July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
An exercise in character (01/15/08)
Jay School Board
By By JACK RONALD-
A new character-building program in Jay Schools will be kicked off with a series of events the week of Feb. 18 to 22, Jay School Board members learned Monday.
Superintendent Tim Long said events will culminate on Feb. 22, which is slated as senior night at the Jay County High School boys' basketball game.
Gospel star Sandy Patti will sing the National Anthem and a series of recognition ceremonies will honor area veterans and students who have been involved in a variety of community projects.
"You'll see the face of character in Jay County," said Long. "I think it will be a packed night."
Major Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, adjutant of the Indiana National Guard, is also expected to visit that week to present the Portland Armory to the school corporation.
School board members unanimously adopted three new goals related to ISTEP results Monday. Those aim at reducing the gender gap between male and female scores by bringing male scores up, primarily in the area of language arts, increasing the number of special education students passing ISTEP, and increasing the number of students from difficult socio-economic situations passing ISTEP.
The board - chaired by vice president Greg Wellman in the absence of president Bryan Alexander and member Mike Masters - also unanimously approved getting bids for 12 more classroom heating, cooling, and ventilation units for Bloomfield Elementary School.
Two units had been installed in the all-electric school on a pilot basis and are working well, Long said. Similar technology may be of applicable at Redkey Elementary School in the future.
School corporation business manager Brad DeRome told the board Jay Schools continues to enjoy "positive financial health."
The school system ended the year with a positive cash flow surplus of $63,221 and an ending general fund cash balance of $3.2 million.
"We've added a million and a half dollars back into that general fund" over the past several years, DeRome said.
"I think it's pretty remarkable to end up where we have," said board member Jay Halstead. "I'm very pleased."
The year-end balance would have been higher, but property tax collections for the general fund were $55,000 less than anticipated.
DeRome reported that Jay Schools had earned $381,057 in interest on its cash balances in 2007. He also said medical expenses for the year were $4.7 million, compared to $5 million the prior year.
The state's decision to require recalculation of the county's reassessment has slowed fiscal planning for the new year, however.
"As of this date, we still do not have an approved 2008 budget," DeRome reported. "Our budget will not be approved until the county gets the approval for the new assessed values of property in the county. There is still no word on when this process will be completed."
At DeRome's suggestion, the board adopted a financial goal of maintaining current ratios between instructional spending and other categories of expenditure in the year ahead.
The board gave unanimous approval to a 2008-2009 school calendar.
"It's been floating around for about a month, two months," Long said of a proposed calendar.
The next school year will see its first day for teachers on Aug. 15 and the first day for students Aug. 18. There will be no school on Friday, Aug. 22, to allow for activities related to the Tri-State Gas Engine and Tractor Association Show.
Fall break will be Oct. 22 and 23, and Christmas vacation will be from Dec. 22 to Jan. 5. Spring break in 2009 will be March 23 through 27. The last student day will be May 27, and graduation exercises will be June 7.
There will be six half-days for students in the calendar, with afternoons on those days devoted to staff development.
In other business, the board:
•Elected Alexander president, Wellman vice president, and Halstead secretary for the new year for both the school board and the board of finance.
•Continued to retain Coldren and Frantz, Portland, as board attorneys.
•Appointed DeRome as treasurer and Jane Carlin as deputy treasurer of the school corporation and authorized them to access the system's safety deposit box.
•Authorized DeRome and Kay Rinard as the corporation's representatives in small claims court.
•Named Alexander as liaison to the Indiana School Boards Association.
•Learned publication of the annual school report will be delayed until February because numbers are being revised by the state.
•Heard Long say he hoped to seek the board's permission in February to advertise for bids on a number of school construction projects, including the planned multi-purpose facility, which are slated for this summer.
•Authorized Long to send a letter to the Jay Classroom Teachers Association to begin contract negotiations.
•Hired Bonita Muhlenkamp as guidance secretary at JCHS.
•Approved leave for East Elementary School fourth grade teacher Katie Kerns.
•Approved extracurricular activities assignments for Lori Sims as newspaper staff sponsor at East Jay Middle School, Bart Brandenburg as assistant wrestling coach at West Jay Middle School, Robert Renner Jr. as volunteer sixth grade boys' basketball coach at West Jay, Giles Laux as intramurals coach at Bloomfield, Leslie Bantz as assistant girls' track coach at JCHS, Shelly King as volunteer swim coach at East Jay, Teresa Kelly as head swim coach at East Jay, and Amy Sutton as assistant swim coach at East Jay.
•Approved field trips by the GOAL class to the Henry Ford Museum in May and the FFA to the FFA Leadership Center in May.
•Approve a bus request by the Boys and Girls Clubs to a Jan. 19 JCHS basketball game.
•Appointed Alexander and John Nill to the common construction wage committee for this summer's projects.
•Agreed to rent space in the Hawkins Galleria building in downtown Portland from January through the middle of June for office space for the alternative school at $350 a month. Space had been rented in the armory for $1,000 a month, but work on the heating system at the armory will force a move.
•Approved granting an easement to Vectren, formerly Indiana Gas Co., for work on a gas main at the west edge of the Westlawn Elementary School property for $2,500.
•Signed a contract to initiate the biomedical science program with Project Lead the Way.
