Cloverdale schools continue to improve with projects, grants

CLOVERDALE -- The Cloverdale Community School Corporation got some good news during its monthly meeting Monday as its current renovation project is nearly complete.

Once again, project manager Dan Sulkoske came before the board to give a brief update on the drainage project, which is 90 percent complete, noting that a lot of issues were uncovered in the process.

"It looks really nice out there," Sulkoske said. "At the north end of the high school during construction and putting in that final drain, we uncovered a lot of problems."

Among the issues was insulation on the north end, slope grade issues as well as damage to an existing 12-inch clay pipe.

"Water has been collecting underground," Sulkoske said. "That's why it's all saturated and fails every year."

The sidewalks were also badly damaged and settling next to the building, which also had damage due to excessive water collecting next to it.

"Long story short, this has all been designed and most of it's done," Sulkoske explained. "The asphalt was compromised, the sub grade was compromised. It was quite the mess."

Ordinarily, the board would get together and think about such a project. However, the issues needed to be addressed immediately.

"Most of you know that this is not a piece we could have taken out," Superintendent Carrie Milner said. "It was not going to get better without addressing and repairing it immediately."

Sulkoske added that the entire drainage system would not have worked properly if the issue wasn't taken care of due to the amount of water that was collecting underground due to the broken pipe. However, with all the issues fixed, the project is on track to be completed by the time the school year begins.

"I want you know that the retention pond doesn't look at all like I thought it would," Board member Bobbi Nees said. "I would have never said no if I had thought it was going to look like that. I just couldn't have a child drowning in it."

The Cloverdale Community School Corporation also got some welcome news as it was recently awarded a $31,475 grant through the Secured School Safety Program.

The program itself, is a dedicated state grant fund that provides matching grants to school corporations, charter schools or coalitions of school corporations and/or charter schools applying a variety of things including conducting threat assessments, purchasing equipment to restrict access to the school or expedite the notification of first responders and/or employ a school resource officer.

More than $9 million was announced in grant funding with schools with an average daily membership of at least 1,000 students being eligible for grants up to $50,000, while those with less than 1,000 students like Cloverdale, being eligible for grants up to $35,000.

The grant funding will be used at Cloverdale High School for the purchase of a new digital camera system, which has increased visibility as well as more capabilities compared to its old system.

"The clarity and what it's capable of is far exceeds our old analog system," Cloverdale High School Principal Sonny Stoltz said. "The sole purpose is to look at not only this being for us, but for us to have a partnership with law enforcement and the emergency management team in Greencastle. Our goal is to tie the local LEAs with the school."

Keeping school safety one of its top priorities, the corporation had agreed to the purchase and install the $62,000 system prior to receiving the grant funding.

"We would have went ahead and bought the system even if we weren't going to get the grant because we thought it was important for school safety and the direction we were moving. In the end, the state put up $31,000 and we put up $31,000" Stoltz explained. "Our long-term goal is for all the buildings to have it. What it's capable of is just amazing. I can watch days of video now in a matter of minutes."

Like other area schools, registration for the Cloverdale Community School Corporation will not be done at the Putnam County Fair this year. However, registration will begin online starting on July 28.

"We think that we're good to go," Milner said. "Everything is ready as it can be. Textbook fees still have little bit of updating, but we will have all of that done."

In-house registration will begin on Aug. 5 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. as well as 5-7 p.m. All students and families are invited to attend the in-house registration.

"Anybody who would like to come in and get their locker numbers and get a sense of where they are if they're new to the building are welcome," Milner added. "We're looking forward to the start of a good year."

The first student day of the school year will begin on Monday, Aug. 11.

In other business:

* Milner advised the board that all 30 buses in the corporation have passed inspection and are ready for the school year.

* The board approved the hiring of high school chemistry teacher Kathryn Hoffman and Cloverdale Elementary Counselor Lisa Harvey.

* The maternity leave of Sarah Gore was also approved along with the resignations of CHS P.E. teacher Bryan Archer and bus driver Laurie Bremmer-Urbancic.

* The board approved the hiring of the following coaching/volunteer positions at the high school: Deb Atwood as the cheerleading coach, Matthew Langdon as the girls' golf coach, Andy Tyler as the co-ed cross country coach, Jarrod Duff as the head football coach, Michael Nees as junior varsity football coach, Scott White as the varsity assistant football coach, Billy Boyette as the varsity assistant football coach, Kathy Moore as the head volleyball coach, Kristen Ferran as the junior varsity volleyball coach, Tim Blayden as a volunteer assistant volleyball coach and Allie Franklin as a volunteer assistant volleyball coach.

* The board approved the hiring of the following coaching positions at the middle school: Bambi Burton as the cheerleading coach, Sam Brown as the fifth-eighth grade co-ed cross country coach, David Petty as the eighth-grade head football coach, Brad Szczerbik as the seventh-grade football coach, Jim Spencer as the seventh/eighth-grade assistant football coach, Traci Scott as the seventh-grade volleyball coach and Megan Puckett as the eighth grade volleyball coach.