FRANKFORT, Ind. — Community Schools of Frankfort Superintendent Dr. Matt Rhoda gave an extensive update on staffing, athletics, health partnerships, academics and construction projects during a live appearance Wednesday on WILO’s “Party Line” morning program with co-hosts Cindy Loveless and Melissa Miller.
District is “essentially fully staffed” heading into the school year
Rhoda told listeners the district enters the new school year in strong shape on the staffing front, pointing to a recent hire in the automotive program.
“We are essentially fully staffed. We just hired an auto teacher yesterday,” Rhoda said. “We’re fortunate that Kyler Hancock — he owns his own automobile business, and he’s going to come in four days a week and teach our kids for four class periods during the day.”
Rhoda said the district’s former auto teacher left to take a position with another school district, but the new hire ensures juniors and seniors who need the class won’t lose access to it. He said the district’s remaining vacancies are concentrated in special education.
“We’ve got some special ed openings at our high school and at our elementary school that we’re looking to get filled at this time,” Rhoda said. “We had some contracted teachers resign right before the school year started, and special ed teachers — for any school district, not just Frankfort — are very difficult to find. We’re relying on contracted special ed teachers at this point because a lot of people are already employed in other school districts.”
Rhoda, who said he has worked in education since 1996, called the broader teacher shortage “surprising” given how competitive teaching jobs once were.
“When I was first interviewing for physical education jobs back in 1996, it was hard to get into school districts because so many people were applying,” he said. “I never would have thought we’d be at this point.” He added that rural districts are hit hardest, and some have had to rely on virtual instructors paired with an in-classroom paraprofessional for subjects like science and math — a step Frankfort has so far avoided.
Football rebuild “from the ground up” ahead of Friday opener
Frankfort opens its football season Friday night at home against Clinton Central, with the game airing on WILO radio. Rhoda described a program under construction in every sense, crediting new head coach Andy Dudley and a coaching staff stocked with former Frankfort assistants.
“You guys are working on rebuilding, right? Everything, literally, from the ground up,” a host said, prompting Rhoda’s reply: “From the ground up — from the fields, with the turf field coming in that we’ll have in place next fall. So next football season should be the first season to have a turf football field and a new track.”
Rhoda said the weight room has become a foundation of the rebuild across sports, not just football. “We had 70 or 80 girls in the weight room,” he said. “I’m not sure we’ll see the payoff this year yet, but it will pay off. We look at it as a long-term investment.”
New athletic director Jeff Irwin has also restarted a youth football feeder program that had lapsed for years, according to Rhoda. “Jeff Irwin, our new AD, has started our Frankfort Youth Sport Program,” Rhoda said. “You’ve got to start small with that, so we’re starting with football. When I left our July 28th board meeting, they had their first football practice for fifth- and sixth-grade kids — even younger, third- and fourth-graders. Parents were out there watching, coaches were out there, kids were in their stations doing drills. It’s just a beautiful thing to see.”
Rhoda said the middle school’s assistant athletic director is now also overseeing the youth program, though Irwin has been “the main driver” of getting it off the ground. “The feeder program is key to any successful program,” Rhoda said. “If you don’t have a feeder program that starts in your elementary school and is in line with what the high school is doing, you don’t have a good high school program.”
Meridian Health partnership seeing sharp jump in student visits
Rhoda highlighted the district’s in-house partnership with Meridian Health, which provides sports physicals, primary care and behavioral health support at school buildings.
“I think the partnership with Meridian — they were at the board meeting last night — the nurse practitioner saw 91 people in the month of July. That’s up from four last July,” Rhoda said. He credited a joint push with the United Way’s backpack giveaway day for driving July physicals ahead of fall sports.
Meridian operates out of the district’s former central office on Maish Road and maintains a second office at the high school, Rhoda said, with staff available to see students and employees at either location. He said the office is staffed three days a week, and the district shares some Meridian staff with Western School Corporation in Howard County, which has a similar arrangement.
