SOUTH MADISON COUNTY — Three of the seven seats on the South Madison Community School Corp.’s board of school trustees are on the ballot — and contested — in the 2022 General Election.
Two newcomers are challenging the incumbents in two of the races, and two newcomers are running for the third seat, all hoping to help guide the district, which currently serves about 4,460 students, for the next four years.
Kevin Ginder is challenging eight-year incumbent Kaye Wolverton in Adams Township. Brandon Godbey is seeking to replace Bill Hutton, who’s been on the board since 2012, in Fall Creek Township. Jon Beaty and Mark Thompson are vying to fill the seat currently occupied by board President Joel Sandefur — who is not running again — in Green Township.
Below are candidate responses to a recent Times-Post questionnaire.
District 1 — Adams Township
• Kevin T. Ginder
Kevin Ginder
Age: 57
Residency: Adams Township
Family: Two adult children, two grandchildren
Education: Associates of arts in business management and bachelor of science in elementary education and special education
Occupation: Educator at Correctional Industrial Facility Prison
Have you served on the school board before? If so, for how long?
No
Why do you want to serve on the school board now?
I have spent most of my life in Adams Township. I am wanting to give back to this great community and school system.
What do you think are the top three challenges facing South Madison schools?
Diversity — Pendleton has seen far more diversity than ever before. Every student should feel like they belong and included.
Hiring and retention of teachers and teacher assistants — Our school system had difficulty filling some teaching positions and not fully staffed with teaching assistants.
Class sizes — As our community grows, class size becomes an issue.
Are there specific actions you’d like to see the school board take to improve South Madison schools? If so, what are they?
No response.
What do you like most about South Madison schools?
The professional teachers and administrators. The high community support of the school system. The clean and up-to-date facilities. The high graduation rate of Pendleton Heights.
Why should voters choose you to serve on the board?
I have lived here almost of my entire life. I take great pride in having gone to Pendleton, and this town and its people are quite dear to me. Being a licensed teacher, I believe I can bring a crucial perspective to the SMCSC school board.
• Kaye Wolverton
Kaye Wolverton
Age: 73
Residency: Markleville, Indiana 46056
Family: Husband, Tom; daughter, Danielle; granddaughter, Frankey
Education: Graduate Pendleton Heights, Apex College/Lasalle
Occupations: Beautician, interior design, marketing, consultant, food broker, business broker, waste broker (32 states), entrepreneur. Owner of 10 businesses
Have you served on the school board before? If so, for how long?
Yes, for eight years.
Why do you want to serve on the school board now?
Making a difference for parents, students and employees. Giving parents more voice. Keeping great teachers and expanding trades. LED PROJECT 30% SAVINGS ON ELECTRIC BILLS. I got 10 free computers for WEEM RADIO. FAC got 30 new sewing machines. My business experience got a great deal on loader for shop.
What do you think are the top three challenges facing South Madison schools?
1. Continuing strong enrollment provides financial stability. Each new student brings SMCSC $6,100. This is how the school is paid. In 2014 I was elected. Enrollment was declining. I brought Arbor Homes to purchase 140 acres. 400 homes result
2. Continue to build and expand trades in construction, welding, plumbing, nursing, electrical, culinary as in house and use of New Castle Career Center/Ebbert Anderson. Students graduate with certificates/licenses in hand no education/college debt. Ready for the worlds job market.
3. Parents involved. SMCSC teachers providing quality education Keeping SMCSC an education center which believes in embracing family, students and community.
Are there specific actions you’d like to see the school board take to improve South Madison schools? If so, what are they?
Our school board is a diverse makeup of individuals. Three from business — Angie Brown, Buck Evans and me. Joel Sandefur has been a public service officer. Others are retired teachers — Mike Hanna, Bill Hutton and John Lord. One main disagreement is masking. Parental rights of SMCSC OVERWHELMINGLY AGAINST MASKS as Brown, Evans and I agree. As a board, we are facing daily a surge of issues to be brought to the table and resolved. Our SMCSC community as parents, employees and population are involved wanting their voices heard. I agree. We, the SMCSC board, are here to serve.
What do you like most about South Madison schools?
Families are involved. Employees are involved. Teachers are involved. All embrace together as a team effort to create the best public education that Indiana has to offer. SMCSC offers education in radio, advertising, family, trades, drama, agriculture, sports and much more. A small community feeling with large education opportunities.
Why should voters choose you to serve on the board?
I AM INVOLVED
ONLY member with child in SMCSC.
Only board member perfect attendance years missing two days, doors iced.
Only board member with disabled Danielle epilepsy special needs.
$5,000 donated to high school over five years billboard/electronic.
Athletic hospitality room donated five years food and desserts.
I visit schools.
District 2 — Fall Creek Township
• Brandon Godbey
Brandon Godbey
Age: 48
Residency: Fall Creek Township
Family: Wife, Jen; four children
Education: Pendleton Heights, some college, Ball State University
Occupation: Corporate manager, multiple corporations
Have you served on the school board before? If so, for how long?
No.
Why do you want to serve on the school board now?
Public education is something we haven’t paid attention to, and it’s in bad condition now. It’s time for leadership to actually lead in the education field. I believe that if we don’t change our approach to education, this next generation is in serious trouble.
What do you think are the top three challenges facing South Madison schools?
1) Growth. Our trend is moving toward explosive growth, and this town and this community is just not ready for it.
2) Employee retention. We do not pay on average as much as half of the schools in this state. We have to be more competitive and fight for more money for our employees.
3) Getting lost in social agendas. We can’t focus so much on social agendas that education becomes a secondary conversation.
Are there specific actions you’d like to see the school board take to improve South Madison schools? If so, what are they?
