A new principal at Crestview Middle School and a new dean of students for Huntington North High School were named by the Huntington County Community School Board on Wednesday, July 18.
Chuck Werth will serve as principal at Crestview, and Jami Craft was named to the HNHS position.
Werth has held the assistant principal position at Crestview for three years. He also has 14 years of teaching experience and 16 years of coaching experience.
Addressing the school board during its meeting, Werth said he is "very excited," about his new position.
Craft was previously a pre-algebra and algebra teacher at Riverview Middle School.
She holds a master of educational administration and supervision degree from Ball State University.
Huntington County Community Schools Superintendent Tracey Shafer recommended Craft for the position, and the board voted unanimously to award the position to her.
Craft says she is "excited to make a different impact on students out of the classroom."
Also unanimously approved by the board were several resignations and appointments.
Kyle Daugherty resigned from his position as assistant football coach at HNHS and was approved as the head baseball coach at the same school.
Scott Bower was named head of boys' track and Austin Foust was named assistant football coach, both at Huntington North.
New certified employees are HNHS social studies teacher Kyle Wood; Holly Harris, special education at Lancaster; and Daniel Scott, special services at HNHS.
Assistant Superintendent Chuck Grable reported that, according to the end-of-school report card, 78.47 percent of Huntington's students passed their NWEA reading tests.
Also, 79.2 percent of students passed language tests by the same association.
Also, 91 percent of third grade students passed the new IREAD test.
Huntington schools see a 96.39 percent attendance rate, Grable says.
The board has decided to review the benchmarks for these areas, which were set three years ago, and evaluate if they should be moved up or down relative to the performance other school districts, similar to Huntington County, in the state.
Treasurer Jon Bennett reported a $1.5 million balance in the general fund. He says the budget has ample money set aside for emergency situations.
New buses have been ordered and will arrive by the end of December. Bennett says the 2013 budget will allow for more bus replacements.
The board approved a request to purchase computers for the high school computer labs. Tom Ashley asked the board to purchase 365 CPU systems (no monitors) for $100,000. The computer systems being replaced will be moved into elementary school classrooms.
In other business, the board has purchased a new phone system for Roanoke Elementary School and Huntington North.
Also, the east high school parking lot will be closed for construction from July 23 to July 27. Anyone entering the building should enter through door one, two or 11 and park in the west lot (in front of the building).