“They also provide for behavioral health in all of our schools,” Rhoda said. “There are adults trained in our buildings to support kids, and we have therapists who go into our schools to meet with kids who need that additional mental health support. Primary care is available too, for those who have insurance or don’t have insurance and everywhere in between.”
District leans into branding to change outside perceptions
Rhoda spent much of the interview on the district’s growing social media push, including its “Roaming with Rhoda” video segment, saying branding has become essential for schools competing for both students and staff.
“We’re at a day and age where we’re all competing for kids and we’re competing for staff, and we have to really show and highlight what our district offers and why we’re different from others,” Rhoda said. He noted the district tailors content by platform: “Our 25-and-up audience is watching us on Facebook, and our 18-to-25-year-olds are watching on Instagram.”
Rhoda acknowledged the district has work to do to overcome outdated perceptions, tying the effort to a broader community identity conversation raised at a steering committee meeting he attends at the mayor’s request.
“I shared at that meeting that Frankfort has an identity crisis, and that identity is that you don’t expect to have great things, good things in place,” Rhoda said. “We’ve got to expect great things. We’ve got to put goals to get there.” He said the conversation extended to community needs like housing. “We deserve that here, and we deserve the amenities here,” he said, adding that all four Clinton County school districts are strong and that families moving into any of them “are going to be taken care of.”
Academic gains: Frankfort now third in county on IREAD scores
Rhoda pointed to recent gains on state reading assessments as evidence the district’s turnaround is underway, alongside its push into English-language instruction.
“We are no longer fourth in the county on IREAD scores. We are third — we beat Rossville out this year,” Rhoda said. He added that Frankfort’s Hispanic student population, some of whom arrive at school not yet speaking English, is reading at or above grade level by third grade. “That’s a testament to our systems and teachers,” he said. “We’ll be the first to admit we’ve been failing with our academics and our sports, but we’re addressing the elephant in the room and making changes to make things better.”
Career and technical programs continue to grow
Rhoda said enrollment in Frankfort’s career and technical offerings keeps climbing, now spanning roughly two dozen pathways available to students from all four Clinton County districts through the Wildcat Creek Career Cooperative.
“Between the downtown Wildcat Creek Career Center (at Kaspar Hall) and EMS, I think we’re close to 150 kids who are through there daily,” Rhoda said. “That’s up from about 110 a year or two ago.” He said the cooperative’s 24 pathways are open to any student regardless of home district, with some students traveling to other schools for programs Frankfort doesn’t offer, such as agriculture.
The district’s building trades program, taught by Darren Longenecker and drawing students from all four county districts, recently broke ground on its next home-build project, Rhoda said — a self-sustaining program that uses proceeds from each home sale to fund construction of the next. Rhoda pushed back on any notion that trades classes and college are mutually exclusive. “Even though you’re taking a trades class, you still can be on track for college,” he said. “You might get a certification during high school, and when you go to college, now you’ve got a degree and certifications you picked up in high school.”
Middle school renovation ahead of schedule
Rhoda said the multi-year Frankfort Middle School renovation, led by construction manager Tecton, is now on pace to finish ahead of its original timeline.
“We’re really at the point where we’re doing a lot of finishing work,” Rhoda said. “We’re still on track to finish up mainly by October, and I think originally it was December, so we’re really ahead of schedule now — it’s finishing work and punch-out work.” He credited Tecton for keeping the project on schedule despite ongoing supply-chain difficulties for construction materials.
Community events this week
Rhoda closed by pointing listeners to several community events:
• Tonight (Wednesday August 19) Culver’s is donating a portion of sales from 5-8 p.m. to benefit the Frankfort Education Foundation, which funds teacher grants and United Way programs.
• Friday, Frankfort hosts Clinton Central in its football season opener; boosters will hold a pregame tailgate with pork chops starting at 6 p.m. before kickoff, with the game broadcast on WILO.
• Saturday, Aug. 22, the Frankfort High School cheerleaders will hold a car wash at 1 p.m. at Schultz’s Market, which is also celebrating its 80th anniversary.
