Cavalry Chapel Church Pastor Eric Haley says the space being offered by the Delphi Community School Corporation is not appropriate for his church’s use.

The church had requested the use of the middle school cafeteria but they were granted the use of the middle school gym at the Monday evening board meeting.

“I want everyone here to understand the board of directors gave us permission to use a building tonight that we did not ask for and is not handicapped accessible,” stated Calvary Chapel Pastor Eric Haley. “ I t was slick,” Haley said. “I’m not sure it was legal to change our application and then approve it.”

Superintendent John Williams disagrees with Haley’s assessment.

“The middle school gym is handicapped accessible,” Williams stated in a follow-up interview. “There is an outside ramp on the southwest corner of the building.”

Board president Robert Resler said he was not in favor of allowing the church to meet in a school facility for worship services.

“It’s come down to a threat of litigation” he stated. “I’m going to have a lot of constituents upset that I voted for this tonight.”

Audience member Pastor Bill Glenn of the First Baptist Church in Delphi, noting the board previously denied the request upon advice of the corporation’s attorney, asked Resler why he changed his vote.

“Because of the legal battle and the use of taxpayers’ dollars,” Resler said.

“They are apparently not following the advice of their attorney,” Glenn said. “If there was a legal issue before, I would assume there would be a legal issue now.”

Prior to the vote, board member Mike Shoemaker read a written statement to explain his stance. He said there was “an overall lack of community support for this action.”

“Reluctantly I will vote to approve this action,” he said.

Church attorney Cara Putman told board members the corporation’s facility usage policy was not applied uniformly and equally to all. “This is no different than other usages,” she said.

Shoemaker moved to approve usage of the middle school gym by the church. Board member Jerry Sparks provided the second. The motion was approved unanimously.

“We asked for the cafeteria and they let us have the gym, which is upstairs with no ramp and no elevator,” Haley said after the meeting. “I seriously doubt that this thing is over.”

Williams said the group was granted permission to use the entire gym area, which includes the area from the ramp and an upstairs area. Other news

Shoemaker provided a foundation committee update. He said committee discussion concerned what foundation funds could be spent, where they could be spent, where the funds would be allocated in the event the foundation ceased to exist and board of directors’ terms.

“I feel very strongly this should be going as soon as possible,” Sparks stated.

A bid by Midwest Transit for two 66-passenger busses for approximately $119,324 plus two trade-ins was approved.

Replacement lighting for the high school gym for $5,045.75 was approved.

A tile floor in the high school locker area for $24,234.89 was approved.

The Title I Parent Involvement Policy was approved as presented in writing.

Handbook changes for support services was approved as presented in writing.

The resignation of 33-year teacher veteran Pat Fieleke was accepted. Employment:

• Kevin Stuckmeyer high school teacher;

• Paul Kubon assistant high school varsity basketball coach;

• Bob Tyner high school varsity girls’ golf coach;

• Tim Kingery high school varsity volleyball coach;

• Kevin Conner and Brodie Brooks high school volunteer assistant varsity baseball coaches;

• Wes Fassnacht high school volunteer assistant varsity wrestling coach; and

• Rainy Jones high school volunteer assistant girls’ basketball coach.

Payroll for $289,712.67 and claims for $865,484.68 were approved.

The next meeting will be Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. Principal Reports

Hillcrest Elementary: The newly completed school constitution “is hanging proudly in the cafeteria,” reported principal Bill Shidler. The Bill of Rights consists of five rules which were ratified by the student body at a town meeting in November.

The “I Love to Read” program sponsored by WISH TV8 will begin in January. The program engages parents in helping their students read outside of the classroom said Shidler.

The fifth-grade DARE graduation was Dec. 13.

Camden Elementary: Grades one through five donated 3,593 items for the annual food basket project. The average for each student was 42.8 items.

Fifth-graders spearheaded a drive to earn money for bicycles for children who would not otherwise have one. As a result of their effort, 43 bicycles were purchased for the project.

Middle School: Williams reported for principal JoAnn Allard the book fair was a success. Money earned will be spent on the library collection.

Reading competition, Bacon Bowl Battle of the Books, will be held this spring.

High School: Principal Keith Brakel announced that according to a review of school academic statistics by the Indiana Student Achievement Institute, 74 percent of ninth-graders passed all classes and 67 percent of all students were achieving Core 40 requirements. Brakel said the information was helpful in determining what challenges face the school in attempting to determine what appropriate action to take to attempt to address the challenges.

Brakel said there are concerns about the Hoosier Sports Conference. There is an all conference meeting scheduled in January “to lay everybody’s cards on the table and discuss the issues,” he said.