Argos Addresses School Issues
By Stacey Creasy
and Mike Siroky
Pilot News
ARGOS � All is not well at the Argos School Corporation.
A number of Argos residents have contacted The Pilot News, claiming they plan to raise various issues with the Argos School Board in the weeks to come.
Softball Disbanded
Last month, the Argos School Board voted unanimously to dissolve the high school girls� softball team. The school corporation was careful to avoid Title IX and even Indiana High School Athletic Association issues in case anyone would question whether the school failed to provide facilities comparable to the boys� sports. Argos has a baseball team.
Argos does not have a softball diamond. The one that had been used in previous seasons belongs to the town and had been converted to another use.
The school board dissolved the team due to �a demonstrated lack of participation,� as is allowed in the school guidelines. Several area administrators and athletic directors all said this is a common practice and could help a school avoid Title IX guidelines if the board felt there was a lack of participation. The fact Argos had no senior players this year contributed to that decision.
�Before we did anything, we sat down and went through the IHSAA rules as well as our own athletic handbooks,� said Argos Superintendent Connie Curry. �We made sure we followed the rules on how to add or delete a team. We just didn�t want to leave any problems.�
A court challenge is the only way to now see if there are Title IX issues. No one has yet sued the school corporation in this issue.
Reductions In Force
A number of residents claim the school board would have violated contract law if the board would have gone forward with planned Reduction in Force announcements for next year. During that March board meeting, many school board patrons spoke in protest of the planned RIF announcement as well as reduced work hours and layoffs for other staff.
�The board is trying to balance the budget,� said Curry. �The certified teacher contracts run through June. The school board, by law, must notify those teachers in advance, who will be placed on the RIF list for possible non-renewal. The same list will be presented at the April meeting. The same staff reductions will also be announced.�
No Teacher Contract
The school board has yet to settle a two-year-old contract dispute with the Argos Education Association. For more than six months, there has been no progress in talks. The teachers are still working under the terms of the 2001 contract.
�We are working hard on this,� said Curry.
Board lockout?
Several readers who have contacted The Pilot News to repeat a story making the rounds: It is alleged the school board locked the doors during an expected open school board meeting last fall to keep Argos Education Association chair Ginger Calhoun out of the meeting.
At the same time, the doors would have been locked to the public during a regular open session.
�That wasn�t it at all,� said Curry. �To back up, let me say Ginger Calhoun and I are working real well together. We may not always agree, but we work well together.
�That night, I had been working alone in my office and had locked all the doors so no one could just come on in. So I locked the doors. When the school board members arrived, I�d get up and let them in and no one thought to unlock the doors.
�Ginger came a little after start time and found the doors locked and she hammered on the outside doors. We didn�t hear her right away, but, when we did, we let her in because we realized the doors were locked.
�It was my doing.�
New Principal
Finally, the board voted in December not to renew the con-
tract of Kevin Porter, the principal at Argos Junior/Senior High School.
Porter is not free to discuss the issue. As of the March meetings, there is no record of the board providing any reason, in reference to state codes or school regulations, as to why
Porter�s contract will not be renewed.
�We can�t discuss it because it is a personnel issue,� said Curry. �But let me say we are moving forward with selection of a new principal. We haave about eight to 10 applications which we will start screening next week.�
A number of residents have also expressed concern over the turnover of administrators in recent years. Ted Chittum served as Argos Superintendent for a decade. Rick Dehne was the Argos Junior/Senior High School principal for a number of years. Both have moved on to Triton.
Argos continues to have the only appointed school board in Marshall County. Some residents have suggested it t is time to have an elected board.
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