CCSC board approves student travel program

Hayley Jarman | hjarman@jrpress.com

The trustees of Crawfordsville Community Schools Company met Thursday and presented a range of topics including proposed changes to the Crawfordsville High School travel plan, approval of the 2025-26 school manual, and multiple grant-related requests.

The board approved the request of CHS science teacher Chloe Carter to expand the school’s international travel program. After quickly using two buses for the upcoming 2026 European trip with 79 students, she proposed moving from travel to annual trips every other year starting in 2027. The goal is to include more students, reduce the size of the group to better engage, and build a reliable system that the community can count on. The 2027 tour is planned in C

osta Rica, with a focus on adventures like kayaking and snorkeling, which will be more affordable than traveling in Europe. Travel prices are locked and students will have two years of funding to raise funds.

The board also approved a request for an unrestricted grant application for the spring cycle from the Montgomery County Community Foundation. The grant will fund the installation of new exits in the nursery’s toddler room. Currently, the room can only enter the exit through another room, and the security requirement requires that the room for anyone under 2.5 years old needs to exit directly.

In personnel matters, the board accepted the resignation of CHS teacher assistant Ashley Fisher; hose assistant Ember Neal; CMS band director Brian Bartlett; and Hoover assistant Michelle Pichardo. The board also approved Sidney Vatch as a new teacher at Hose Elementary.

In other businesses, the Board:

• Approved student manuals for CHS, CMS and Athens Virtual Academy for the 2025-26 academic year.

• Formal approval of the $238,000 loan submitted last Friday to fund the software of the student system, as well as devices and Chromebooks for student teaching.

•The first reading of the 4420 law enforcement relationship policy.

• Approval of the address change of the new administration building through the School Accountability Office.

• Approve requests submitted to the Ministry of Education and add sixth grade certification to the Athens Virtual Academy. Currently, it serves students in grades 7-12.