SYRACUSE — To use medical terminology, the Wawasee Community School Corp. went to the doctor’s office for a very thorough checkup. In this case the two “medical doctors” were Steve Yager and Mike Pettibone, both retired school superintendents.

During the regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board Tuesday evening, March 8, in Syracuse, the board heard a detailed report from Yager and Pettibone. The two were tasked with going out in the school district and talking to teachers, other staff members, students and parents. They asked the tough questions in what was listed on the agenda for the board meeting as a “climate audit” report.

Yager noted the people they spoke with felt open to talk and some touchy issues were brought up. “We are reporting what they thought,” he said, noting he and Pettibone began talking to people last fall. The two met with more than 120 people, whether as individuals or within groups and it was noted the school board had not seen their report prior to Tuesday’s meeting.

Wawasee has an outstanding reputation as a school district and there is a desire among staff members to improve how they do their jobs. And there is a broad based appreciation among staff members for those working in the central office. “Don’t mess with the central office,” Yager said.

Pettibone said employees feel safe and secure where they work, facilities and educational programs are outstanding and the school district is able to attract high caliber employees. Yager added there is a good student population, the rigor of the course offerings has been accelerated, family expectations are respected and excellence is expected from students.

Not all of their report was of a positive nature though. The two discovered sensitive issues, some of which were repeated by numerous employees. They found though improvements have been made in technology systems with a focus group, more work is needed and some feel decisions need to be made based more on education, not just cost.

More staff development is needed and some classified employees have felt left out, though they still like their jobs.

Pettibone noted classroom lecturing is still used often in Wawasee schools and Yager said online education and distance learning need to be expanded, and student entrepreneurship needs to be explored more. Others need to be invited more into the Wawasee circle, such as higher education and local businesses.

Yager said diversity needs more recognition, such as alternative lifestyles, race and ethnicity, among others, because students “will see that, too, when they leave here.”

Communication is an issue to address, both men said. Staff are sometimes not aware of new initiatives until initiatives have been started. Staff would also like to know more about new hires, transfers, retirements, achievements and decisions made.

Another concern Yager and Pettibone found is some feel there are unequal offerings between Wawasee and Milford middle schools. More specifically class sizes are unequal, as well as educational offerings, length of student days and division of grade levels. Yager said administrators may need to look at moving all of the middle school students to WMS.

After the meeting, Dr. Tom Edington, WCSC superintendent, said the school board will meet with Yager and Pettibone to talk more in detail and begin the process of prioritizing how to address the concerns. “All of this is addressable,” Edington said. “We told them to ask the tough questions and that’s what they did.”