A dedicated Indiana pizza delivery driver walked half a mile through a dangerous snowstorm in a “very affluent” neighborhood before he was met with a $2 tip.

Connor Stephanoff, an employee at Rock Star Pizza, was seen walking in the treacherous conditions in Brownsburg, Ind. as multiple plows filled the street to clear the snow last week, according to footage posted by Avon Police Department Lieutenant Richard Craig.

Stephanoff initially drove to complete the order, but a school bus crash blocked the road.

That’s when Stephanoff decided to complete the journey on foot – wearing a sweatpants, sweater, a beanie and sneakers.

Craig was outside helping residents navigate the dangerous road conditions when he noticed Stephanoff trekking through the snow-covered street and told him to get out of the street and onto the sidewalk.

Stephanoff revealed that he had to walk in the snow to complete the $40 pizza delivery.

“Did you get a good tip?” Craig asked.

“Two dollars,” Stephanoff replied.

Stephanoff looked at the receipt again and corrected the number to $2.15. 

The officer was stunned.

“Two dollars?” Craig exclaimed. “Are you kidding me? Cold-blooded! Two dollars. Look at this man. This man walked through hell and high water to deliver a pizza.”

Craig was impressed by Stephanoff’s work ethic and dedication but was disgusted that a customer in a wealthy neighborhood would tip him so little during the terrible conditions.

“The delivery was about 1/4 mile past where the bus was blocking the street,” Craig captioned under his video. “This young man did not allow this to discourage him. He didn’t call his manager to complain, he didn’t call the customer and tell them their $40 pizza order could not be delivered. Oh no. THIS MAN IS BUILT DIFFERENT.”

Craig gave Stephanoff $15 bucks but set up a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $500.

The fundraiser has raised over $16,000 as of Saturday morning.

“I think what makes this story resonate is that at one time or another, any of us who has worked in a customer service position, has been Connor,” Rockstar Pizza wrote in a Facebook post. “We’ve gone over & above what anyone could ever ask of us, and the effort wasn’t appreciated. If not for Officer Craig, this would have just been another delivery shift for Connor.”

The restaurant added that they gave workers the option to stay home during the storm if they didn’t feel safe.

Stephanoff decided to work.

“He’s a great kid who works hard & we’re so happy to have him,” the restaurant added.

“Any condition, anytime, anywhere. You will get your pizza,” Stephanoff told WRTV.

Note: The video in the player above is from a previous report.

The northwest Indiana woman who was charged in the death of her 10-year-old foster son was sentenced on Friday, according to authorities.

Jennifer Lee Wilson, 48, was sentenced to six years in the Indiana Department of Correction, with one year suspended to be served on probation, according to the Porter County Prosecutor’s Office.

Wilson was charged with reckless homicide in connection with the death of Dakota Levi Stevens, who died after experiencing a medical emergency in April, authorities said. Wilson was arrested by sheriff’s deputies approximately 25 miles away – more than two months later – after a license plate reader camera detected her vehicle.

The foster mother stated that she laid on his midsection for several minutes during an incident earlier this year, according to court documents.

“Wilson stated that when she attempted to stop him from leaving, she does not know if she tackled Dakota or they fell to the ground however her intention was to hold him,” the court filing stated.

As she held Dakota down, Wilson stated she had one hand holding her phone and the other bracing her, authorities said. Wilson later asked Dakota “Are you faking?” rolled him over and it appeared his eyelids were pale, court documents stated.

Wilson then began CPR and called 911.

Officers made contact with a neighbor who stated that Dakota ran to her house approximately 30 minutes before emergency vehicles arrived. The neighbor stated Dakota asked her to adopt him because his parents hit him in the face and didn’t let him call his caseworker, officials said. The neighbor said she didn’t observe any signs Dakota was injured.

An autopsy revealed the cause of death as mechanical asphyxia and the manner of death as homicide. Dakota was 4 feet 10 inches tall and weighed 91 pounds, filings revealed. Wilson is 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 340 pounds, according to driver license records.

