Superintendents Jack Parker, Harold Olin, George Phillhower and Lisa Lantrip shared the State of Education at the Greenfield Chamber’s monthly luncheon. Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD — Superintendents from the four Hancock County school systems shared their views on the local state of education at a luncheon hosted by the Greenfield Area Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday at Ninestar Connect’s Greenfield headquarters.
The ongoing teacher shortage was a concern shared by all four speakers, including Jack Parker of Mt. Vernon schools, Harold Olin of Greenfield-Central schools, Lisa Lantrip of Southern Hancock County schools and George Philhower of the Eastern Hancock school system.
“We are in a teaching shortage, the worst I’ve seen in my 39 years in education,” said Lantrip. “As a result, our focus this year, or in the past several years, has been how do we recruit them and how do we keep them once we recruit them,” she said.
Parker thanked the Mt. Vernon community for passing an operating referendum last year which allowed the district to offer the first teacher raises in five years, providing a 9% raise and a one-time $1,500 stipend to teachers throughout the corporation.
Increasing pay is an essential part of hiring and retaining quality teachers, he said, which is proving to be increasingly difficult.
“It’s getting more and more difficult to find certified applicants,” he said.
Olin echoed that sentiment.
“The teacher shortage is a reality,” said Olin, adding that Greenfield-Central has increased wages for all certified staff.
Each superintendent shared that their school district partners with various universities to help students fast-track into a teaching career.
Lantrip said her district offers a Grown Our Own Teachers program, partnering with Vincennes University and Indiana University to enable students to complete their post-secondary education in 18 to 24 months following high school graduation.
The goal is to have graduated and return to teach at Southern Hancock County schools, she said.
Eleven students committed to a signing ceremony last year in which Southern Hancock school officials vowed their support in helping pave the students’ way toward teaching careers.
“We promise them support from our teachers by providing trained mentor teachers, we promise them the ability to observe in a classroom, and we guarantee them an interview,” she said.
Students are able to select a Mt. Vernon school of their choice in which to complete their student teaching when the time comes, said Lantrip.
She shared details of Southern Hancock’s early graduation program, for which the district works with Vincennes University And Indiana University to put students on the fast track to obtaining a college degree.
“By taking college-level courses in high school, students can graduate with an associate’s degree from Vincennes University. This is our first year of kids going through that,” she said.
The same program allows students who wish to pursue a bachelor’s degree to graduate high school with two years of college already under their belts.
“They can then enroll at Indiana University as a direct admit student and earn their degree in 1½ to two years, then come back to our schools for their student teaching. We’re seeing a lot of kids wanting to do that,” she said.
An audience member asked each superintendent’s thoughts on the proposed education and innovation center that would serve Hancock County students.
Parker said he’s been a proponent of the project from the start.
“We (currently) send kids out of our county to five different career centers. That’s not very motivating for those kids,” he said.
“If we want to give our kids the opportunity, we have come together. We’ve developed a vision statement and beliefs, and we have said as a four-school collaborative that we need our own facility in Hancock County, and I’m so happy to see this momentum from our county leaders. We are thrilled and I believe that it’s actually going to happen,” said Parker.
Parker went on to say that the collaboration has already identified the first 10 programs to offer in the proposed school, based on a matrix of which programs are most desired by students, which areas offer the highest wages and which programs offer the highest reimbursements from the Indiana Department of Education.
“We need the reimbursements to pay for the teachers we put in the school,” he said, adding that students have been surveyed to gauge which areas of study would draw the most participants.
“This (proposed career center) is a big deal. These kids need to go for continuing education, but they don’t all need a university degree,” Parker added.
Olin said he’s been encouraged by ongoing meetings in which the four local superintendents and other local leaders have been discussing the potential career center.
“We’ve been meeting for about a year and a half now on a monthly basis to keep the ball rolling on this, and things are moving in the right direction. We would love to open in 2025,” he said.
Philhower said working toward a finalized plan will take time and teamwork.
“It will take a while because we have a building, we’ve had to have exciting conversations,” said the superintendent, who is a proponent for having all four county school systems work together to find suitable programs to meet students’ needs.
“One thing to consider is what programs we already have that can be better if we work together, and go to other various schools in the process.”
Parker shared that all the county superintendents have a history of working well together.
“My colleagues and I collaborate very well,” especially when it comes to gauging weather on potential snow days, he said. “We touch base at 5 a.m. several times a year.”
In addition to discussing shared goals, each superintendent took the opportunity to brag a bit about their individual school systems.
Lantrip shared that Southern Hancock schools has secured a Career Technology Education grant, which enables students from pre-K through high school to experience field trips, guest speakers and other learning opportunities in that area of study.
The school system is also working on offering free childcare for district employees starting next school year.
Philhower highlighted Eastern Hancock’s multi-pronged approach to giving all students a positive experience at school, focusing on “joy, connection and growth.”
“We ask ourselves, ‘What can we do to make people want to be here?’ The goal is to make the schools a joyful place where students want to be, while providing a sense of connection that makes each student feel like they belong. With that in mind, we want our kids to be growing every day,” he said.
Parker touched on the unprecedented growth in the Mt. Vernon School district, which has prompted school officials to restructure the grade levels starting in the fall of 2025.
“Mt. Vernon is growing faster than the state average. We’re growing a little over 100 students every year,” he said.
A new elementary school will soon be built to bring the district’s total to three while the current Fortville Elementary is transformed to a new middle school.
Parker said the district is committed to keeping class sizes manageable despite the growing pains. Class sizes now stand at 23 on average in the elementary schools, 24 at the middle school and 25.5 students per class at the high school, he said.
