Fort Wayne Community Schools will not accept the results of the most recent ISTEP+ test until they are validated by an independent third party.Southwest Allen County Schools is searching for a new leader for Homestead High School after current Principal Rick Smith announced he is leaving.
On Tuesday, board members approved Smith’s resignation, which is effective Aug. 10. SACS Superintendent Steve Yager said Smith is leaving the education field for another opportunity, but he declined to elaborate.
Smith has been principal at Homestead for five years and has been with the district for 20 years, according to district officials.
Several board members and administrators said they were sorry to see Smith leave.
“Mr. Smith was without question one of the finest administrators I’ve ever seen,” Yager said before the board vote. “We’re going to miss him. We wish him well.”
Smith was named Homestead’s principal in 2007, succeeding Dianne Moake, who resigned in spring 2006 to seek an administrative role in the district. Before that appointment, he had been an administrator at Woodside Middle School for 16 years.
Yager said the district would now begin searching for someone to assume the position, which he called one of the most important and challenging in the district.
Textbook fees OK’d
In other business, the board approved textbook rental fees for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The fees are the same as they have been in previous years, despite the fact that middle school students in the district now receive their own laptops.
Southwest Allen Business Manager Jim Coplen said he was uncertain whether fees at the high school level would increase as a result of recent technology purchases.
Homestead High students are slated to receive laptops this fall, and it’s possible, Coplen said, that fees might increase to pay for some of the associated costs.
Officers elected
The Southwest Allen board also elected new officers Tuesday night.
Mark Gilpin will be president, Holly Glick will be vice president and John Blum will be secretary.
The board voted to keep salaries at $2,000 annually, plus $35 per special meeting. Barnes and Thornburg will continue to be the board’s law firm.
