French resigns as GCSC assistant superintendent

Jenny French

A simple, one-item special meeting of the Greencastle School Board took a surprising turn Wednesday afternoon when a related pair of personnel items were added to the agenda.

After President Mike White called the meeting to order, Supt. Jeff Gibboney noted there was one addition to the agenda, adding a personnel section to handle a resignation and a paid administrative leave.

That turned out to pertain to Assistant Supt. Jenny French, who resigned her post effective Feb. 17 and will be placed on paid administrative leave in the meantime.

Gibboney explained that he initially received a resignation letter from French effective June 30, the end of her contract. He then received a second letter that moved the date forward to February.

As a personnel item, the matter was not discussed further, but the board unanimously accepted French’s resignation and approved the recommended leave.

Gibboney told the Banner Graphic that placing French on administrative leave effective immediately allows the corporation to begin its transition sooner, as well as French to transition into what comes next for her.

“That way we can recruit and attract the best candidate possible. It’s advantageous to begin that process sooner than Feb. 17,” Gibboney said. “We wish her the best of luck in future endeavors.”

In the meantime, Gibboney expressed his confidence in the overall GCSC administration to pick up the slack in areas in which French has been involved, such as the adoption of a new elementary reading curriculum, new secondary math curriculum and new devices for secondary students.

“We have a strong team of administrators, and we’re going to continue to work together toward our priorities and goals,” Gibboney said. “That remains unchanged.”

French was hired as district curriculum director in 2019 under the administration of former Supt. Jeff Hubble. In the year that followed, Assistant Supt. Donovan Garletts resigned, Hubble retired and Gibboney was hired as the new superintendent.

French assumed the role of assistant superintendent to Gibboney.

She is the third administrator to leave GCSC in the last year, with the resignations of former Greencastle Middle School Principal Scott Weltz and Ridpath Primary School Principal Emily Johnson during the summer of 2022.

Despite the surprising news about French, the scheduled reason for the Wednesday meeting was awarding a bid for food service.

In late November, the school corporation announced that food service would be outsourced following the retirement of veteran food service director Debbie Carrico in February.

Having worked with a committee that also included Carrico, Finance Director Kellie Romer, Deputy Treasurer Shelly Gardner and board member Brian Cox, Gibboney recommended Chartwells School Dining Services of the Compass Group.

“Their proposal was really strong, performed really well in cost,” Gibboney said, also citing “excellent references, excellent experience in Indiana,” even in this region.

“We believe that working with them provides us the best path forward for providing healthy, nutritious meals for our schools,” Gibboney added.

The first contract runs from Feb. 13 through June 30, with four one-year renewals from July 1-June 30 each year, the same calendar as most school contracts.

As part of the agreement with GCSC, Chartwells has agreed to bring aboard all existing GCSC food service employees, who will be meeting with the company regarding compensation and benefits.

“I’d like to thank Ms. Carrico for helping us through this process and helping these guys get set up in this transition and all the years of service,” Cox said.

The entire special meeting wrapped up in less than 10 minutes.

The regularly-scheduled January meeting of the Greencastle School Board is set for 6 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 23 at GCSC Central Office, 1002 Mill Pond Lane.