Nunley approved as new Area 30 director

Chad Nunley

With the retirement of longtime executive director Lora Busch, the Area 30 Board officially approved its successor in current Asst. Director Chad Nunley during its regular meeting Tuesday morning.

The approval was made with an acknowledgement by North Putnam Supt. Nicole Allee, the board’s president, that Nunley’s revamped current contract, which stipulates a rolling two-year evergreen clause and his raise being commensurate and retroactive with teacher pay, was still being drafted and had to be approved by legal counsel. The contract is to be effective July 1.

Coverage on Busch’s retirement, as well as Nunley’s taking over from her, will be forthcoming from the Banner Graphic.

In other business:

• The board approved for Busch and Nunley to attend a conference with the Indiana Association of Career & Technical Education Districts in Nashville, Ind., from June 6-8. The trip will be overnight and funded through federal Perkins Grant money. Perkins Grants can be used for programs and professional development.

• The board approved another personnel item with hiring current Area 30 student Nick Hinners as a part-time maintenance worker over the summer.

• Nunley announced that Area 30 had 320 students enrolled for the 2022-23 school year as of Monday, with some of them still completing paperwork. Busch noted that each school still had spots to enroll students before they come back in August.

Nunley said Cloverdale Schools was down four students for its target, while Eminence and South Putnam are down six and five students, respectively, and Greencastle and North Putnam are down 10 each. Busch added that the overall student enrollment should be around 350.

• Nunley said that Area 30’s budget for next school year was down $13,800. He noted that this was due to reductions within the budget, and it as such was not drastically different from how it was previously.

“Appreciate your efforts to keep it tight as possible,” Cloverdale Supt. Greg Linton commented before the budget was approved.

Treasurer Cindy Burnham joined Busch, Nunley and the entire board for the meeting.

The next regular meeting of the Area 30 Board is scheduled for Tuesday, June 14 at 9 a.m. in the Old National Trail boardroom.