Do better. That was the message from a concerned parent to the Carmi – White County Unit 5 School Board Monday night. In an otherwise routine, swift meeting Monday evening, Sarah Birkla used 4 of the 14 minutes of Open Session to address administrators and school board members. Kenneth Hargrave and Brent Hammell were absent.
It all began a month ago after the February Unit 5 School Board met and announced hirings following closed session. One of those hirings, an assistant baseball coach, prompted a social media post that went locally viral stripping down the school board Birkla says not only for making the hire, but also because she says members of the school board and administration were well aware of allegations surrounding the individual.
Last month, it was brought to my attention that an individual with open allegations of grooming a minor had been hired to coach at our high school. The hiring of this individual was an extreme red flag, as they had been previously removed from a nonprofit program governed by multiple members of the administration as well as this school board for this specific reason. While this position has since been filled by another individual, I, along with many other members of our community still have concerns surrounding this major oversight. This is because it is very clear that a decision was made to turn a blind eye rather than following through with necessary checks, balances, and procedures which should be put into place to prevent these instances from happening.
Birkla says it’s not the first instance either citing a “long and violent history of negative incidents at Carmi schools”.
It is well and publicly known that the Carmi school system has a long and violent history with negative incidents surrounding grooming and inappropriate relations between members of the CWC staff and administration and our students. These incidents which have occurred have had long-lasting and highly negative impacts on students who have been victims of this predatory behavior. In a time when technology makes it more difficult for parents to provide their children with shelter from harm from the outside world, the parents in our community must be able to trust that the school administration is putting safeguards in place to secure the safety of our students while they are in your care.
From there, Birkla asked the school board and administration to put more emphasis on mandatory reporting, zero-tolerance policies, and background checks while putting an end to what she called exceptions being made. She also peppered the room with six questions; all of which went unanswered.
• At the time of removal from the Arrows program, detailed information was provided to members of the Arrows board. At that time, the individual facing allegations was removed from their mentorship role in this program. At that time, was the entire school board informed of this change? If not, why?• As this information had been provided to members of the school board, was this addressed at the time of consideration for their employment? If not, why?• What specific training programs surrounding mandatory reporting are provided to members of your staff and administration, and how frequently is training provided?• Are there written policies in place surrounding corrective action for violating written procedures regarding mandatory reporting?• Are pending criminal charges taken into consideration when processing background checks for applicants? If not, why?• It is my understanding that the individual in question is no longer holding said coaching position, I do commend the board for that. With this said, what additional corrective actions will now be taken to ensure that this oversight is avoided in the future?
Nathan Whetstone, school board president did thank Birkla for her comments and concerns.
As part of the consent agenda, board members approved the 2025-2026 school calendar. Teachers voted on one of two choices with the main difference being spring break. School will start next August 11th with the last day before Christmas break being December 19th. Students will return from Christmas break on January 2nd instead of 5th. Teachers voted by a 100 to 71 margin for that and for Spring Break to be from March 30th, 2026 – April 3rd, 2026 rather than April 3rd – 6th. The board also approved next year’s open house, in-service, and parent/teacher conference dates and additionally voted to continue with IHSA membership and accept donations.
Superintendent Jarrod Newell gave his monthly report and went over summer maintenance projects prior to retreating into executive session at 7:14pm.
Following closed session, the school board accepted retirements, resignations, employment, and volunteers. Among them, Kathy Price and TJ Ackerman have submitted their irrevocable letters of retirement which will come at the conclusion of the 2028/2029 school year. Resignations were received from Sabrina Cox, teacher at Washington at the end of this school year. Adison Martin and Sarah Clark have resigned effective immediately from their roles as a classroom aide at Pre-K and Junior/Senior High Cook respectively. Amy Whitley also signaled her intention to no longer serve as the High School cheerleading sponsor.
Tabitha Mick has been hired as a High School English/Language Arts teacher beginning next year and Tyler Hoskins was approved to become the Jr. High Assistant Boys Track Coach for this spring.
Certified staff to be retained for next year include:
Travis Black, Nicole Bonan, Jana Bradshaw, Carla Bridges, Jacob Bridges, Cole Carter, Whitney Carter, Bailey Cincotta, Patricia Culley-Sims, Kelsey Hall, Lauren Healy, Tyler Hoskins, Robert Kassebaum, Michelle Keepes, John Lamp, Olivia Ledford, Mary Pool, Kelsey Rankin, Teresa Scroggins, Grace Sinclair, Julia Smith, Marc Stendeback, Samantha Sutton, Lucretia Vaupel, Presley Walker, Ashley Westfall, and Chad Whitley.
All current administrators were also approved for re-employment next year.
Finally, Criag Winter was approved as a baseball volunteer assistant coach for this spring.
