By admin 
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WSBT) — The South Bend School Board’s first meeting of 2025 saw significant changes, with Jeannette McCullough stepping in as the new board president.
McCullough introduced five new agenda items, to the surprise of some fellow board members.
The board approving a temporary freeze on the facilities master plan, despite concerns about halting ongoing projects, such as improvements at Washington High School.
Other decisions included hiring a new attorney due to a conflict of interest, reinstating former Edison Elementary principal Jesus Pedraza, and exploring the addition of cursive writing to the curriculum. A proposal to freeze hiring new administrative staff was tabled.
Many board members emphasized the need for better communication between the superintendent and the school board to ensure they have more information on proposed projects.
“Things have happened in this corporation that we were not aware of, movement has been happening in this corporation that has not matched up to this facilities master plan,” said McCullough.
Costello added, “We need an internal investigation to understand why the superintendent uses the top-down decision-making approach instead of a bottom-up approach.”
Costello also called for an audit of the corporation’s finances, saying it’s worth the possible $100,000 price tag to make sure all corporation dollars are being used in the right way.
It is important to note that public schools in Indiana, including the South Bend Community School Corporation, are already required to be audited by the Indiana State Board of Accounts. These audits occur on a two-year cycle and cover all school corporation funds and extracurricular funds.