Cloverdale prepares for the school year

By LAUREN BOUCHER

Staff Writer

CLOVERDALE -- The final month of summer has just begun and the Cloverdale School Board met Monday evening in preparation for the upcoming school year.

Although Dan Sulkoske was absent from this month's meeting, Superintendent Carrie Milner updated the board on the status of the roofing and mechanical projects.

The high school rubber roof and barrel roof projects are officially completed as well as the rubber roof at the elementary school. However, the board is still waiting for the final inspections. Landscaping is also still ongoing.

HVAC project is also scheduled for completion this week. Permanent cooling is expected to be turned on at the end of the week.

The board was also informed that the survey and drainage work is still ongoing and Sulkoske will give a formal presentation during the August meeting.

Milner also presented the board with information about a possible wellness clinic, which could open in the fall. The clinic would provide free services to those who have health insurance with the district.

"It's a very good thing," Milner said. "This would be a huge savings to the district. It will encourage good habits and wellness."

Services include testing and basic screenings as well as providing generic pharmacy prescriptions.

The clinics would be in various towns and cities around west centeral Indiana to make may not live in Cloverdale. There are currently no set locations for the clinics yet, but some of the places mentioned were Brazil, Greencastle and Rockville.

The Trust and the clinic manager will determine days and hours of operation. A third party administrator, Wellness for Life, would run the clinics.

Registration for the upcoming school year will soon begin. The corporation will be holding registration at the Putnam County Fair as well as on Thursday, Aug. 1 at the schools.

It is expected to run from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. in the cafeteria.

The board also discussed the Student Transfer Request House Enrolled Act 1381, which became effective July 1.

The new act mandates corporations to set deadlines for those wishing to transfer into a different school district to help discourage those from moving into a new district during the middle of the school year.

The Cloverdale School Corporation decided to set a deadline of Friday, Sept. 27.

Finally, as it is done yearly, the board also approved a long list of coaching and volunteer positions for the corporation's fall sports programs.

However, the board was met with opposition from one unhappy former coach who had found out she was not coming back.

"Today, I found out I do not have my eighth-grade girls back. This would have been my sixth year," said former eighth-grade volleyball coach Missy Carroll. "Today I find this out. I was never once notified that there was a position available. I was told right after school was out that my position was safe. I don't think that I've done a bad job in the five years that I've been here."

Carroll expressed an interest in getting her position as volleyball coach for the eighth-grade girls back. However, she was told that the issue would be discussed with her in private at a different time.

The board went on to approve the new coaching hires on a vote of 3-1 with Brian Asbury opposing. Board members Donna Fidler, Pamelia Hepfer and Chris Mann were all absent from the meeting.

Asbury went on to say that he did not agree with how the some of the recent issues, including hiring a new volleyball coach, who happens to be the daughter of a board member and current principal, were being handled.

"There's been an injustice done. I hope we can make it right, we have in the past." said Asbury. "It's bad business. I just want a Cloverdale that's fair, open and inviting. We need to make sure this doesn't happen. I don't want us as a board to be known as the board that that allows bad business to happen on our watch.

"People may take it to the polls in a year and a half and vote me out of here. So be it. We've got to become a better board."

The varsity volleyball coach will be Kathy Moore, with Kristen Ferran as the new junior varsity coach. Taking Carroll's position is Megan Puckett with the seventh-grade volleyball coach being Traci Scott.

Tim Blayden was approved as the high school volunteer assistant volleyball coach.

There were also several other personnel matters approved, ,including: Andy Tyler as high school co-ed cross country head coach; Jared Briles as middle school fifth-eighth grade co-ed cross country coach; Matthew Langdon as girls' golf coach; Bryan Archer, Kurt Kyle and Jim Spencer as high school assistant football coaches; Scott White as a high school volunteer assistant football coach; Billy Boyette as middle school football coach; David Petty as seventh-grade football coach; Michael Nees and Brad Szczerbik as and seventh and eighth-grade assistant football coaches; Tisha Asbury as high school cheerleading coach; and Bambi Burton as middle school cheerleading coach.

Laurie Bremmer was also hired as a replacement bus driver.