•Heard Long say he would be bringing proposals back to the board for a new sign at JCHS and additional restrooms closer to the pool at JCHS.
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Superintendent Tim Long said events will culminate on Feb. 22, which is slated as senior night at the Jay County High School boys' basketball game.
Gospel star Sandy Patti will sing the National Anthem and a series of recognition ceremonies will honor area veterans and students who have been involved in a variety of community projects.
"You'll see the face of character in Jay County," said Long. "I think it will be a packed night."
Major Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, adjutant of the Indiana National Guard, is also expected to visit that week to present the Portland Armory to the school corporation.
School board members unanimously adopted three new goals related to ISTEP results Monday. Those aim at reducing the gender gap between male and female scores by bringing male scores up, primarily in the area of language arts, increasing the number of special education students passing ISTEP, and increasing the number of students from difficult socio-economic situations passing ISTEP.
The board - chaired by vice president Greg Wellman in the absence of president Bryan Alexander and member Mike Masters - also unanimously approved getting bids for 12 more classroom heating, cooling, and ventilation units for Bloomfield Elementary School.
Two units had been installed in the all-electric school on a pilot basis and are working well, Long said. Similar technology may be of applicable at Redkey Elementary School in the future.
School corporation business manager Brad DeRome told the board Jay Schools continues to enjoy "positive financial health."
The school system ended the year with a positive cash flow surplus of $63,221 and an ending general fund cash balance of $3.2 million.
"We've added a million and a half dollars back into that general fund" over the past several years, DeRome said.
"I think it's pretty remarkable to end up where we have," said board member Jay Halstead. "I'm very pleased."
The year-end balance would have been higher, but property tax collections for the general fund were $55,000 less than anticipated.
DeRome reported that Jay Schools had earned $381,057 in interest on its cash balances in 2007. He also said medical expenses for the year were $4.7 million, compared to $5 million the prior year.
The state's decision to require recalculation of the county's reassessment has slowed fiscal planning for the new year, however.
"As of this date, we still do not have an approved 2008 budget," DeRome reported. "Our budget will not be approved until the county gets the approval for the new assessed values of property in the county. There is still no word on when this process will be completed."
At DeRome's suggestion, the board adopted a financial goal of maintaining current ratios between instructional spending and other categories of expenditure in the year ahead.
The board gave unanimous approval to a 2008-2009 school calendar.
"It's been floating around for about a month, two months," Long said of a proposed calendar.
The next school year will see its first day for teachers on Aug. 15 and the first day for students Aug. 18. There will be no school on Friday, Aug. 22, to allow for activities related to the Tri-State Gas Engine and Tractor Association Show.
Fall break will be Oct. 22 and 23, and Christmas vacation will be from Dec. 22 to Jan. 5. Spring break in 2009 will be March 23 through 27. The last student day will be May 27, and graduation exercises will be June 7.
There will be six half-days for students in the calendar, with afternoons on those days devoted to staff development.
In other business, the board:
•Elected Alexander president, Wellman vice president, and Halstead secretary for the new year for both the school board and the board of finance.
•Continued to retain Coldren and Frantz, Portland, as board attorneys.
•Appointed DeRome as treasurer and Jane Carlin as deputy treasurer of the school corporation and authorized them to access the system's safety deposit box.
•Authorized DeRome and Kay Rinard as the corporation's representatives in small claims court.
•Named Alexander as liaison to the Indiana School Boards Association.
•Learned publication of the annual school report will be delayed until February because numbers are being revised by the state.
•Heard Long say he hoped to seek the board's permission in February to advertise for bids on a number of school construction projects, including the planned multi-purpose facility, which are slated for this summer.
•Authorized Long to send a letter to the Jay Classroom Teachers Association to begin contract negotiations.
•Hired Bonita Muhlenkamp as guidance secretary at JCHS.
•Approved leave for East Elementary School fourth grade teacher Katie Kerns.
•Approved extracurricular activities assignments for Lori Sims as newspaper staff sponsor at East Jay Middle School, Bart Brandenburg as assistant wrestling coach at West Jay Middle School, Robert Renner Jr. as volunteer sixth grade boys' basketball coach at West Jay, Giles Laux as intramurals coach at Bloomfield, Leslie Bantz as assistant girls' track coach at JCHS, Shelly King as volunteer swim coach at East Jay, Teresa Kelly as head swim coach at East Jay, and Amy Sutton as assistant swim coach at East Jay.
•Approved field trips by the GOAL class to the Henry Ford Museum in May and the FFA to the FFA Leadership Center in May.
•Approve a bus request by the Boys and Girls Clubs to a Jan. 19 JCHS basketball game.
•Appointed Alexander and John Nill to the common construction wage committee for this summer's projects.
•Agreed to rent space in the Hawkins Galleria building in downtown Portland from January through the middle of June for office space for the alternative school at $350 a month. Space had been rented in the armory for $1,000 a month, but work on the heating system at the armory will force a move.
•Approved granting an easement to Vectren, formerly Indiana Gas Co., for work on a gas main at the west edge of the Westlawn Elementary School property for $2,500.
•Signed a contract to initiate the biomedical science program with Project Lead the Way.
•Heard Long say he would be bringing proposals back to the board for a new sign at JCHS and additional restrooms closer to the pool at JCHS.
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