Board looks to coming year (01/25/06)

An independant analysis of block scheduling and the creation of an assistant superintendant position top the wish list for several Jay School board members for the coming year.

“There is the possibility, depending on how elections turn out, that we won’t all be sitting here next year,” said Inman. “This is our last chance to get some of the things done we talked about doing four years ago.”

The seats held by board president Doug Inman, vice president Bryan Alexander, and board members Mike Shannon and Jay Halstead are up for re-election in November.

Inman opened the discussion Monday with the assistant superintendant position, citing a need to focus more on the school corporation’s curriculum, as well as have a transitioning plan in place in the event the superintendent is unable to perform her duties.

“This is not a reflection of (superintendent Barbara Downing’s) job performance,” said Inman. “We publicly stated that we would take care of this issue once we were in the ‘black’.”

Downing expressed concern with spending the $80,000-$85,000 necessary to pay the position, saying that she thought the money would be better spent on hiring more teachers to ease overcrowding.

“Need in the classroom takes precedence over administrative positions,” she said.

Board vice president Bryan Alexander agreed that the time had come to pay special attention to curriculum issues.

“We’ve talked about ISTEP scores and how they need to go up, but the curriculum keeps getting shoved to the side,” he said. “It would be penny-wise and pound-foolish not to fill this position.”

Board members Michael Masters and Jay Halstead also expressed support for the position.

Inman requested that Downing prepare a job description and possible salary for the position to be discussed at the next board meeting in February.

Another issue that arose frequently is the topic of block scheduling at Jay County High School as opposed to traditional scheduling. Inman said he would like to see an independent analysis of the two scheduling types, particularly how they relate to ISTEP scores.

“I have a huge concern with how ISTEP scores drop off at the high school level,” said Inman.

Board members Jay Halstead and Mike Wellman agreed that block scheduling should be examined.

Other issues included what Alexander referred to as “curb appeal,” of the facilities, particularly elementary schools in outlying areas such as Pennville and Redkey.

Alexander also called for the installation of the International Baccalaureate Diploma program at the high school level by the 2007-2008 school year, the creation of a valedictorian and salutatorian positions at graduation, and the improvement of “Jay Today,” the high school’s cable station.

“We really dropped the ball on that one,” he said. “It used to be an honor to be on staff there, but now we have kids on there that can’t even read.”

Alexander said that those projects could be completed with little to no money and would greatly improve the quality of Jay schools.

“It’s all in the name of excellence,” he said.[[In-content Ad]]