Indiana schools will once again be assigned A-to-F letter grades, reinstating an accountability measure that has been paused since the 2020-21 school year.

On Wednesday, state education leaders provided an early look at a new system for evaluating how well schools educate students. However, it remains unclear when schools will begin receiving grades under the updated system.

The overhaul follows years of debate about the future of high school diplomas, addressing a literacy crisis among elementary students, and assessing the pandemic’s impact on student achievement.

Work on a new accountability system has been underway for some time. A 2023 law tasked the State Board of Education with updating the way it evaluates public and state-accredited nonpublic schools.

The board is still required to use the A-to-F grading scale but must align it with metrics in the Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed dashboard. The dashboard, launched more than two years ago, allows families to assess school quality.

Metrics include academic performance, such as third-grade reading proficiency, growth in math skills, and earning college credit.

State lawmakers could also push for further changes to the system during the legislative session, similar to recent discussions on high school diplomas.

New system this year

House Bill 1498, authored by Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, would strip back some of the older accountability framework so that a new A-F rule can be built up by the board.

However, if passed, developing a new accountability system would be placed on a tight deadline: establishing a new model by the end of 2025.

The bill outlines specific guidelines for measuring school performance. The new system would:

• Prioritize students earning diploma seals,
• Be based on data from the GPS dashboard,
• Include proficiency rates from state assessments, and
• Feature a high school “on-track to graduate” indicator.

HB 1498 also calls for null letter grades to continue through the 2024-25 school year.

State Department of Education staff shared potential changes to the system during a presentation Wednesday.

“This framework is to initiate a much broader critical discussion, to take us from a recommended framework to a final model,” said Ron Sandlin, the education department’s deputy chief strategy officer.

The department has spent around 17 months talking with Hoosiers and developing their proposal, Sandlin said. Sandlin said the state cannot rely on older models to measure this next era of education.

In 2011 the A-F system was created to replace more descriptive ratings with letter grades. Then, in 2014, the system was updated to prioritize student’s academic progress.

Under the new proposed priorities, updated ratings would consider more than just academic performance and graduation rates.

For 10th-grade indicators, the system would expand beyond academics to include attendance, advanced coursework, and reduced chronic absenteeism. Schools would also be credited for students who score above 860 on the PSAT — a benchmark achieved by more than 90% of test-takers.

“At 10th grade, where are our students,” Sandlin said. “Is everyone on a path? Does everyone have a plan, and do we have the capacity to support that plan? And our accountability model will incentivize, encourage and celebrate those schools that are effectively doing that, as opposed to now waiting until the very end and saying, ‘Well, you got there or you didn’t’”.

The changes in accountability for high schools would be paired with the state’s diploma model, so success for seniors would be measured by completing a diploma seal, work-based learning experience or credential of value. Students would be on their chosen path for either an education, employment or enlistment seal. 

Board members expressed support for the initial themes of the department’s plan. Scott Bess said the older system put a lot of weight on growth, which resulted in leaving students behind.

“If you could get a kid to achieve and grow, you could get 125 points for that student, which means you didn’t have to worry about this other kid over here who’s only going to get 50 points,” Bess said. “Put those two together and it’s still a good grade, right? And so you can see people leaving groups of students behind, because from an accountability system, it didn’t matter.”

Board member B.J. Watts said the system should be kept simple and “a tool for getting better”.

“Are the students in our buildings getting better while they’re there,” Watt said.

The board plans to continue discussions in the coming months, engaging with Hoosier families and educators. The department will also seek public feedback throughout the process before finalizing the system.

The A-to-F accountability system was initially designed to force failing schools to improve. If a school received failing grades for too many consecutive years, the state could sever it from the district and appoint a new manager. In 2011, four schools in Indianapolis and one in Gary were taken over.

However, the years-long intervention was widely seen as a failure by local communities and some lawmakers.

In 2021, a state law ended the state takeover of underperforming public schools.

Rachel Fradette is the WFYI Statehouse education reporter. Contact Rachel at rfradette@wfyi.org.

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