Jackie Gorski
Times-Union
Mallika Klingaman was unopposed in the Nov. 5 school board race to represent District 3. Elle Turley currently holds the seat but did not seek re-election.
In November, Shelly said a school board candidate is required to live in the district they file for, on the day of the election and when the person starts their term.
Monday, Shelly said two affidavits about Klingaman’s residential eligibility were submitted for her to sign, but Shelly said he has not received them back as of Monday’s meeting. He said there are several routes of corrective measures that could be pursued, ranging from doing nothing to going through litigation.
Shelly said he will report back to the school board with any new information.
The board approved the motion 6-0, with Turley abstaining since it is her seat that is involved.
Earlier in the meeting, the board approved hiring Steven Boyer as the new director of human resources after Sheila Howe retired from the position in October.
He has nearly two decades of experience as a teacher, principal and district leader, according to a news release from WCS.
Boyer graduated from Manchester University in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in English Education. He spent six years teaching eighth-grade English/language arts before transitioning into administration. He also worked as an assistant principal; elementary principal at multiple schools, including Eisenhower Elementary; chief human resource officer for Concord Community Schools and recently business manager for Plymouth Community School Corporation.
Boyer’s wife, Jill, is a kindergarten teacher at Eisenhower. Together, they have three children: Hudson (sixth grade), Weston (fifth grade) and Lincoln (third grade), all students at Eisenhower.
During Monday’s meeting, Boyer thanked WCS and said it was great to come back to the school corporation. He also said Warsaw is a special place for his family.
At the beginning of Monday’s meeting, the school board heard about what speech and language pathologists do within the school corporation.
Mindi Reinholt, speech teacher at Leesburg Elementary School, said speech and language pathologists work in all WCS schools, plus four Head Start locations, Presby Preschool, Kiddie Kollege Preschool, Warsaw Greater Cooperative Preschool, YMCA Early Learning Preschool, Sacred Heart and Lakeland Christian Academy.
As of December of this year, the pathologists serve 366 students at the primary level and 352 at the secondary level, which Reinholt said is a 26% increase from December 2023.
Angie Madeford, speech pathologist at Washington STEM Academy, said at the beginning of every year, she sits down with the school’s instructional coach and determines which students needs her services. She then meets with those students three times a week.
She said there’s a lot a pathologist does, including providing suggestions to teachers to help support students, clerical responsibilities, speech and hearing screens, consulting with parents and treatment plans.
Part of their services includes giving all first-, fourth-, seventh and 10th-grade students hearing screenings.
Kelly Meeks, director of special services, said WCS is also required by legislation to cover private schools in the area.
Reinholt said pathologists in Indiana have the highest caseloads in the nation. Some states have caseload limits, but Indiana has never had a limit. Reinholt’s current caseload is 107 students.
Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert said there is a nationwide shortage, especially in the Midwest, of speech and language pathologists and schools are competing with hospitals and nursing homes for pathologists. He said WCS is thankful for the pathologists the school corporation has.
