HAMILTON COUNTY, Ind. — Some parents and administrators grew concerned when two-year contract renewals were removed from the Wednesday night agenda.
In the morning, the district reported the renewals were being delayed to the fall, but hours later, the contracts were put back on the school board meeting agenda.
A spokesperson for Hamilton Southeastern Schools told 13News the two-year contract renewals were taken off the agenda and the decision impacted 73 principals, deans and other administrators. The board stated in the past, it wanted to wait to renew the contracts after voters decided on a referenda renewal proposal expected to go on the ballot in November.
The delayed renewals would not impact the upcoming school year because the administrators' contracts were good through June 2024. Still, several parents and administrators voiced concern online the move would lead to uncertainty.
Melinda Humbert, a mom of two high school students, is concerned the uncertainty could trickle down to the classroom level.
"The fact (administrators) have a question mark about if they have a job basically means that that they could leave at any time,” Humbert said. “And so that, as a parent, is really concerning for me because we have great, we have great schools. We have great communities. And so, for there to be such a level of risk or a level of stress on our staff is not what, not what we want.”
By Wednesday afternoon, the agenda was changed again. A new document shows the board is set to approved two-year contracts for about 70 administrators.
13News reached out to all seven of the school board trustees for comment about the delayed contract renewal decision and the referenda. President Dawn Lang responded via email.
“On behalf of the board of trustees, thank you for reaching out on this matter,” Lang wrote. “There has been much conjecture about tonight’s board meeting. This topic is part of our agenda tonight, and we will be addressing it at a more appropriate time.”
At this time, the board is expected to renew the majority of the two-year contracts. The document posted shows three of the positions are highlighted because of retirements and resignations. Five names and positions appear to be redacted – a district spokesperson tells 13News the board plans to address those contracts later.
Tonight’s school board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be streamed live. You can watch the stream by clicking here.