Bill Tobin back as GCSC board member

Friday, June 3, 2016
Bill Tobin

Bill Tobin has been down this road before.

The newest appointment to the Greencastle School Board -- named by Greencastle Township Trustee Steve Butts and his advisory board on Thursday -- is actually not new at all.

Tobin served approximately 2-1/2 years as a board member from February 2012 through June 2014, fulfilling the term of former board member Monica Fennell.

Although Tobin has been away from the board for two years, Butts said the board members counted themselves fortunate to have him as an applicant. Besides his time as a board member, Tobin also serves as the director of institutional research at DePauw University.

"He is just so well versed on all these education matters," Butts said. "He sold himself. He's really on top of things and had a good reputation when he was on the board before. We're just really proud to have him."

Tobin also brings the perspective of a parent, with a daughter currently enrolled in the corporation.

Butts said there were two strong applicants, but the choice of Tobin was unanimous.

"Both of them were truly qualified for it. Mr. Tobin just won out," Butts said.

Tobin returns to the school board at an interesting time. The recently-announced retirement of Superintendent Dawn Puckett has the board facing one of its most important and fundamental duties.

"It will be an interesting time, hiring a superintendent and all of that," Tobin said. "That will be interesting. That's really the board's primary job to hire a superintendent."

The task won't be new to Tobin. He was on the board when Puckett was promoted to the position in the spring semester of 2013.

What Tobin will find different is both improved morale in the school corporation and a head start on an understanding of how things operate.

"It's quite a bit different coming in now. The climate is quite a bit different," Tobin said. "I have a better understanding of how things work than when I came in the first time. I don't have that level of the unknown.

"The superintendent search is quite a bit of unknown, but it's a collaborative effort, so it doesn't just fall on one or two people. It will be very interesting."

Tobin replaces Gary Haussin, who decided not to seek reappointment after a single, four-year term. Tobin and Butts had high praise for the parting board member.

"Gary's a great guy. We go back a few years to when he first came on," Tobin said.

"He's done a great job for us," Butts said.

One other board member remains to be appointed in 2016, with Denise Sigworth's position also set to expire.

Sigworth, the current board president, was the only applicant to the Greencastle City Council. However, the council chose to table the decision at its May meeting.

Both appointments run through June 30, 2020.

Other board members include Dale Pierce, whose Madison Township appointment expires in June 2017; Lisa Lazar, whose City Council appointment expires in June 2018; and Mike White, the other Greencastle Township appointee, who serves through June 2019.

"I think it'll be a good group," Tobin said.

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