The Jennings County School Corporation board elected Amy Pettit president and approved a slate of administrative appointments, personnel hires, policy updates and donations at its organizational meeting. The board also adopted a compensation schedule for members and tabled a roofing contract while staff verify bid details.

The leadership votes and administrative approvals set the board’s operating structure for the coming year and cleared several personnel and program items necessary for the district’s start of term. Board members also accepted multiple community donations and approved policy updates supplied through the district’s Neola policy service.

Amy Pettit was nominated and elected president by a 6-0-1 vote, with one abstention. After the election Pettit thanked the board: “I just want to really quickly, just say thank you to the board for trusting me, to continue to work as your president. Super excited about that.”

The board approved compensation for board members at $130 for regular meetings and $70 for other meetings. That recommendation was presented by board staff and was adopted by majority vote. The board also authorized the president to appoint individual members as representatives to outside organizations and committees; the board then approved a list of committee and liaison appointments, including Mary Lynn Whitcomb as the ISBA legislative liaison and Pat Sullivan as ISBA policy liaison.

Administrative appointments approved by the board included Philip Marsh as treasurer and Myra Fishfoot as deputy treasurer; Deb Johnson was approved as executive secretary. The board voted to retain Jason Judd as local legal counsel and adopted the upcoming board meeting schedule as presented.

On personnel, the board approved three recommendations to hire school nurses for Jennings County School Corporation — Susan Back (also recorded as Susan Beck in the meeting), Lori Bueller and Laney Wolf — by unanimous vote. The board accepted multiple donations to district schools and programs, including $1,000 from Janes County Pallets for the high school winter formal, $370 from the Jennings County Community Foundation for classroom grants at Brush Creek, and a $1,000 donation to the Brush Creek archery program, among other gifts.

The board approved three Neola-supplied policy updates by unanimous vote. The board also approved an agreement to allow Inclusive Options to work with a student transitioning back from an ABA center at Northburn Elementary.

A property item on the agenda, the Sand Creek Roofing project contract, was tabled while staff verify bid information; board members said five bids were received and that competition produced favorable pricing, but asked for verification before final contract action.

The meeting concluded with a certification announcement that the district’s graduation rate is 93.6%, a 14 percentage-point improvement over two years; board members applauded the district staff and student work that contributed to the increase.

Key votes and outcomes noted in the meeting record included the election of officers, approval of treasurer and executive secretary appointments, adoption of compensation levels, acceptance of donations and personnel hires, approval of Neola policies, authorization of counsel and committee appointments, and tabling of the Sand Creek Roofing contract pending verification.