The Carmi White County School Board met for just under half an hour Monday night. Scott Mareing was there and has this report…
The board met at first just to approve the Consent Agenda, which solely consisted of the minutes of the April 21st regular board meeting.
Board member Kent “Pete” Fulkerson, who had been on the board since 2016 and was a former board President, left office and was read a statement from Board President Nathan Whetstone. Whetstone said Fulkerson will truly be missed and wished him the best moving forward. He then presented Fulkerson with a plaque, which was an Award of Merit for his service to the school district. Fulkerson thanked everyone and said he felt he was a better person after having served.
There was then a review of the results from last April’s election. Brent Edwards of Burnt Prairie Township, Kelly Ackerman of Hawthorne, and Alex Youngblood of Phillipstown were all elected to four year terms.
The board then adjourned at 6:03 PM. The board reconvened at 6:06 PM, followed by a Call to Order by the President Pro Tem. The three newly elected board members then recited the Oath of Office.
Next, the election of Permanent Board Officers was held. Without any objections, Nathan Whetstone was again elected President, Brent Edwards was named Vice President, and Barb Mitchell was again elected Treasurer.
The Consent Agenda was approved, which included 25 board policy changes, that were preliminarily adopted as amended, with final action set for the June board meeting; and accepted the lowest bids for consumable supplies, cafeteria foods, milk, fuel, trash hauling, pest control, fire extinguisher and fire suppression.
In Jerrod Newell’s Superintendent’s report, end of year events were announced. May 13 at 7 PM as High School Graduation, May 22 at 6 PM for the Junior High Completion Ceremony, May 23 at 10:30 AM for Brownsville Graduation, May 29 at 10 AM for the Kindergarten Completion Ceremony, and May 27 at 9 AM and 1 PM for the Pre-K Completion Ceremony. The last day for Unit 5 students is May 29th and last day for Unit 5 staff is May 30th. The Kiwanis Educator of the Year and Support Staff of the Year Program will be held on Thursday, May 22nd. Newell offered congratulations and best wishes to the Senior Class of 2025. And he noted that the USDA Summer EBT/SUN Bucks program will continue this summer. CWC students who qualify will be eligible for $120 over three installments of $40 over the summer months. Information on the summer nutrition program is available on the district website.
The preliminary Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Amendment was approved. It will be on display for now until final action in order to meet the minimum thirty day display requirements.
The board also agreed to enter into School Resource Officer Agreements with the City of Carmi and through the Carmi Police Department for a second School Resource Officer. The district’s share of the costs for SRO #1 increases $8.78 per day or $1,580 for the term of the contract and the share of the cost for SRO #2 increases $10.42 a day or $1,875.60 for the term of the contract.
Billington Insurance notified the district that Crescent Health Solutions decided to lay off all of their employees, so Preferred Health Plan of the Carolinas has been temporarily serving as their third-party administrator. The Board agreed to continue with them in that role.
The board then went into Closed Session at 6:26 PM to discuss personnel, collective negotiations, and to appoint a new board member.
