SYRACUSE — As the 2015-16 school year winds down, this is the time of the year when personnel changes can be numerous as teachers and-or administrators resign or retire. During the regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board Tuesday, May 10, in Syracuse the board approved several personnel changes.

Wendy Hite, director of special services for the Wawasee Community School Corp., resigned effective April 26 to accept a position in Elkhart County. She will be based in Goshen and oversee special education programs in six Elkhart County school districts.

Retirements include Jill Perrin, first grade teacher at Syracuse Elementary School; Casmir Szynal, math teacher at Wawasee Middle School; Mark Friskney, fourth grade teacher at North Webster Elementary; and Josette Abrams, art teacher at North Webster Elementary. Other retirements include Kris Woodard, principal of North Webster Elementary; Bob Lahrman, director of support services for WCSC; and Kim Conrad, instructional coach at Syracuse Elementary and also the media specialist at the learning resources center of the school.

Other personnel actions included the resignation of Brittany Gummere, third grade teacher at North Webster Elementary; and the resignation of Hans Griepentrog, chemistry teacher at Wawasee High School.

Jesse Kimmel will become an agriculture teacher at WHS beginning with the 2016-17 school year and Jeff Phillips will be a social studies teacher at WHS, also beginning with the 2016-17 school year.

Jennifer Mitchell will be a full-time mental health therapist for the school corporation beginning with the 2016-17 school year.

Other agenda items included:

• The board approved awarding the contract for financing the 1:1 initiative devices for students to U.S. Bancorp Government Leasing and Financing Inc., which provided the lowest interest rate of 1.463 percent resulting in a semi-annual payment of $314,529.29.

• Approval was given to switch the high school athletic trainer agreement from KCH to Parkview Hospital. The current trainer will remain in place.

• Joy Goshert, director of instruction and curriculum, reported part two of ISTEP+ testing is completed.

• Plymouth School Corporation submitted a thank you note in response to the efforts of Wawasee Middle School staff to help in arranging the shuttling of students from a school bus that was stopped on US 6 because of an accident. The bus was taking students to an Academic Super Bowl competition at Wawasee Middle School.

• Wawasee High School’s Academic Super Bowl social studies team of Josh Webber, Anthon Anker and Jake Cowan finished third in the state competition Saturday, May 7, at Purdue University.

• The board approved out of state and-or overnight trips for WHS Key Club to Atlanta; Milford Middle School eighth-graders to Kings Island in Ohio; the WHS boys basketball team to attend a camp at Findlay University in Ohio; and German students attending WHS to visit Cedar Point in Ohio.