BROWNSTOWN
Scott Shade has attended many meetings as a member of the Brownstown Central Community School Corp. board of trustees since 2013.
On Tuesday night, though, he experienced a first: Presiding over a meeting.
Mary Ann Spray had served as president since 2013 and was one of five candidates hoping to be appointed to the board by the Brownstown Town Council this year. The council, however, appointed Brian Wheeler.
Each July, the board organizes for the upcoming school year. New Superintendent Tim Taylor started Tuesday’s meeting by opening up the floor for nominations for board president. Vice President Gina Hackman made a motion to nominate Shade, and it was unanimously approved.
Shade then took over the meeting and led nominations for the other board positions.
“Thank you. I appreciate it,” the 53-year-old said. “Thanks, everyone. I’m honored, I really am.”
He joined the board six years ago after being appointed by the town council to fill the spot left open by the death of longtime board member Jack Montgomery. In June 2016, the council appointed Shade to a four-year term.
Shade has worked at Aisin Drivetrain Inc. in Crothersville since 1998 and currently serves as president of the company.
Other board members and their positions are Hackman, vice president; Bradie Hall, secretary; Mary Lou Burcham, assistant secretary; Wheeler, athletic council representative; Dan Hall, Indiana School Boards Association liaison; and Clayton Beard, vocational agriculture committee member.
The board also unanimously approved Patsy Hess as treasurer, Jade Peters as assistant treasurer, Church, Church, Hittle and Antrim as corporation attorney and Jill Carlin as the Brownstown Public Library board of trustees representative.
Also during the meeting, Hess administered school board oaths to Hackman, who was reappointed for another four-year term representing Grassy Fork Township, and Wheeler.
After the board organized, Shade thanked Peters and Harry Rochner for their work in the 2018-19 school year. Peters moved from business manager to interim superintendent after the resignation of Greg Walker, and Rochner came out of retirement to handle business manager duties.
“You guys are awesome, just awesome, did a great job,” Shade said. “You guys did a good job getting us here.”
Shade then welcomed Taylor, whose hiring was approved by the board in June.
“I think Tim brings a different skill set to this school corporation,” Shade said. “We look forward to working with Tim. I think he will bring a lot of different ideas to help us continuously improve.”
He praised the school employees, too.
“Over the last couple of years, we’ve got a lot of great people in the school system,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of them, and they’ve got a lot of talent, and I think there’s a lot of energy out there that we can grab around and do a lot of good things.”
Shade also made it a point to let people know he and the six other school board members are approachable.
“We would like to talk to you. We do want to know what’s going on. We are here to help you. That’s why we’re here,” he said. “We’re here to serve you, and we’re going to do the best we can to make things the best for you. That’s our job, so I do want to make sure that point is understood, too.”
At the end of the meeting, Shade had another first: Asking for a motion to adjourn. That unanimously passed.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Shade file” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Scott Shade
Age: 53
Hometown: Brownsburg
Residence: Brownstown
Education: Brownsburg High School (1984); Purdue University (bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering technology, 1990)
Occupation: Worked at Aisin Drivetrain Inc. in Crothersville since 1998, currently serving as president
Family: Wife, Jennifer Shade; children, Abbi (Marty) Young and Jacoby Shade
[sc:pullout-text-end]