Greencastle Superintendent enjoys strong start to school year

With his seventh year already underway as Superintendent of the Greencastle Community School Corporation, Jeff Gibboney is all smiles when discussing how the last few weeks have gone. 

"It goes fast. The students and staff hit the ground running, and we continue to have a lot of things going on. We are working to continue on past successes and continue to build up our FFA program. We are looking forward to another big year and more success with our academic super bowl team. Last year, our high school E-Sports teams were state champs. Our teachers and students are working incredibly hard in the classroom for success. We led the county in our I-Read scores, and that is a culmination of the hard work that takes place each and every day. It has been a great start," Gibboney told The Putnam County Post. 

Gibboney said the success comes down to meeting students where they are at. 

"One of the unique things about our school district is it is a blending of the arts, academics and athletics. When building out our strategic plan, it is almost more difficult for a student not to be involved in a club or extra curricular than not because we have such a blend of opportunities for students of all interests," the veteran superintendent said. 

Gibboney said his staff excels at meeting students and discovering their interests. 

"One of our first grade students at Deer Meadow started a Get Crafty Club, and that was essentially a STEM focused club. It got our students interested in working with their hands and solving complex problems. It is getting to know your kids and what drives them. Also, you have to have good people leading those clubs, activities and athletics. It is more challenging to identify those folks today because the collective community is just so busy, but we are in a good place where we have a lot of good community partners," he said. 

Over the last seven years, Gibboney has seen some changes in the district, especially after starting his tenure in the midst of a global pandemic.

"That was an interesting time for our k-12 public schools and an interesting time to take on a new position. Obviously, our focuses and efforts are much different today than they were back then. I think we have continued to grow academically, recognize our students and staff work extremely hard and we have tried to put some additional supports in place in terms of curriculum to help," he said. 

Bringing back FFA to Greencastle has also been a huge accomplishment during Gibboney's tenure.

"That has been one of the most amazing things. We tend to view Greencastle as a city, but we also have rural parts to our community and in greater Putnam County. We have a student group that is passionate about farming, and being able to help support that has been great. The FFA students and our teachers have planted a corn plot behind our transportation center, and they are learning first hand through real world experience what it takes to plant it and take care of it. Hopefully, some day, the experience and knowledge is something they can take away," Gibboney said. 

He said he was always curious as to why there was no FFA program and after never getting a satisfactory answer, Gibboney moved to bring the program back.

"Through conversations with community members and students, I knew it was something we should pursue. We began with a shared teacher between the middle school and high school and grew it up to separate it out. FFA has so many events locally and regionally across the state. Having two staff members to support those programs is what it will take to build them up to the level we expect," Gibboney said. 

In addition, finances and fallout from the actions of the Indiana General Assembly has also played a role in changes during Gibboney's tenure. 

He said his district has not seen the actual fallout yet of Senate Enrolled Act 1, which impacts property taxes in Indiana. 

"Thankfully, we are good stewards of all our tax dollars and the tuition support dollars we receive from the state where we have been able to build up some cash reserves over the last seven years to where it won't be such a drastic hit. However, when you have fewer dollars coming in and more dollars going out, those cash balances can carry you so long. Working alongside that, we have worked hard to make real adjustments to our classrooms and staff in general. We have implemented some cost saving measures across our district," Gibboney said. 

For example, the district went from two athletic directors to a corporation wide athletic director, as well as making changes within Gibboney's office. 

"It has to be a widespread effort, and we want to make investments in our teachers and learning and we have done everything we can to minimize any impact there or to our programs. Certainly, as challenges increase, we will continue to revisit and explore additional efficiencies and work more with community partners to do what we can to get the best bang for our buck," Gibboney said. 

In addition, with enrollment declining over the past couple years, Gibboney said when staff have left, they have not been replaced, but rather filled internally. 

He said the "ever changing landscape" of how education and public schools are funded will always be a challenge for local districts, including Greencastle. 

"My priority is to fund teaching and learning in the classroom, and that is our duty as a k-12 public school. Being good stewards of our tax dollars and dollars from the state, you have to have time to plan for drastic changes. We have been fiscally conservative and responsible with our dollars the past six or seven years. As you get into your cash balances and deplete them, you are not in position to build them back up any longer. I think that will be the biggest challenge, not just for us, but across the state. We have to do the best with the hand we have been dealt," Gibboney said.