Cloverdale Schools hires Mary Elkins as CES principal

CLOVERDALE -- Cloverdale Schools has hired Mary Elkins as the new principal of Cloverdale Elementary School.

Having planned to have a new principal by its June regular meeting, the board was right on schedule.

“We are very excited to have Mrs. Elkins on staff,” Superintendent Greg Linton said during the meeting. “Having had a good past, we’re looking forward to a great future.”

For the last 17 years, Elkins has been the principal at Bloomfield Elementary School.

Elkins’ hiring comes just two months after former principal Brad Sandy decided to return to the classroom for health reasons after three years as principal.

Elkins was not available for comment.

In other developments:

-- Claims: The board approved claims at a total of $661,796.11, a decrease from last month of $118,585.93 and of $88,267.34 from the year’s average.

-- Contracts: The board unanimously approved adding days to the curriculum director’s (Cathy Ames) contract, as well as extending the administrators’ contracts in a 6-0 vote with JaceAnn Trout abstaining. Neither change adds cost to the budget.

-- Donations: Cloverdale recently received a $25,000 donation from Duke Energy, which will be used to pay teachers for a remedial reading program this summer. Cloverdale also received a $25,000 donation from the Owen County Community Foundation, which will be used for its No Excuses and Clover U programs, which encourage discipline and college preparedness in elementary students.

-- Handbooks: The board approved the 2017-18 student handbooks for all three buildings and the 2017-18 athletic handbook.

-- Personnel: The board approved the following personnel report:

-- Employment: Mary Jane Elkins (CES principal); Karl Turk (CHS Spanish I); DeeDee Skiles and Robin Hallam (summer part-time painters); Lacy Chambers and Gwen Stattner (summer part-time custodians); and Ginny Lotz (substitute bus driver)

-- Resignation: Morgan Conder (CMS/CHS ag teacher/FFA adviser); Sam Brown (CMS track coach); and Tony Meyer (CHS football, baseball coach)

The next Cloverdale School Board regular meeting is set for July 10 at 7 p.m. in the Cloverdale Schools administration building.