Meeting briefly Monday night, the Carmi-White County School Board breezed through agenda items and elected officers.
Nathan Whetstone was nominated and unanimously elected to serve as president of the CWC School Board. Brent Edwards will continue in his role as Vice President, and Barb Mitchell will serve another term as Secretary.
As the board moved through the consent agenda, members agreed to hold off on approving fuel bids due to unfavorable market conditions, with fuel prices exceeding $4 per gallon.
Transitioning to the Superintendent’s Report, Jarrod Newell discussed the success of the Brownsville graduation ceremony and the High School ceremony, both of which received high praise. Upcoming events for the other schools include a Junior High completion ceremony on Wednesday at 6 pm, and Pre-K celebrations on Friday at 9 am and 1 pm. The final day for students will be May 26, and the last day for staff will be May 27.
Following reports, the board approved the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, which will be on display until the June meeting. Projected expenditures were calculated to total $22,453,110, resulting in a positive balance for the school system of $496,863. There will be additional expenses not in the budget: summer school programs, vehicles, and buses.
Next, the board renewed the school resource officer agreement for the eighth consecutive year. The SRO number one pay will increase to $40.19 per day, and number two will be $54.12 per day.
In closed session, the board approved several employments, three reassignments, and one resignation. Kelsey Slay submitted her resignation as a teacher for the CWCJHS. Employments include: Heather Smith and Holly Clark as Individual Aides at Washington, Maeve Dolan and Emily Mahon as Individual Aides at Lincoln, Chance Hargrave as a part-time custodian at Washington, Alex Aud as a part-time ELA teacher at CWCHS, and Tim Pollard as a part-time Technology teacher at CWCHS. Reassignments will be Gracey Stephens to Lincoln as an Individual Aide, Jane Morber as an Individual Aide for Washington, and Mike Erwin as a full-time custodian at Washington. Lastly, volunteers will be Darrell Conover and Michael (Spud) Egbert for high school football coaches, Greyson Huff for high school volleyball, and Sasha Jordan and Jake Smock for high school golf.
Carmi-White County School Board members will next gather on June 22 at 6 pm.