The coaching career of long-time Bailly Elementary School physical education teacher Jack Campbell was celebrated at the Duneland School Corporation School Board meeting Monday night. Campbell announced his resignation as Chesterton High School Girls Basketball Coach at the end of his 36th season last month.
He also retired as head baseball coach for the high school at the end of the team’s 2023 season after 53 years at the helm. Campbell, a member of the Indiana Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, ends his Chesterton varsity coaching career with 1,275 wins, 820 on the diamond and 455 on the court.
“When Jack Campbell came here I was a sophomore in high school,” said Duneland School Corporation Board Secretary Tim McGinty, who played for him as a student. “I don’t think you can find people with better character than Jack Campbell. I think Duneland School Corporation was very fortunate to have him in front of the kids for 50 years.”
In other business, Brummitt Elementary School Principal Antonino Cammarata gave a presentation of his school’s student performance for the 2022-23 school year. He reported that 91% of students passed the IREAD while Brummitt moved to the top of its League of Schools — a group of similarly-sized schools in the region — in math.
Students may take the IREAD in second grade. If they pass, they’re done with it, but if they fail they have two more attempts in third grade.
In the spring of 2023, 61% of Brummit’s second graders passed IREAD. At that time, 85% of the school’s third-graders passed, increasing to 91.8% by the final attempt.
Board Vice President Brandon Kroft said he sent two children to Brummitt and remembers the scores not being as strong. He asked Cammarata what has changed.
“We’re rolling out curriculum that’s aligned to priority standards,” said Cammarata, referring to the Guaranteed Viable Curriculum the school is now using.
He explained that his staff also meets weekly to share successes and failures, and spoke warmly of the line of teachers he sees waiting outside of the office of their instruction coach.
“I think having an instruction coach is just a game-changer,” he added.
Superintendent Chip Pettit said the importance the Indiana Legislature is putting on early literacy with Senate Bill 1 is a welcome contribution as well.
“I think the point is early literacy is so important for success,” he said.
Regarding the corporation’s renovation and building projects across seven school campuses, Skillman Corporation Project Manager Chris Muvceski said work at Westchester Intermediate and Yost Elementary is expected to be completed by May. Heavy work will continue through the summer at Liberty Intermediate and Liberty, Jackson, Brummitt, and Bailly Elementary Schools, with completion expected by the end of the year.
A contract was also approved authorizing repair work to the Student Services Office at Chesterton High School following three inches of flooding that resulted from a frozen sprinkler line on Jan. 15. Counseling and athletic offices, as well as anything behind the main desk suffered substantial water damage.
Permission was granted by the board to advertise for bids for Bailly Gymnasium renovations that will allow for the Chesterton High School gymnastics program to move in and remain set up year-round. Currently, the program is housed in the Chesterton High School Field House and requires seasonal setup and tear down. The renovated space, which will include a pit, floor divider, and new equipment, will allow space for middle school and club gymnastics as well as the high school team.
The board also approved $1.5 million for the purchase of 10 new buses, which was below the 2024 bus replacement budget of $1.7 million.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
