The superintendents of Penn-Harris-Madison: the line from 1971, and the two gaps in it

1963–2026 · current holder Dr. Heather Short, as of November 2026

The founding, and the first gap (1963–1971): The corporation was formed by the Penn–Harris merger of 1962, with Madison Township's accession in 1963 completing the three-township district the banked file carries (the formation instrument itself stands open as GAP-SPINE-6 and is not retried here). Who first held the superintendent's office is not in any open source reached: not in the district's published history, not in the professional rosters, not in the press record this section could open. The segment 1963–1971 closes as a named gap. Its settlers are specific: the Penn-Harris-Madison board minutes of 1962–63, which record the first appointment; the State Commission for the Reorganization of School Corporations' 1963 progress report, which tracked the newly formed corporations; and the Department of Public Instruction's lists of newly reorganized corporations, held at the Indiana State Library. Until one of those is read, the founding superintendent stands unnamed — the office existed from the corporation's first day, and its first holder is a record, not a recollection.

Dr. A. Dean Speicher, 1971–1992: The named line opens with the longest tenure in the corporation's history. Dr. A. Dean Speicher led the district beginning in 1971 and held the office twenty-one years, to 1992 — the superintendent of the building-wave decades, under whom the corporation grew from its township inheritance into the suburban district of the banked file. His standing in the profession is in the record: he served as president of the American Association of School Administrators in 1989 (Education Week's account), and the district's own memory keeps the measure of the tenure — on 6 October 2025 the corporation renamed its Educational Services Center the Dr. A. Dean Speicher Educational Services Center for him, in a release that also carries the line's next link: Speicher is the superintendent who hired Jerry Thacker into the district. Ball State University's alumni record of 1981, honoring Speicher while he held this office, confirms him in the seat a decade into the tenure.

The second gap (1992–c.1998): Between Speicher's departure in 1992 and the next superintendent the record names, the office's holder or holders were not reached in open sources — no audit schedule, roster or press account opened for this section names a Penn-Harris-Madison superintendent in those years. The segment closes as a named gap, with the same class of settler as the first: the corporation's board minutes for 1992–1998, which record the appointment and any interim service, and the State Board of Accounts' audit schedules for those fiscal years, which name officials by term as the later schedules do. The gap is printed at its size — roughly six school years — and no name is borrowed into it from either side.

Dr. Vickie L. Markavitch, c.1998–2004: The line resumes with Dr. Vickie L. Markavitch, in office by 2001 — the Bittersweet yearbook of that year carries her in its commencement photograph caption as the corporation's superintendent — and, by the Naples Daily News' account of 29 March 2003, reporting her as a finalist for another superintendency, she had then headed the Penn-Harris-Madison schools "for the past five years," which sets her start at about 1998. She stands in the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents' 2003–04 roster (9 January 2004). She left Indiana in 2004 for a superintendent's post in Oakland County, Michigan, where District Administration's profile of 1 January 2005 carries her in the new office — the departure that opened the seat for the line's most documented transition.

Dr. Robert T. Howard, 2005–2006, and the Hyland interim: Dr. Robert T. Howard held the office in 2005 — the South Bend Tribune's "Superintendent reflects on first year at P-H-M" carries him a year into the work, and the district's planetarium history credits Howard with the budget-adjustment recommendations of 2005 and 2006 — and the State Board of Accounts fixes his ending to the day: the audit report for 1 July 2005 – 30 June 2007 schedules Robert T. Howard as superintendent from 1 July 2005 to 9 April 2006, Timothy F. Hyland as superintendent from 10 April 2006 to 30 June 2006 — an eleven-week interim the published histories skip — and Jerry L. Thacker from 1 July 2006. The interim is printed here at its true size: Hyland held the corporation through the spring of 2006, between Howard's April departure and Thacker's July start, and the audit schedule is the record that keeps him.

Dr. Jerry Thacker, 2006–2025, and Dr. Heather Short, 2025– :Jerry Thacker, hired into the district under Speicher and superintendent from 1 July 2006, held the office nineteen years; the district's retirement release of 20 March 2025 confirms the span 2006–2025. Dr. Heather Short was appointed on 27 May 2025 and took office on 1 July 2025; she is the corporation's superintendent as of November 2026. The succession thus stands named and dated for 1971–2026 — Speicher, Markavitch, Howard, Hyland's interim, Thacker, Short — with the founding eight years and the 1992–c.1998 segment standing as named gaps inside it, each with the board-minute and state record that will close it.

Sources:

1. Indiana State Board of Accounts, audit report of the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, 1 July 2005 – 30 June 2007 — schedule of officials: Robert T. Howard, superintendent 07-01-05 to 04-09-06; Timothy F. Hyland, 04-10-06 to 06-30-06; Jerry L. Thacker from 07-01-06.
2. Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation release, 6 October 2025 — the Educational Services Center renamed the Dr. A. Dean Speicher Educational Services Center; Speicher's tenure from 1971 (twenty-one years, to 1992); Speicher as the superintendent who hired Jerry Thacker. District retirement release, 20 March 2025 — Thacker's superintendency 2006–2025.
3. Education Week — A. Dean Speicher as president of the American Association of School Administrators, 1989. Ball State University alumni record, 1981 — Speicher honored while superintendent of Penn-Harris-Madison.
4. Bittersweet (Penn High School yearbook), 2001 — commencement photograph caption naming Dr. Vickie L. Markavitch as superintendent. Naples Daily News, 29 March 2003 — Markavitch a finalist elsewhere, having headed P-H-M "for the past five years." Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents roster, 2003–04 (9 January 2004). District Administration profile, 1 January 2005 — Markavitch in Oakland County, Michigan.
5. South Bend Tribune, 2005 — "Superintendent reflects on first year at P-H-M" (Robert T. Howard). P-H-M planetarium history — Howard's 2005/2006 budget-adjustment recommendations.
6. Schools and The Story of Granger (banked) — the 1962 Penn–Harris merger and 1963 Madison accession; Dr. Heather Short appointed 27 May 2025, in office 1 July 2025; the formation instrument standing as GAP-SPINE-6.
7. Settlers named for the two gap segments (1963–1971; 1992–c.1998): Penn-Harris-Madison board minutes; the State Commission for the Reorganization of School Corporations' 1963 progress report; Department of Public Instruction newly-reorganized-corporation lists (Indiana State Library); State Board of Accounts audit schedules for the 1990s fiscal years.