Heavin, Newby resign from South Putnam School Board

After surprise moves following its regular meeting Wednesday evening, both Anthony Heavin and Craig Newby have resigned from the South Putnam School Board.

Heavin told the board that his resignation was to be effective following the conclusion of the meeting.

“I believe that as a school board, it’s our job to set policy, manage the budget, hire superintendents and principals and allow them to manage their personnel and their staff,” Heavin stated. “I have no intention of managing personnel, so this is said with no emotion and hard feelings, but there is a wide gap of philosophy from myself and the rest of this board.”

Superintendent Bruce Bernhardt told the Banner Graphic Thursday that Board President Craig Newby had sent a letter after the meeting announcing his resignation. Newby also cited “philosophical differences” between him and others on the board.

The exact circumstances surrounding their decisions to resign are unclear.

The board also considered adopting “findings of fact” and “conclusions of law and order” with regard to canceling Athletic Director Tom Starnes’ teaching contract at the end of the school year.

A motion was made by Heavin to accept the findings of fact, but it died for lack of a second.

Bernhardt emphasized that these were not meant to prove any misconduct on Starnes’ part. Rather, he was still in a three-year probationary period. Starnes became South Putnam’s athletic director in 2018.

The Indiana Code stipulates that a teacher must be entitled to due process with the superintendent, the principals and the school board, with the school board ultimately required to vote on canceling the contract.

Bernhardt said the board would soon announce the two vacancies on the board and set a date for taking applications. The board would then vote to fill these seats in a public setting.

Heavin, who was the at-large member, has been with the board since 2014 after succeeding longtime member Nancy Wells. Newby, who represented Warren Township, came on in 2019 and succeeded veteran board member David Bombei.