Grimes
Two Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. board members received a send-off during their final school board meeting this week.
BCSC honored Pat Bryant, District 5, and Todd Grimes, District 3, with a reception and plaques to honor the combined 18 years they devoted to the school district.
Grimes, now in his ninth year teaching math at The Academy at Greenfield-Central, also taught at Hauser High School for 15 years, as well as Indianapolis Public Schools.
Before remarks, Grimes made sure to turn the lights on his cat suit, compliments, he said, of his aunt “who knew I’m goofy enough to wear it.”
“I consider myself very fortunate to have served on the board these past four years. After being elected the first time, my plan was to possibly give it another shot for at least one more term,” Grimes said. “… However life circumstances dictated otherwise.”
“When I thought about ways to describe what it was like to serve as a school board member— I must say, the words easy nor boring never popped up in my mind,” Grimes continued. “Time consuming, challenging, thought-provoking, rewarding and at times a bit unnerving were the descriptors that came to the forefront most often.”
Grimes noted serving as a board member during the COVID-19 pandemic, witnessing “the benefits the passing of the referendum has brought and continues to bring BCSC,” Envision 2030 and transitioning to a new superintendent as some of the more memorable moments of his time on the board.
“I don’t plan to become a stranger to BCSC. I plan to continue to be an invested and interested stakeholder in BCSC and look forward to following all the many moving parts of Envision 2030 as they continue to fall into place,” Grimes told those gathered, adding that he’s excited to attend his four grandson’s school events.
Next up came Bryant, described by BCSC Superintendent Chad Phillips as “a man of few words, but a man whose caring attitude and efforts for the kids in this community could fill up a stadium three times the size of the one that we’re going to rename later on today.” The board voted to rename Columbus East High School’s stadium for former football coach Bob Gaddis.
Bryant has been a school board member for 14 years, but before then was well known for having spent nearly 30 years with the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, 23 as a DARE officer in local schools.
He told the room of his connection to Taylorsville Elementary, his first stop after the DARE program was started in 1991 by former Bartholomew County Sheriff David Mann.
“Let me tell you about Taylorsville. Taylorsville is my school. My father-in-law went there, my wife went there, her two brothers went there, my daughter went there, and my grandson went there— so that’s my school.”
Bryant walked the halls in countless local schools, in and outside of BCSC.
When a position on the school board opened in 2010, Bryant wasn’t sure he was the right person for it, he said, but was compelled to run after being encouraged by teachers and students.
“So here I am,” Bryant said. “Board members, future board members, go to the schools, talk to the principals, talk to the teachers, but listen to students. Because they’re going to give you the direction that you really, truly need to go, for them.”
“If you stick around long enough, some of those students may become attorneys, some may become representatives in city government, some may become some of the best IT people in the state of Indiana, some may even work on this board with you,” Bryant said. “So I say to all of you, as a good friend of mine used to say, God loves you, and so do I.”
Local farmer and veteran Tom Glick will represent District 5 starting next year. Grimes will be replaced by Whittney Loyd, Turning Point Domestic Violence Services president.
