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Pierce sworn in for his return as Greencastle School Board member
While it was hardly a new experience for him, new Greencastle School Board member Dale Pierce took the oath of office Wednesday evening to kick off a meeting that saw a number of changes for the board.
Pierce previously spent 17 years on the board and was again appointed by the Madison Township trustee in May, replacing three-term member Mike Dean.
Pierce joins Greencastle Township appointees Mike White and Gary Haussin and City of Greencastle appointees Bill Tobin and Denise Sigworth on the five-member board.
Dean's absence also meant a new president for the 2013-2014 school year.
On a motion by Tobin, the board voted unanimously to elect White as the new president.
Sigworth will serve as vice president, while Tobin will continue to serve as secretary.
Perhaps the most interesting move in the organization of the board came in the discussion of the regular meeting date, time and place for the year.
Superintendent Dawn Puckett requested a later meeting date in the month to help the central office staff in preparing the financial records for each month's meeting.
After some discussion, the board decided on meeting the third Monday of each month, instead of the second Wednesday as the date had been set previously.
Additionally, the new meeting time will be 7 p.m. or 30 minutes earlier than the traditional meeting time.
There was some discussion of meeting location, but board members decided to continue meeting in the Ridpath Primary School cafeteria.
In other business:
* The board voted unanimously to apply to join the Wabash Valley West Central Indiana School Trust (WVWCIST).
Director Steve Wittenauer presented information on the trust to board members, who have been looking into the possibility of the joining the WVWCIST.
As the largest school insurance trust in the state, the WVWCIST gives its member districts more bargaining power with health insurance companies than they would have individually, with the goal being lower rates and better services.
Currently, Greencastle is the only Putnam County school corporation not taking part in the trust. The three other corporations and other surrounding schools spoke highly of the benefits.
One perk of membership are the five wellness clinics located throughout the area the WVWCIST serves. A sixth will soon be added in Greencastle, even without GCSC as a member.
The wellness clinics will provide free preventive medical services and medicines to the school employees who utilize them.
The proposed location for the local clinic is in the Wood building at the corner of Bloomington Street and Veterans Memorial Highway.
* The board approved a new policy for cash transfer students. Under new state law, the old policy would be illegal.
The school can no longer base acceptance of transfers based on grade point average or discipline records.
The school will also be required to publish its capacities and deadlines to transfer.
* The cost of family and student athletic passes will be increasing. Family passes will go from $150 to $170, while student passes will go from $25 to $30.
Adult passes ($75) and senior passes ($40) will not change.