ISP inspectors laud safety of Cloverdale school buses

CLOVERDALE -- The Cloverdale School Board held its monthly meeting on Monday evening, during which it discussed several issues such as bus inspections and the roofing project as well as giving an update on the Putnam County Community Foundation endowments.

Following a report on bus inspections, which was aired by Channel 13, resident Carolyn Carroll came to voice her concerns about the amount of time that was allotted to inspect each bus.

The report stated that all 30 of Cloverdale School Corporation's buses were checked in a period of one hour and 13 minutes. Carroll was concerned that this translated out to less than three minutes per bus inspected.

Indiana State Police Troopers Mark Raper and Chuck Tharp attended the meeting to address the concerns regarding the inspections. Both stated that the report by Channel 13 is misleading and the community should access the report through the Indiana State Police website.

"Our goal for a bus inspection is to make sure the bus is safe for transportation," Tharp said. "If there is anything wrong we get those repaired and get those buses approved. When we do this inspection we have our key areas. When we have multiple people doing inspections we divide those areas up. We had six inspectors on that day."

Both ISP  troopers explained that they were broken up into two groups of three, which inspected the inside, outside and underneath the bus. The time indicated on the inspection report states only the time the inspection was documented not the time it took to check each bus.

"When we do the inspections at Cloverdale we do it at the bus garage," explained Tharp. "We have tools, we have parts and we have a full-time mechanic there. That's kind of a rarity."

Raper went on to explain that both of them have been in the bus business for quite a while. In more than six years they have had no fatalities or accidents as a result of a mechanical failure.

"We do not let a bus on the roadway unless we're sure they are going to be safe. We take our time thoroughly with each bus," Raper said. "I inspect each bus as if my child were going to ride that bus. I put my stamp on it. They're doing this the right way here. I guarantee that the Cloverdale buses are some of the safest in the state."

Following the discussion on the bus inspections, the board received another update on the roofing and mechanical project, which for many has seemed like a never ending process.

Project manager Dan Sulkoske came before the board and said that the high school and elementary school roof projects are now complete and awaiting final closeout documents.

The HVAC project is also complete as well as the auxiliary gym paint.

In total, there is nearly $200,000 left over in funding to work on other projects such as the track, which is currently on hold.

The track was originally put on hold due to a site survey and drainage study needing to be completed, which has been done. The board's next step is to engage a design firm, which is expected to happen during next month's meeting.

Superintendent Carrie Milner also gave the board an update on the Putnam County Community Foundation endowments.

"These reports really do not change a whole lot from one quarter to another, but we are hoping that as soon as these interest rates start hopping we will see a little more," Milner said. "We're getting to the place now that if we needed to use a certain dollar amount, their recommendation is that we keep something in the growth fund."

From the Corporation Endowment the quarterly year-to-date is $40,989, the Community Foundation for the Knoy Resource Center is $47,031.06.

The board also approved the following items:

* A yearly contract with Pepsi for $3,000. The money given to the school from Pepsi will benefit the athletic department.

* The hiring of Dawn Ellen Tucker as a seventh-grade science teacher; Elizabeth Wertz as a volunteer chemistry instructor; the hiring of Dawn Brown, Alice Hicks, Sharon Freeman, Naomi Newkirk, Jean Raney and Susan Workman as a part-time Cloverdale Elementary and Middle School cafeteria employees; Shauna Rossock as the middle school instructional assistant; Kristin Smith as the elementary school instructional assistant; Sarah Campfield as a volunteer high school FFA soils coach; Jenna Smith as a volunteer high school FFA livestock coach.

* The resignations of Adam Hoersten as a high school chemistry teacher; Stephanie Brubeck as a high school biology teacher; Kayla Myer and Tori Maldonado as a middle school instructional assistants; Jena Schroer, Jessica DeVore and Maggie Wallace as elementary school instructional assistants.

* The hiring of Jarrod Duff as the middle school head baseball coach; Tim Powell as the middle school volunteer football assistant; Seth Allen and Jason Frye as the high school volunteer football assistants.

* The reassignment of Bill Keck from part-time to full-time maintenance; Linda Collins from high school cafeteria to full-time high school custodian; Paula Shadwick from elementary and middle school cafeteria to custodian part-time.