School Board Members

Scott P. Jensen is the Chairperson of the School Board for the Indiana School for the Deaf. He is a strategic planning and financial management consultant for Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, Indiana. He has a masters degree in business administration and general management from the University of North Carolina. He holds leadership positions on several state and national boards and is an actively involved parent of two children, one of which is Deaf. Prior to his current employment, Mr. Jensen served as an officer and paratrooper in the United States Army.

Denise Thompson of Huntingburg, Indiana - Ms. Thompson is a teacher for the deaf and hard-of-hearing children in Jasper, Indiana. She also serves as an educational consultant for deaf and hard-of-hearing children in Dubois, Spencer, and Perry counties. She has thirteen years of experience and has held a number of leadership positions in the field of education. She has a Master of Education Degree from Indiana Wesleyan University and has also been actively involved with the community in the southern part of the state.

Patti Kem has been the Director of Special Education for Cooperative School Services since 1991.    Prior to this she taught and served as an assistant principal in Kokomo.  Her Undergraduate degree is from Manchester College and she earned a M.A. and Ed.S. from Ball State University.  She lives in Rensselaer with her husband and two children. 

Mary Jo Dare has held a number of Special Education positions with the Indianapolis Public Schools including eighteen years as Director of Special Education.  At the present time she is a clinical Associate Professor of Special Education at IUPUI and a Senior Advisor of Special Education for B & D Consulting.  She lives in Indianapolis with her husband and she has two married daughters.

Gregory T. Genrich, Indianapolis

Mr. Genrich, Co-Founder, CEO draws from more than 15 years in management, finance and strategic partnering to provide strategic direction for Barlap. With exposure to a wide variety of industries, he brings a well-rounded knowledge base to the company, in addition to extensive compliance and licensing experience. Mr. Genrich is also majority owner and managing partner for Bradford & Riley, Inc. He received a BS degree in Business Administration from Butler University and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Bob Marra is the state-wide Director of Special Education Programs at the Indiana Department of Education.

Greg Porter currently serves in the Indiana House of Representatives, District 96. He is chairperson of the Education committee, as well as serving on the committees of Courts & Criminal Code and Insurance, Corporations, & Small Business. He graduated from Indianapolis Shortridge High School in 1974 and Earlham College in 1978. His occuaption includes being a property manager for the Community Action of Greater Indianapolis.