Greater Clark board to consider resignation of assistant principal

Clark County

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November 19, 2012

Greater Clark board to consider resignation of assistant principal

Superintendent Melin’s contract gets tweaked

By JEROD CLAPP jerod.clapp@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Mon Nov 19, 2012, 07:46 AM EST

JEFFERSONVILLE — A beleaguered assistant principal’s resignation and an a contract change for the superintendent are on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting of the Greater Clark County Schools board of trustees meeting.

David Milburn — an assistant principal at Jeffersonville High School who was an initial replacement after Principal James Sexton was reassigned — submitted his resignation Nov. 9. The board will vote on it as part of the personnel agenda.

Erin Bojorquez, supervisor of communications and public relations for the district, said in an email that Milburn’s was resigning.

“David Milburn was eligible for early retirement through the Teachers Retirement Fund (TRF),” Bojorquez’s email said. “Greater Clark County Schools accepted Mr. Milburn’s resignation in lieu of completing an investigation into the allegations of misconduct and charges filed against him.”

Milburn was put on paid administrative leave about a week after he was named the interim principal of Jeffersonville High School because of felony charges of theft from a Walmart in Louisville, where he held a job while he was assistant principal.

Bojorquez said Milburn’s paid administrative leave will remain a part of his personnel record, but since the investigation against him was not completed at the time of his resignation, it will not become a part of his personnel record.

The board also will consider changing some of superintendent Andrew Melin’s contract language to adjust when he can be considered for a one-year extension.

Currently, his contract provides for an extension if he receives a “superior” rating on his evaluation at the end of the third year. The new language allows the board to give him an extension if he gets an “effective” rating at the end of his first year.

The measure was put on the agenda by Christina Gilkey, board president. She said logistically, it wouldn’t make sense to give the extension at the end of the third year because it wouldn’t give the superintendent an idea if he had a job after that point or not.

After consulting with the Indiana School Board Association, Gilkey said she found the practice of granting an extension at the end of the first year was not uncommon.

“If he’s done his job after the first year, I don’t see a problem with giving him another year to do his job,” Gilkey said. “That’s pretty commonplace with superintendents.”

But she also said the district needs some sense of regularity, given the changeover in top positions over the years.

“We also need some stability in this district,” Gilkey said. “We’ve had five CEOs, basically, in six years.”

She said in rushing the time frame to get his initial contract written, that detail slipped passed the board. She said rather than get it in at the last minute, they waited to avoid any potential suspicions.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the administration building, located at 2112 Utica-Sellersburg Road in Jeffersonville.