The first action is apply for more grants. There’s 250 grants, federal and state grants, that go unclaimed every year. If we can capture some of these grants monies, they could be used to enrich employee packages. I’ve researched the problems and I’ve researched the solutions.
Focus more on the majority, and better communication and transparency with the community.
We need to focus on education.
What do you like most about South Madison schools?
My family has been here for generations. It’s a special place, but right now it’s broken.
Everything going on currently in the system is easy to fix with leadership.
There are very capable people in internal leadership positions within the corporation that are capable to help make the changes.
Why should voters choose you to serve on the board?
I’m passionate about this community, and I’m passionate about the children in this community being able to have a quality education.
• William (Bill) Hutton
Bill Hutton
Age: 74
Residency: Pendleton
Family: Wife, Donna; two married daughters; five grandchildren
Education: Graduate of Middletown High School, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and administrative degree from Ball State University.
Occupation: Retired educator
Have you served on the school board before? If so, for how long?
I have been on the South Madison School Board since Feb. 16, 2012.
Why do you want to serve on the school board now?
I want to continue serving as I have the skills, background and desire to provide the safest, most challenging and varied educational experiences for all students. While teaching the P.A.C.E. program at the elementary level, I focused on students developing problem solving skills. I use those same skills during meetings.
What do you think are the top three challenges facing South Madison schools?
1. The safety of all of our students is a challenge that needs constant review and adjustments. That applies to both physical danger as well as emotional issues that affect our students and teachers.
2. Finding the best teachers is a challenge as the demands placed on experienced as well as future teachers make it more difficult to attract and maintain our staff.
3. Monitoring student enrollment in a growth area takes long-range planning while maintaining as small class numbers as possible.
Are there specific actions you’d like to see the school board take to improve South Madison schools? If so, what are they?
Improving communication between home and school is always a challenge especially when there is so much misinformation that is easily available. Getting the good news out to our entire community without a public relations person is a challenge. Our trades program has increased in the last few years and more options need to be identified as students make requests.
What do you like most about South Madison schools?
Our students, faculty and parents put forth a very strong effort. Our students are academically strong. Our Fine Arts department is successful including our choirs, our bands and our visual arts. Our athletes compete at a high level even though they are in one of the strongest athletic conferences.
Why should voters choose you to serve on the board?
I have been student centered my entire career. I am enthusiastic about all of our students being as successful as they can be and developing them into adults that are going to take our community and state to a higher level. I truly believe in this community.
District 3
— Green Township
• Jon Beaty
Jon Beaty
Age: 38
Residency: Pendleton
Family: Wife, Heather; three children, ages 8, 6, 3
Education: Yorktown High School; bachelor of science, Ball State University
Occupation: Cybersecurity systems analyst, U.S. Department of Defense
Have you served on the school board before? If so, for how long?
No.
Why do you want to serve on the school board now?
I’ve been going to school board meetings for a couple of years. I’ve got two kids that are active in the system at Pendleton Elementary. I want somebody to go in there and fight for them. I just think it’s important that somebody goes in there to be bold, to implement the changes. I want my kids to look at their dad and say he was willing to put it on the line and he was willing to fight for them.
What do you think are the top three challenges facing South Madison schools?
1) I think controlled growth is important. We’re in an area that is growing, which is good in a lot of ways. But we’re also dealing with incredible challenges of class size. This is an issue we need to tackle head on.
2) Staff retention. That plays a part. Making sure that we are fully staffed, properly compensated, and supported from an administration perspective.
3) I want to put aside the social issues. Any of those social issues, parents are more than welcome to address at home, but let our teachers get back to just teaching our core educational topics.
Are there specific actions you’d like to see the school board take to improve South Madison schools? If so, what are they?
I’d like to open up true transparency and communication. What we found is when people don’t properly tell the entire story, people begin to assume the worst. Parents or guardians just want to know exactly what is happening within our schools.
I think security is something I want to address right away. I’ve had conversations with local security experts already, and we’ve begun plans to fortify our schools even more to provide adequate security for all our children.
I’d like to pursue more grants within our school corporation … grants that provide more opportunity for students and staff and teachers.
What do you like most about South Madison schools?
I think it’s a great family-oriented community and school system. Everybody seems to have each other’s backs. People genuinely care about each other. The neighborly small-town feel was an environment my wife and I fell in love with and wanted to raise our family in.
Why should voters choose you to serve on the board?
I’m a dad, not a politician. No one will fight for our kids harder than a parent or guardian with children that are active in our school system.
• Mark W. Thompson
Mark Thompson
Age: 77
Residency: Pendleton
Family: Wife, Jane; son Eric; daughter Susan; six grandchildren
Education: Anderson University, bachelor of science; Ball State University, master of arts; life teaching license
Occupation: Retired teacher, police officer and student teacher supervisor
Have you served on the school board before?
No.
Why do you want to serve on the school board now?
I want to continue to give back to my community. I believe with my background in education and law enforcement, I have the ability to understand the issues facing our school system.
What do you think are the top three challenges facing South Madison schools?
Maintaining safety for all students. Expanding the curriculum to include more trade school training. Meeting the challenge of future growth in our community and preparing the facilities for such growth.
Are there specific actions you’d like to see the school board take to improve South Madison schools? If so, what are they?
Constantly improve our communication among administration, teachers, students and parents by putting our public meetings on video and available on the SMCSC website.
What do you like most about South Madison schools?
I believe we have a school system that places value on all students and that employees of SMCSC deliver a well-balanced curriculum that gives all students the opportunity to succeed.
Why should voters choose you to serve on the board?
I have taught, coached and implemented the Carnegie Learning Center. I have been in charge of the Madison County Sheriff’s Department, including budgetary matters. My experience both in education and law enforcement has given me the background to understand the school board’s responsibilities to the community.
