Richmond Community Schools has welcomed a new administrator and paused an automatic contract renewal for another, celebrated summer school results, and rejected an athletics facility bid during its July 9 meeting.
Principal hire
Trent Pipes has been selected as assistant principal at Test Intermediate. He was previously a special education teacher at Vaile Elementary.
Summer school
Director of Operations Steve Jones and Pipes received applause during their summer school update. Eighteen third graders, or about 24% of those who signed up to attend, passed the state’s IREAD test after intensive instruction.
Jones said 18 didn’t sound like a lot, but when looking at those who attended every day, the successful completion percentage rose to about 35%.
“If they were there, we were getting it done,” Jones said.
Those statistics will boost the district’s IREAD passage rate. Indiana Department of Education will release each school’s data in the future.
Bid rejection
The board rejected the lone bid to renovate and upgrade Richmond High School’s tennis courts and track and field area. Thor Construction bid $2,322,000 plus an alternate of $1.25 million.
After RCS’ architect and engineer examined bids, they suggested reevaluating the project and exploring purchasing collectives to save money.
RCS discovered the subcontractors for the turf aren’t the provider used on Lyboult Field. Using another entity for the work needed on the end zones with the track recoating will void the current Lyboult field turf’s warranty. The work could still stay on schedule for Summer 2026.
Contract
President Kym Pickering made a motion not to automatically extend William “Billy” Eugene Wright Jr.’s contract by one year in July, citing Section 1 of RCS’ employment agreement. Billy Wright’s contract will continue to contain its current expiration date of June 30, 2029.
The vote was 6-0. Member Nicole Stults was absent.
“In continuation of aligning our administrator contracts, this is just in the spirit of that,” Pickering said.
Billy Wright has a student support role in addition to coaching RHS’ boys basketball team. He’s a brother of RCS Superintendent Curtis Wright.
In other business
The board approved several agreements.
- RCS will pay CDO Consulting Group for the second phase of strategic planning. RCS owes $3,750 for half of June plus $7,500 per month from July 2025 through January 2026. The district receives between 25 and 35 hours per month. Additional services are $250 per hour.
- RCS will continue to provide special education services for all Head Start locations within RCS boundaries. It renewed a two-year mental health agreement with Centerstone. Other renewals included occupational therapy services from Leanne Backmeyer and orientation and mobility services from Becky Smallwood. RCS will also allow Butler University to place student teachers within the district for school counseling experiences.
- A revised policy on bullying was unanimously approved after a third reading. Policies moving from first to second reading included weapons, public complaints/concerns, the superintendent’s employment and responsibilities, school accountability, and definitions.
- Pickering said RCS’ policy on automated external defibrillators will be reviewed for compliance with new legislation and the policy committee will discuss the facility usage agreement process at the board’s 5:30 p.m. Aug. 13 meeting at 300 Hub Etchison Parkway to make it clearer for the public.
A version of this article appeared in the July 23 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.