July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Budget gets board OK (09/23/2008)
Jay School Board
By By JACK RONALD-
A 2009 Jay Schools budget topping $37.2 million, a capital projects plan, and a bus replacement plan were approved Monday night by the Jay School Board on a 5-0 vote.
Board president Bryan Alexander and board member Frank Vormohr were absent from the meeting.
The budget calls for a general fund of $26,965,279, a debt service fund of $2,968,381, a retirement/severance bond debt service fund of $770,172, a capital projects fund of $3,994,230, a transportation fund of $2,148,700, a bus replacement fund of $170,000, and a special education pre-school fund of $250,579.
Business manager Brad DeRome noted the budget process and school funding in general will be dramatically different next time around as the state assumes responsibility for the general fund.
Superintendent Tim Long told the board a number of capital improvement projects have been moving along smoothly and some have come in at lower cost than was expected.
Roof work at West Jay Middle School is complete, as is work on the heating, ventilation, and cooling system at Bloomfield Elementary School. Long said the Bloomfield project came in at roughly $480,000. "It was well under what we thought it would be," he said.
Work is progressing, meanwhile, on the multipurpose facility/auxiliary gym at Jay County High School. Most of the work on the building should be finished by the first of December, but Long said it will probably be January before the punch-list on the project is 100 percent complete.
Long also said there are no plans at this time to sell the former administrative office building at 404 E. Arch St., Portland, which was once the Garfield Elementary School.
"It's our intention at this point to keep that facility," he said, noting that it is primarily being used for storage of school records at this point.
Long and assistant superintendent Wood Barwick said much of the focus of the first few weeks of school has been on the ISTEP tests with a goal of raising the number of students passing by three percentage points.
"It's just been a serious mission across the district," Long said.
He also reported that a robotics program launched at West Jay last year is drawing heavy student interest at both East Jay Middle School and the high school.
Sixty students showed up at an extracurricular meeting on robotics at the high school, and 150 showed up for a similar meeting at East Jay.
Barwick, meanwhile, reported that a $20,000 tech-prep grant had been approved for engineering programs at the high school involving about 60 students.
In other business, the board:
•Authorized an auction of surplus school equipment to be held at 4 p.m. on Oct. 17 at the old bus garage at East Jay Middle School.
•Accepted a donation by Randy Fisher, Portland, of a property at 115 E. Water St., adjacent to the old bus garage. A house on the property will be razed sometime next year.
•Agreed to lease gymnasium space at West Jay Community Center this school year for basketball practices and some elementary school games. The rental price is $3,200, up from $2,400 last year, the first year the gym space had been rented. The facility will be used at various times by students from West Jay and Westlawn and Redkey elementaries.
•Noted that Character Counts week will be Oct. 17-23.
•Received a letter of commendation from the Indiana State Police in connection with inspection of Jay Schools buses at the start of the school year. One hundred percent of Jay's buses passed inspection.
•Adopted the social studies curriculum guide as presented by Barwick.
•Heard concerns from Nila Stauffer, Pennville, who urged that extracurricular activities in the school system be opened to students who are home schooled or attend the Jay County Christian Academy. "These activities should not be exclusive to the Jay school system," she said. "We are not asking for the Jay County system to treat our children as special, just equal."
•Hired Kris Ann Woodbury as a special education instructional assistant at East Jay, Marcia Michael as a full-time instructional assistant at General Shanks Elementary School, Christie Sommers as a physical education teacher at JCHS, Bret Booher as an English teacher at West Jay, Jessie Mangus as INPACE intake coordinator at John Jay Center for Learning, Dana McClung as an adult education teacher at John Jay, Gary Tarr as an adult education teacher at John Jay, John Ferguson as an adult education teacher at John Jay, Dennis Dwiggins as a driver education teacher at JCHS, Amie Sprunger as a certified occupational therapy assistant for the school district, and Joni Ostrowski as a special education instructional assistant at General Shanks.
•Accepted the resignations of Laurie Muhlenkamp as nurse coordinator for the district and Bruce McGill as a vocational business teacher at JCHS.
•Approved extracurricular assignments for Doug Tipton as robotics coach at East Jay and JCHS, Dolphus Stephens as the coordinator of the freshman academy at JCHS, Ed Geesaman as assistant girls' basketball coach at JCHS, Greg Garringer as varsity boys' track coach at JCHS, Kim Haffner as volunteer girls' basketball coach at JCHS, Tiffany Mathias as assistant girls' swim coach at JCHS, Jason Robbins as assistant boys' swim coach at JCHS, Rod Ashman as assistant boys' varsity basketball coach at JCHS, Kristin Brown as assistant gymnastics coach at JCHS, Sarah Rasso as freshman girls' basketball coach at JCHS, Thomas Leonard as assistant varsity boys' track coach at JCHS, Abby Arnold as junior varsity and freshman cheerleader coach at JCHS, Tony Overton as boys' basketball coach at East Elementary School, Justin Lowe as girls' basketball coach at East, Chelsee Brunswick as intramurals coach at East, Sarah Davidson as yearbook sponsor at East, Bill Saxman as boys' basketball coach at Judge Haynes Elementary School, Andrew Mishler as fifth grade boys' basketball coach at Pennville Elementary School, Andy Pfeifer as assistant wrestling coach at JCHS, William Back as assistant eighth grade football coach at West Jay, Teresa Paquette as sixth grade volleyball coach at West Jay, Whitney Homan as volunteer girls' basketball coach at Bloomfield, Steve Sommerfield as robotics coach at West Jay, Donald Gillespie as girls' basketball coach at Judge Haynes, Terry Bantz as eighth grade boys' basketball coach at West Jay, James Roberts III as seventh grade boys' basketball coach at West Jay, Stephanie Arnold as archery coach at East Jay, Jennifer Crum as archery coach at West Jay, Rodney Craig as archery coach at West Jay, and Jack Wood as head softball coach at JCHS.
