said the school corporation needs to consider the best interests of the students. She had another parent read her letter to the school board because she was unable to do so when she became emotional.

In her letter, Warner wrote the incident at South Whitley Elementary School March 5 is the kind of incident parents were afraid would happen with the alternative learning program there. Those students don't belong at the school and she can't understand the school board's reason why those students are in the elementary school.

Worl said at the April 21 board meeting there probably will be an opportunity where the school board and the corporation can share some additional information on the matter. The March 5 situation was unfortunate but has been handled by local law enforcement and through the school corporation's disciplinary procedures. He said he doesn't believe any South Whitley students had any contact with the incident.