BROWNSBURG, Ind. — The Brownsburg Community School Corporation is in need of a new permanent superintendent following the abrupt, mid-school year retirement of Dr. Jim Snapp.
According to a statement from the board of school trustees, Snapp's retirement was effective Monday, Jan. 15.
"For the past several months, the Board has been working to address issues relating to administrative concerns in his role as superintendent," the statement read. "The Board and Dr. Snapp met to discuss these concerns and Dr. Snapp made the decision to retire."
Parents in Brownsburg are upset and confused over Snapp's sudden departure.
"Leaving in the middle of the school year, that makes no sense to me," said Susan Mahan, a parent of kids with special needs. "My opinion is that the board wanted him out and he retired just to stop all the drama."
Mahan and other parents are now demanding answers from the Brownsburg Community School Corporation.
The board cited issues relating to "administrative concerns they've been working to address for the past several months."
The district did not specify an exact reason why Snapp is leaving now, and it did not answer questions from 13News.
The board did release a statement from Snapp:
"The decision to retire at this time in my life has been an extremely difficult one – but I am confident this is the right time for me to step down. I thank the Board of Trustees for their support over the last 14 years. It has been the joy of my professional life to lead the school corporation that did so much for me as a student many years ago."
Snapp led the school district for 14 years.
In the letter to parents, the district touted the district's success under Snapp's leadership, including lowering the tax rate for 12 years, becoming the highest achieving school corporation in the state based on state standardized assessment, and more.
These are reasons why some parents like Mahan say they want answers about Snapp's retirement.
"It just doesn't add up. Something's not quite right, and I think as parents who have kids that go to school there, we have a right to know what was wrong," Mahan said. "Why is he no longer superintendent? Where's our leadership going now? What leadership do we have, especially after the incident at Brown?"
An incident at Brown Elementary last February involved staff members who reportedly told a 7-year-old special needs student to eat his own vomit. It wasn't reported to the principal of the school until 57 days later, and two teachers now face criminal charges.
Debra Kanipe, 63, and Sara Seymour, 27, are scheduled to go on trial in March. Both women and three other staff members were also charged with failure to report.
Mahan said she believes Snapp did his best to handle that incident when he learned of it.
"The buck doesn't stop with Dr. Snapp. There's people below him that need to answer questions as well. The whole leadership needs to be looked at. The whole board," Mahan said.
For now, Mahan said many parents feel stuck.
"We don't know what's going on with our school system. We don't know what tomorrow's going to hold for our kids," Mahan said.
The Brownsburg Community School Board of Trustees said in a statement, "As a Board, we remain fully committed to putting our students at the center of all decision making and continue the academic excellence that is the hallmark of Brownsburg Schools."
Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Kat Jessup and Assistant Superintendent for Operations Shane Hacker have been named acting superintendents.
Snapp's retirement compensation will consist of 185 sick days, 26 vacation days and single-person health insurance through age 65.