SOUTH BEND — The inaugural meeting of the new South Bend Community School Corp. (SBCSC) school board on Jan. 8 brought with it the first taste of a new majority, which wasted no time in making known its preferences and willingness to enact them.
Newcomers Carlos Leyva and Bill Sniadecki joined returning trustees Jeanette McCullough and Mark Costello, formerly frequent holdouts in 5-2 votes under the previous board, to form a majority coalition on several votes. Some of these decisions have significant effects on the district.
South Bend Community School Corp. board president Jeanette McCullough, right, presides over a board meeting at Brown Administration Building on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2024, in South Bend.
In addition to reshaping the leadership of the board with all new officers, some surprise agenda items passed, including an indefinite freeze on all aspects of the school corporation’s facilities master plan, and the reassignment of former McKinley Elementary School principal Jesus Pedraza to become K-5 principal at Edison K-8 School.
McCullough, Costello, Sniadecki and Leyva voted in alignment together throughout the meeting, securing passage of several proposals.
The full recording of the meeting is available on the district’s YouTube channel. The next SBCSC board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 23, at Adams High School, 808 S Twyckenham Dr.
New board leadership
The board held an organizational meeting before the regular meeting to elect new officers for the year.
To run the organizational meeting, trustees had to vote on a temporary chairperson, and Sniadecki nominated Costello to assume the role. Trustee Kate Lee also nominated Stuart Greene, who served as president on the previous board, but Greene declined; Costello was unanimously voted to be temporary chairperson.
South Bend Community School Corp. Superintendent Todd Cummings, left, board members Kate Lee, center, and Stuart Greene, right, listen during a board meeting at Brown Administration Building on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2024, in South Bend.
The three new and returning members were sworn in, after which Costello called for nominations for the various offices.
President: Jeanette McCullough
Snaidecki nominated McCullough for board president, and Lee again nominated Greene. McCullough was elected president with a 4-3 majority — Lee, Greene and newcomer Marcus Ellison voting against.
Jeanette McCullough, right, is re-sworn in as a South Bend Community School Corp. board member during a board meeting at Brown Administration Building on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2024, in South Bend.
Vice President: Bill Sniadecki
For the office of vice president, Costello and Ellison nominated Sniadecki and Greene, respectively. Sniadecki carried the vote with a 4-3 majority, once again with Lee, Greene and Ellison voting against.
Bill Sniadecki, second from right, is sworn is as a South Bend Community School Corp. board member during a board meeting at Brown Administration Building on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2024, in South Bend.
Secretary: Carlos Leyva
Sniadecki nominated Leyva to be secretary, and he received a unanimous vote in favor.
Treasurer and Deputy Treasurer: Ahnaf Tahmid and Luisa Brand
The board also unanimously voted to retain the prior treasurer, SBCSC’s Chief Financial Officer Ahnaf Tahmid, and voted in Luisa Brand, the district’s accounting director, as deputy treasurer.
ISBA Legislative Liaison: Carlos Leyva
Carlos Leyva, right, is sworn in as a South Bend Community School Corp. board member during a board meeting at Brown Administration Building on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2024, in South Bend.
McCullough nominated Leyva to be the board’s legislative liaison with the Indiana School Boards Association, and the board voted unanimously in favor.
Surprise agenda items
The meeting agenda published on BoardDocs and passed out to attendees Wednesday night listed only one agenda item — namely, to approve the proposed 2025-26 Course Description Guide — but McCullough and Sniadecki moved to add some additional items before the board voted to adopt the agenda. The public was given the opportunity to address the board about any of the added agenda items.
McCullough’s added items included:
-
Hiring a law firm for the corporation — passed 4-3
-
Placing a temporary freeze on hiring administrators, but not certified teachers, social workers, counselors and support staff — tabled until next meeting
-
Placing a freeze on the facilities master plan — passed 4-3
-
Adding cursive writing to the corporation’s curriculum — passed unanimously
Jesus Pedraza, left, principal of the Dual Language Immersion program at South Bend Community School Corp., watches as the school board votes to move him from his current position to be the K-5 principal at Edison K-8 School during a board meeting at Brown Administration Building on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2024, in South Bend.
Sniadecki requested to add an item moving former McKinley principal Pedraza from his administrative position as principal of the Dual Language Immersion program to be K-5 principal at Edison — the role Pedraza says the district promised him before the McKinley-Edison merger. The motion passed 4-2, with Ellison abstaining.
In previous reporting, Lisa Tanselle, general counsel for the Indiana School Boards Association, told The Tribune that school boards typically hire and fire one employee, the superintendent, who then is responsible for other personnel decisions, under the board’s direction.
Who is Jesus Pedraza? South Bend schools recommends popular principal’s reassignment to administrative position
The board also voted unanimously to approve the proposed Course Description Guide.
Greene, Lee and Ellison voiced concerns with the added agenda items and called for some to be tabled until more information could be provided, adding that the items included personnel issues that should have been addressed in a closed session before bringing them to a public meeting.
South Bend Community School Corp. board member Marcus Ellison speaks during a board meeting at Brown Administration Building on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2024, in South Bend.
Ellison said he “could not disagree more” with the decision to introduce and vote on surprise agenda items, saying it was unfair to the other trustees and the attendees.
“Even if you agree with all of the votes that board took tonight, you should be upset with the process where you didn’t even know what was gonna be voted on until you walked up in here,” he said.
The lengthy discussions brought some moments of contention among trustees; Sniadecki interrupted Ellison several times while Ellison had the floor.
South Bend Community School Corp. Bill Sniadecki, left, interrupts board member Marcus Ellison, right, during a board meeting at Brown Administration Building on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2024, in South Bend.
McCullough said that her intent with the additional agenda items was to help increase transparency with the public, to ensure the board has control over the business side of the district and to give the new trustees the opportunity to understand the facilities plan. She added that the board “has a right to make amendments to the agenda” but said moving forward she would bring any new items to the other board members ahead of public meetings.
South Bend Community School Corp. board president Jeanette McCullough, right, presides over a board meeting at Brown Administration Building on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2024, in South Bend.
“We have some things that we need to work on,” McCullough said. “Like I said, … we can make amendments to the agenda, and I will work diligently and take into consideration to make sure that I … bring it to our board members’ attention first in executive session before I make an amendment or plan to make an amendment to make sure that … we’re on the same page.”
Email South Bend Tribune education reporter Rayleigh Deaton at rdeaton@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: New majority reshapes South Bend school board agenda in surprise votes