SR has high graduation rate- New leadership sworn into office
Superintendent Rob Moorhead informed the South Ripley Board of Trustees that South Ripley is ranked #1 on the list of 15 Southeast Indiana School Districts for the Class of 2024 Graduation Rates. The state average is 90.11%. South Ripley’s graduation rate was 98.5% in 2024. This is a source of pride for administration, staff and students at the school.
At the January 13 meeting of the South Ripley School Board of Trustees meeting two new and one returning school board member took the oath of office that was administered by School Attorney Merritt Alcorn. Justin Sturgeon and Rachel Lawhorn are new to the board with Amy Miller returning.
Board members present included Miller, Lawhorn, Sturgeon, Andy Comer, Brittany Bradley and Kim Jolly.
Attorney Alcorn presided over the 2025 Election of Officers. Andy Comer was elected President. With no further nominations from the floor for Vice-President, Amy Miller was approved to that position. Kim Jolly was elected Secretary with Amy Miller approved for Legislative Representative.
Brittney Bradley, Andy Comer and Thomas Welch were approved to the Administrative/Non-Certified Committee. Amy Miller and Andy Comer were approved for the Athletic Council Committee. Thomas Welch, Rachel Lawhorn and Justin Sturgeon were approved for the Negotiation Committee.
The entire school board will serve as the Board of Finance for 2025. Lana Miller was appointed as Treasurer and Karen Sieverding as Deputy Treasurer. Merritt Alcorn was appointed attorney for the corporation. Edward Rodriguez will remain School Safety Officer for 2025.
Personnel:
Meghan Goddard was approved for a 4.25 hour per day shift in the SRES cafeteria. April Main was approved to fill the FMLA approved leave of Lisa Gilpin. Lindsay Brunner was approved for a part-time Title I instructional aide position and Myron Jay Stegman was approved for a corporation bus route position. Melanie Evans was approved for an up to 12-week FMLA leave.
In other business:
Supt. Moorhead recommended approval to advertise a Notice to Procure Architectural & Project Management Services for a new central office. Motion was made to approve this recommendation by Amy Miller and seconded by Kim Jolly.
South Ripley has been awarded a grant in the amount of $2,690 from the Turnover Hunger Community Granting Fund #123. This money will be used to help support the Weekend Backsack Program at the elementary school.
The school was also awarded $20,000 for the Softball Facility upgrades from the Rising Sun Regional Foundation.
The Napoleon State Bank donated a check to South Ripley for $1,500 for the purpose of teacher/staff appreciation, and an initial FY2025 Impact Aid payment of $67,782 was received on December 18, 2024.
Supt. Moorhead noted that the IRS has increased the standard milage rate for business use in 2025 to 70 cents per mile. This is up 3 cents from 2024.
Supt. informed the Board that the Indiana State Board of Accounts completed an audit of South Ripley Junior High and High School Extracurricular Accounts for July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2023. There were no written comments.
The Superintendent thanked Gil Landwehr, Rick Frey, Brian Myers and all the custodians for their help clearing the snow for the Ripley County Tournament. Thanks were also given to Ryan Lauber and Barry Lauber for volunteering to clear the sidewalks. Derik Hutton and Jeff Gorrell were thanked for their work in rearranging the athletic schedules due to the weather.
A Board of Finance meeting immediately followed the regular meeting. Supt. Moorhead recommended that the Investment Report and Fiscal Indicators report that was submitted in the regular meeting be accepted as reviewed by the Board of Finance. Amy Miller motioned to approve with a second by Rachel Lawhorn.
Editor’s Note: Information for the above article was taken from unofficial minutes from the South Ripley School Board of Trustees January meeting.
