Dr. Lorey returns as Jasper superintendent
At Monday’s meeting, the Greater Jasper Consolidated School Board took only a few moments after hearing remarks to affirm a new superintendent’s contract with Dr. Tracy Lorey.
Dr. Lorey resigned from the top position in the corporation after accepting a position as the Deputy Secretary of Education, which she started on February 3.
Prior to accepting the new contract, the board heard from Sarah Chappell-Leinenbach during the public hearing portion of the process. Mrs. Chappell-Leinenbach questioned the timing of the notice and the lack of language regarding whom the contract was within the public notice.
She said the public notice in the Dubois County Herald was insufficient for the public to understand what the corporation was considering due to its reduced circulation. She recommended they consider an online source to ensure more people see the notices.
Additionally, she wondered why the contract on the school website did not include Dr. Lorey’s name as the other party in the agreement.
School Corporation Attorney Tim Demotte explained that the corporation is bound by state law to publish the notice in a physical newspaper and cannot consider online sources to meet the legal public notice requirements.
He added that they were not required to include Dr. Lorey’s information on the contract notice during the negotiation process. He explained those final details were being completed over the past weekend.
Though she commended Dr. Lorey for her years leading the school corporation, Mrs. Chappell-Leinenbach said the corporation could be missing an opportunity to consider a new vision in a different candidate.
“I just think we’re missing the opportunity of getting new eyes to lead this school district,” she said. “I’m asking, perhaps, not to rehire her tonight, extend the deadline, have her apply, and see if we can get some more applications.”
After the meeting, Board Chair Greg Eckerle said they had received six applications for the position, but the board had not interviewed them.
The corporation worked with Dr. Terry McDaniel from Indiana State University and representatives from Purdue, Ball State, and IU to help identify its expectations for a superintendent and guide the hiring process.
Mr. Eckerle said they were the only ones with the information regarding those applications.
During the decision-making process, Eckerle said he was glad Dr. Lorey considered returning and had several people reach out to him to support her return. He explained that finding and selecting a new superintendent was a difficult and important process. And finding someone to replace her was going to be hard.
“Rather than going into the unknown, we have a proven person in Dr. Lorey and in my mind what better person to fill her shoes than that person herself,” Mr. Eckerle said.
Board member Steve Lukemeyer said that he hadn’t heard anything negative about her leadership during her departure process.
“I heard nothing but positive feedback from administrators, teachers and everybody expressing their disappointment (at her leaving),” he said. “Everybody said we were going to have a hard time replacing her.”
He added that in light of that, it made sense to rehire someone with her experience, knowledge of the school corporation and talent to lead the corporation.
Board member Sara Schmidt said she was glad to bring Dr. Lorey back for her leadership and to establish a secession plan for the future.
“I think we have the opportunity to plan better for a future leader,” she said. “She is going to retire eventually. She’ll leave a legacy behind, and part of that will be preparation for that future leader.”
The contract with Dr. Lorey was unanimously approved. The special contract approved on Monday will be renewed in June, aligning with the corporation’s annual budgeting process.
Dr. Lorey thanked the board for allowing her to return and resume her duties as superintendent.
“I’m sure that it seems like an unusual scenario that we are facing here this evening,” she said.
Dr. Lorey explained that though she thought she could take what she knew as an educator in Jasper and use it to serve in a new capacity, she quickly realized after beginning her work with the Indiana Department of Education that her heart was in Jasper.
“My time in Indianapolis was a great learning experience and I had the opportunity to meet and work with some really amazing people who are doing great things for education across the State of Indiana,” she told the board.
She explained that her work schedule, the distance, and the disconnect from students and staff had impacted her for the six weeks with the department.
After Monday’s meeting, Dr. Lorey said she realized where her heart was during a visit to a school to see some programming they had implemented for their students. “It just hit me,” she said. “I cried when I left there because I missed that connection with kids.”
The 55-year-old has been with the Jasper Corporation for 32 years and affirmed that she plans to remain as long as they allow her to or until she retires.
“I had an incredible opportunity to serve as an educational leader in a different capacity, outside of being an educator in Jasper, Indiana,” Dr. Lorey said. “I really learned a lot about myself as a leader and the most important part of what I learned is the fact that as an educator, I need that school community and the students that we serve because they’re the heart of what we do and why we do it.”
