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Cloverdale School Board organizes, holds finance meeting
CLOVERDALE — With Emily Haltom taking her seat representing Taylor Township in Owen County, the Cloverdale School Board made its beginning-of-year organization Monday evening.
Besides Haltom succeeding Duane Huge, no changes in the board’s makeup were made as Vivian Whitaker, Katrina Lewis and Donna Fidler were retained as the board’s president, vice president and secretary, respectively.
Meanwhile, Mendy Shrout and Sara Zaring were affirmed as Cloverdale Schools’ treasurer and deputy treasurer, respectively. Michelle Cooper with Lewis & Kappes was also retained as the corporation’s legal counsel.
In other related items, the board’s yearly compensation, sans a per diem rate, was set at $2,000, which is the legal maximum set by the state. Apart from special sessions, the board’s regular meetings were remained to the second Monday of each month.
Whitaker also spoke on Arvel Hinton’s retirement as the board’s Jennings Township representative, in which no one ran for his seat in the recent election. With resumes due on Friday, the board will conduct interviews on Monday, Jan. 16 and announce its appointment at a special meeting on Thursday, Jan. 19.
As to the board’s yearly finance meeting, Supt. Greg Linton reviewed Cloverdale Schools’ investment accounts with First National Bank, Crane Credit Union and Teachers Credit Union. He said these together yielded $31,264.27 for 2022.
He noted interest rates not being high in more recent years, but acknowledged that the housing market could change this moving forward. His message to the board was that he would pursue different area banks for the most competitive rates.
“It’ll be a ‘Stayed tuned.’ on that as we make any changes to our present strategies,” Linton concluded, adding that he would bring said changes to the board for approval.
In other business:
• The board approved voiding two checks from Indiana Small and Rural Schools Association ($400) and Vectren ($1,734.92), as they have been outstanding for more than two years. The money will return to the Operations Fund.
• The board approved the acceptance of a Title II grant for $38,122.41. Title II is geared toward professional development for educators.
• The approved a stipend of $628.30 for three 504 coordinators (one in each school building). They are responsible for ensuring educational opportunities for students with disabilities, as based on Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Linton noted that Cloverdale’s 504 workload has increased greatly in terms of educational limitations as opposed to medical ones. The latter have been handled by the high school’s nurse.
The board also approved the following personnel report:
• Employment: Seth Geiger - temporary custodial substitute; and Eddie Byrnes - director of physical operations; Matthew Halloran - CMS assistant wrestling coach; and Seth Geiger - CHS boys’ assistant track coach;
• Leave of absence: Gary Fraizer - part-time custodian; and
• Volunteers: Bradley Johnson and Tyler Kaeff - CHS volunteer track coaches; and Veronica Carter - CHS girls’ basketball volunteer coach.
The board also recognized Cloverdale Schools’ Students of the Month in Wyatt Allen (Cloverdale Elementary School), Kenwood Ramsey (Cloverdale Middle School) and Killian Dewey (Cloverdale High School). While Allen, Ramsey and Dewey were not present, Carson Tyler was honored as CMS’ December awardee.
The board in turn recognized Teachers of the Month with Katina Wetter (Cloverdale Elementary School), Jamie Steffy (Cloverdale Middle School) and Karl Turk (Cloverdale High School).
As a highlight of the meeting, Carson Hall and Emma Pauwee were recognized as Cloverdale Schools’ Students of the Year. Both were named the 2022 Putnam County and Owen County Lilly Scholars, respectively.
“Over the years, we’ve had a lot of good students and Lilly scholarship winners, but this year was a special moment,” Cloverdale High School Principal Sonny Stoltz commented about their achievements.
Apart from Hinton’s absence, the rest of the board joined Whitaker, Haltom and Linton for the meeting.
The next regular meeting of the Cloverdale School Board is set for Monday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. in the Arthur L. Johnson Administration Office near Cloverdale High School.