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City Council appoints Kathryn Dory to school board seat
Characterizing Kathryn Dory as the right person at the right time for the Greencastle Community School Corporation (GCSC), the City Council Tuesday night appointed her to the Greencastle School Board.
Dory, who succeeds Brian Cox on the panel, brings the perspective of more than 40 years in education and 26 years with GCSC as a teacher, band and choir director and since 2008, Academic Super Bowl coordinator of a Greencastle program that has amassed the most state titles in Indiana.
As City Council members went around the table at City Hall, sharing their preferences for the school board position and speaking highly of all five candidates, Councilman David Masten had words of praise for Dory, who retired three years ago.
“Mrs. Dory might just be the school marm the corporation needs,” he said, noting he was expressing that sentiment “with deep respect and admiration” for the wife of former two-term Mayor Bill Dory. “She may just be what the school corporation needs right now.”
Longtime Councilman Mark Hammer, who has seen his share of school board appointments in his 29 years on the Council, nodded his head to Masten’s assessment of the eventual choice.
“Schoolmarm,” he said. “I like that.”
In addition to Dory, 320 Highfall Ave., the other applicants for the school board seat were:
• Cox, 801 Tacoma Dr., accounts and events manager at Prindle Ethics Institute at DePauw University and former director of the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce, 2015-22.
• John Mark Day, 520 S. Indiana St., vice president for student affairs and dean of students at DePauw since August 2022.
• Aaron Nance, 716 Hillcrest Dr., an elementary school educator in Greencastle Schools and Greencastle Classroom Teachers Association vice president, 2022-24
• Kevin Verhoff, 910 S. Indiana St., senior analyst on research projects on performance management, pay equity, staff attrition and student graduation for KIPP Team & Family Schools, Newark, N.J.
The City Council appoints two of the five members of the Greencastle School Board with Dory joining Megan Inman (appointed by the school board to replace Russell Harvey who had been named by the Council). The Greencastle Township Advisory Board appoints two other school board members (currently Ed Wilson and Mike White, who recently resigned), while the fifth member (Dale Pierce) is appointed by the Madison Township Advisory Board.
Overall the Council liked all the hopefuls with Council President Stacie Langdon starting the proceedings by going around the table, asking for each member’s top choices.
When the dust settled Dory, Day and Verhoff had support from five of the seven Council members as either their first or second choice as a dozen onlookers, including current board members Cox and Inman, watched in silence.
“I’m looking for independent and free-thinking,” Masten reasoned, noting that assessment seemed to fit all three of the finalists.
“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, it really is,” Councilman Vince Aguirre commented.
Meanwhile, Councilor Katherine Asbell called serving on the school board “a big, big commitment.”
“You’re always getting phone calls and getting stopped in Kroger,” she added. “People are always wanting something.”
With Council members pushed to acknowledge their No. 1 choice, Masten asked, “Do we have a three-headed coin?”
Dory emerged as the top candidate for Masten, Langdon, Asbell, Hammer and Tina Nicholson, while Aguirre and Darrel Thomas voiced a preference for Day.
With that known, Langdon made a motion to appoint Dory, which was seconded by Asbell and led to a 6-1 vote with Thomas casting the lone dissenting tally.
“She will be a great advocate for our students,” Asbell praised, noting Dory’s background in curriculum and “knowing how much she puts into the community.”
Hammer pointed out that for once the school board appointment was able to “promote someone who has been in our school corporation for years.”
Dory was not in attendance at City Hall as she is serving as vocal and musical director as well as assistant director for the Putnam County Playhouse musical “Oklahoma,” which had a rare Tuesday night show.
However, she told the Banner Graphic Wednesday, “I would like to thank the City Council for their confidence in my skills and experiences to serve the school district.
“I am excited to bring a teacher and classroom perspective to the board,” she added. “I am looking forward to supporting the success of our students, faculty, staff and administrators.”
Summarizing her goal as a board member, she added, “We need to remember that strong schools make strong communities.”
Dory will assume the four-year position on July 1. It runs through June 30, 2028.
Meanwhile, the Council also hoped to appoint a new Greencastle Redevelopment Commission member to fill a vacancy following the resignation of Cody Eckert, who has moved out of town.
Three possibilities emerged as Hammer recommended former Plan Commission and Zoning Board member Wayne Lewis, while Langdon advocated for the return of longtime RDC member Gary Lemon to the commission to help provide some guidance on the $28 million Putnam County YMCA project that is under way on the city’s East Side since he has been a part of the project since its beginnings. Asbell, meanwhile, thought Eric Birt, a retired chemical engineer for Lone Star, would be a good selection and, as Thomas suggested, “someone new.”
After limited discussion, the matter was tabled until the Council’s next meeting, set for 7 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, at which time the group will also consider second reading and adoption of Ordinance 2024-4, establishing a stormwater management ordinance and stormwater technical standards manual. It was approved unanimously on first reading Tuesday night.
That issue has been on the city’s plate since 2018, Hammer noted, but came to a head recently when Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) personnel visited Greencastle and told Mayor Lynda Dunbar an ordinance needed to be passed by July.
The ordinance provides that an MS-4 engineer will need to be hired to monitor the stormwater issue.
Masten, who said he read the ordinance three times and said, “I think it’s a good product, I really do,” suggested that the state-mandated program be renamed the “Civil Engineer Employment Act.”