MSDMV innovator Hatfield retires after 47 years, Stein honored

By Lois Mittino Gray

Longtime Mount Vernon High School business teacher Jim Hatfield will finally “hang up his shingle” at the end of this school year and retire after 47 years of service to the Mount Vernon School District. School Board President Greg Oeth was visibly shocked stating, “He was even my teacher.” Board members accepted his resignation much to their chagrin, knowing his shoes as a teacher and Business Department Chair will be hard to fill. “I tried to see if he wanted to go until 50 years, but he said no. When you know it’s time, you know,” School Superintendent Stephanie Stewart speculated.

Hatfield, long recognized as an innovator in his field, was responsible for the Personal Money Management classes integrated as a requirement into the school’s curriculum. It is a very practical course on managing money, checkbooks, paying taxes, investing, and savings accounts for all students to have basic financial savvy. His open position will be advertised on the district website.

Susan Colson, an Administrative Specialist in Accounts Payable, also turned in her resignation, effective August 6, 2026. She has put in 22 years of service.

On a happier note, Board members confirmed the employment of Kalyn Herrmann as Principal at Farmersville Elementary School and Jay Hille as Assistant Principal at Mount Vernon Junior High. Amber Dalrymple was hired to be a Special Education teacher for 50 percent of time at Saint Matthew Catholic School. Amber has worked in a variety of roles at St. Matthew, including cafeteria manager, RTI Assistant, IT Administrator, and most recently, as an art teacher. She is continuing her studies in the Special Education field with Western Governor’s University, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Davina Witte was hired as a Math teacher at the high school, replacing Charles Alderman. Witte is relocating back to the area from Missouri where she taught in Saint Joseph after completing her student teaching at Central High School there. Abigail Randall and Jenny Weilbrenner were approved as IREAD teachers for this summer, while Amanda Fendel will be the IREAD bus driver with Ella Pierce as the bus attendant.

Cherish Pope will fill a new position as a part-time Occupational Therapist for the district. Prior to this, she served four years as an OT for the Center for Pediatric Therapy in Evansville and for almost two years at Encompass Health in Newburgh. She lives in Chandler and has both undergraduate and graduate degrees in her profession from the University of Southern Indiana.

In coaching hires, Dustin Boyer went from half to full stipend as a high school Strength Coach, replacing Rhett and Riley Snodgrass. He has been a teacher and coach for the district since 2011. Kayla Candler and Kaitlyn Taylor were tapped to be assistant coaches of high school girls’ basketball, replacing Hannah Winiger. Hannah Winiger will move to the junior high school as an assistant coach girls’ basketball. Tammie Erwin was hired on one third stipend as a junior high cheerleader sponsor, replacing Megan Hargett. Devin Rutherford will be the assistant coach of high school boys’ basketball, replacing Robin Duncan.

Resignations were accepted from: Holley Hatter as an Information Systems Foreman, effective June 1, 2026. Kendra Steinhart resigned as a high school Science teacher and Logan Worthington will no longer be the junior high Physical Education teacher and Junior High Intramural Sponsor. Thomas Seymour resigned as assistant high school coach boys’ basketball, and Kaitlin Taylor resigned as a sixth grade girls basketball coach on half stipend.

It was announced that Bill Stein was honored as the Indiana Chief Technology Officer of the Year by the Indiana CTO Council and K-12 Tech. This prestigious award honors outstanding leadership, innovation, and dedication in the field of K-12 educational technology across the state of Indiana. The honoree has 35 years of service in this field and will now be entered in the national CTO contest.

In other Board action:

• Board Members accepted the proposal from Boys & Girls Club for an after school childcare program for the 2026-27 school year. A representative at the meeting said they were “really excited to be handling the program.”

• appointed Empire Contractors as Construction Manager for Construction (CMC) and authorized the administration to proceed with the negotiation and execution of an agreement for CMC services related to the planned building renovations, expansion and increased instructional space. Oeth abstained from the vote, with a roll call taken since Board Member Mark Isaac was attending via FaceTime; the vote was unanimous.

• adopted revised policy 206 which streamlines the flow chart of who answers to whom in the school hierarchy. It can be viewed at the administrative offices.

• A presentation was given by the Robotics Team at the start of the meeting.

• Information to the Board included a Self-Insurance Fund report of a cash balance of $4,940,148.21 at the end of April. “It’s still a strong balance,” reported Chief Financial Officer Bo Harris. Stewart said they closed on the purchase of twelve acres of land on East Sherman Street. They will continue to farm it.

• The next regular Board meeting is set for Monday, June 1 at 5:30 p.m. in the high school Media Center.