By Amantha Garpiel
TIPP CITY — The Tipp City Board of Education approved an instructional service contract, approved the retention of a new assistant principal for Tippecanoe High School and held discussions regarding the athletic student code of conduct and district goals for the 2023-2024 school year.
During the board’s work session on Monday, July 10, the board approved an instructional service contract with Midwest Regional Educational Service Center. The contract is for Midwest Regional ESC to provide instructional coaching for the Tipp City School District for a cost of approximately $80,000. The actual cost is $72,990.86 with extra money budgeted for potential additional costs such as mileage. The contract is effective for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year.
The board then approved the hiring of Leah Vlahos as the Tippecanoe High School’s assistant principal. With member Anne Zakkour absent, the motion to hire Vlahos passed 3-1 with Theresa Dunaway voting “no.”
“Tipp City is a unique district that offers a different set of challenges. Our high school has been a revolving door of administrators for eight years. That building needs an assistant who can meet Tipp’s staff and student needs and make this their forever district,” stated Dunaway when asked why she vote ”no.”
The board moved on to discuss the athletic code of conduct and the discrepancies between that code and board of education policies. No decisions were directly made on Monday regarding the discrepancies, but Superintendent Aaron Moran did suggest and hopes to form a committee to help re-orient one or both of the policies to align them together and make the rules and regulations clear across the district.
Moran hopes to have the committee led by the athletic director with members including parents of athletes in all age groups and potentially one or more board of education members. Moran plans to begin these meetings this fall with at least three meetings, any changes made will not be in effect for the 2023-2024 school year.
Moran hopes to create “a policy that makes it uncomfortable for kid to make the wrong decision and support kids who make the right decisions.”
Dunaway made multiple suggestions for this committee, one suggestion being that they keep in mind parents that have athletes in the district who have come from other schools to help Tipp City gain a broader view of what other area schools and athletic departments are doing.
In other business:
• The board of education and Moran performed an exercise that allowed the board members to share their ideas for district goals the schools and board should focus on during the 2023-2024 school year.
• Added a discussion of the classified staff’s “in lieu of benefit payment” options to the agenda for the next board of education work session.
