SR continues with high scores on ILearn
At the July 21 meeting of the South Ripley School Board of Trustees, a lot of business was taken care of getting staff in place for the new school year.
Superintendent Rob Moorhead informed the Board that South Ripley has received their ILearn test results and they are once again, the top in the county and in the top two in all of Southeast Indiana. He noted the principals will be presenting a detailed explanation of the results at a future board meeting.
Under Personnel:
Superintendent Rob Moorhead recommended Rebecca Haessig be allowed to work remote as needed, which met with a unanimous approval.
Myron Jay Stegman was approved to fill a Corporation Bus Driver position, along with Kylie Reuter. The list of Transportation Employees for the first semester was approved.
Faith Lafary will move from an aide position at South Ripley Elementary to fill a special education aide position in the intensive academic classroom at the high school.
Emily Gerwe will fill the part-time Speech Language Pathologist position for the 2025-26 school year. Krista Cook was approved for a special education aide at the high school; title I assistants approved are April Main, Tessia Andrews, Evalyn McGuire, and Lindsey Brunner at 5.25 hours per school day. Jennifer Richards was approved to fill a 3.5 hour per school day Title I Assistant position with 1.75 additional hours as the assistant in the elementary cafeteria.
Marie Menchhofer was approved to be the Corporation nurse for a minimum of one day per week; Robin Welch was approved to fill the 7th grade math teaching position as a temporary transfer. This is for a 12-week FMLA. When this assignment is completed, she will return to her paraprofessional position. This was met with a vote of 4-0 with Thomas Welch abstaining. Holly Eichenlaub was approved to fill the temporary aide position created by Mrs. Welch’s temporary transfer.
The board approved a Lead Bus Mechanic position, which was filled by Isaac Jines.
South Ripley alum Carson Fisk was hired as the head coach for the junior high soccer team; Brayden Dilk was named assistant coach for the junior high soccer team and Kyle Jolly was approved to fill the Fall Event Supervisor position. Board member Kim Jolly abstained from the vote.
The Fall Volunteer Coaches list for the 2025 fall sports season was unanimously approved.
Resignations:
The retirement notice of Karen Sieverding from position of Secretary to the Superintendent/Deputy Treasurer was accepted. She was thanked for her many years of service to the school. The retirement of Jane Raab from the position in the cafeteria at the elementary and bus aide were accepted, with her being thanked for her years of service.
The resignation of Abagaile Hewitt from her position as instructional aide at the elementary was approved; the resignation of Crystal Edwards from her cafeteria position at the elementary was approved, along with the resignation of Josie Goldsberry from the Junior Class Sponsor position were all approved. Joe Brown’s resignation from the position of Girls Softball Coach was accepted.
Dawn Geisler was approved to work in the cafeteria at the elementary as well as Bridget Cornett and Jackie Powell.
Supt. Moorhead was given approval to fill any school vacancies prior to the start of the school year, with retro-active approval at the August board meeting.
In Other Business:
The Board approved entering a lease agreement with Ricoh for a new five-year lease and maintenance agreement for the nine copiers the Corporation has.
Approval was given for the amendments to Article V of the Interlocal Agreement for the Ripley, Ohio, Dearborn (ROD) Special Education Cooperative.
The Board approved an amended contract with Five Star Technology Solutions to continue to provide Professional Development services for the final year of the school’s original five-year contract.
Approval was given to render obsolete three school buses that are no longer serviceable due to cost of repair. They buses have been taken out of service and will be recycled at River Metal Recycling.
The Board approved the recommendation to continue the use of Clarity’s I Decide for Me curriculum to teach Human Sexuality to students in the sixth grade at the elementary.
Supt. Moorhead informed the Board that the school has received a donation in the amount of $1,000 from the Versailles Lions Club in support of the JAG Program. They have also been awarded a grant from the Ripley County Community Foundation for $8,621.85 through the Change Ripley County Grant for the Mallet Momentum project for the high school band. He informed the Board of another grant, this one from the Rising Sun Regional Foundation for $26,970 for the elementary “Expanded physical activity space.” Supt. Moorhead thanked Principal Lauber for his work on the grant.
The September board meeting will be held September 22 instead of the September 15 date due to the IAPSS/ISBA Conference and since Supt. Moorhead is the president of that group.
Editor’s Note: Information for the above story was taken from unofficial minutes.