•Accepted extracurricular resignations from Matthew Slavik as assistant boys' swim coach at West Jay, Butch Gray as seventh grade boys' basketball coach at East Jay, Bill Saxman as basketball coach at Pennville, and Jane Prescott as girls' basketball coach, Just Say No Advisor, yearbook sponsor, and intramurals coach at East.
•Approved a trip by the Jay County Marching Patriots to Myrtle Beach, S.C., at the end of May 2009.[[In-content Ad]]Jay School Board members unanimously gave their blessing to an initiative aimed at reducing childhood obesity locally.
Led by Jay County Hospital, the Jay County Childhood Obesity Task Force is putting together a program aimed at providing nutrition information, physical activity challenges, and healthier food for students.
"We just want to improve some of the eating habits of school-age children, said Carrie Wilcox R.N., community health educator at the hospital. "It can increase the students' alertness, the ability to learn."
Wilcox and Julayne Ross, registered dietitian at the hospital, told the board a $125,000-a-year three-year grant is being sought from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Ross noted Indiana has the dubious honor of being one of the nation's leaders in terms of rising obesity. As of 2003, 25 percent or more Hoosier adults were considered overweight.
Overall, Indiana ranks tenth in the nation in terms of adult obesity, and 15 percent of high school students in the state are obese.
They estimated that in Jay County 30 to 40 percent of children seen by a physician are considered to be obese.
"We make all of our patterns (of behavior) when we are kids," said Ross. "When kids have a problem, it's probably not going to get better."
The task force will begin its efforts with a student survey of eating habits and physical activity.
Taste tests, adjustments to the school food service menu, and nutrition education during lunch periods are among the possible steps that may be taken.
In addition to Ross and Wilcox, members of the task force committee include Joe Johnston, chief executive officer of Jay County Hospital; Dr. Scott Frankenfield; Cheryl Miller, manager of the hospital's specialty referral clinic; Katie McIntire, administrative assistant at the hospital; Jack Houck, executive director at Jay Community Center; Bill Bussear, food services director for Jay Schools; Lisa Wood, nurse at Jay County High School; Nancy Berry, nurse at West Jay Middle School; and Kristi Henry, dietitian for Purdue Cooperative Extension Service.
Board president Bryan Alexander and board member Frank Vormohr were absent from the meeting.
The budget calls for a general fund of $26,965,279, a debt service fund of $2,968,381, a retirement/severance bond debt service fund of $770,172, a capital projects fund of $3,994,230, a transportation fund of $2,148,700, a bus replacement fund of $170,000, and a special education pre-school fund of $250,579.
Business manager Brad DeRome noted the budget process and school funding in general will be dramatically different next time around as the state assumes responsibility for the general fund.
Superintendent Tim Long told the board a number of capital improvement projects have been moving along smoothly and some have come in at lower cost than was expected.
Roof work at West Jay Middle School is complete, as is work on the heating, ventilation, and cooling system at Bloomfield Elementary School. Long said the Bloomfield project came in at roughly $480,000. "It was well under what we thought it would be," he said.
Work is progressing, meanwhile, on the multipurpose facility/auxiliary gym at Jay County High School. Most of the work on the building should be finished by the first of December, but Long said it will probably be January before the punch-list on the project is 100 percent complete.
Long also said there are no plans at this time to sell the former administrative office building at 404 E. Arch St., Portland, which was once the Garfield Elementary School.
"It's our intention at this point to keep that facility," he said, noting that it is primarily being used for storage of school records at this point.
Long and assistant superintendent Wood Barwick said much of the focus of the first few weeks of school has been on the ISTEP tests with a goal of raising the number of students passing by three percentage points.
"It's just been a serious mission across the district," Long said.
He also reported that a robotics program launched at West Jay last year is drawing heavy student interest at both East Jay Middle School and the high school.
Sixty students showed up at an extracurricular meeting on robotics at the high school, and 150 showed up for a similar meeting at East Jay.
Barwick, meanwhile, reported that a $20,000 tech-prep grant had been approved for engineering programs at the high school involving about 60 students.
In other business, the board:
•Authorized an auction of surplus school equipment to be held at 4 p.m. on Oct. 17 at the old bus garage at East Jay Middle School.
•Accepted a donation by Randy Fisher, Portland, of a property at 115 E. Water St., adjacent to the old bus garage. A house on the property will be razed sometime next year.
•Agreed to lease gymnasium space at West Jay Community Center this school year for basketball practices and some elementary school games. The rental price is $3,200, up from $2,400 last year, the first year the gym space had been rented. The facility will be used at various times by students from West Jay and Westlawn and Redkey elementaries.
•Noted that Character Counts week will be Oct. 17-23.
•Received a letter of commendation from the Indiana State Police in connection with inspection of Jay Schools buses at the start of the school year. One hundred percent of Jay's buses passed inspection.
•Adopted the social studies curriculum guide as presented by Barwick.
•Heard concerns from Nila Stauffer, Pennville, who urged that extracurricular activities in the school system be opened to students who are home schooled or attend the Jay County Christian Academy. "These activities should not be exclusive to the Jay school system," she said. "We are not asking for the Jay County system to treat our children as special, just equal."
•Hired Kris Ann Woodbury as a special education instructional assistant at East Jay, Marcia Michael as a full-time instructional assistant at General Shanks Elementary School, Christie Sommers as a physical education teacher at JCHS, Bret Booher as an English teacher at West Jay, Jessie Mangus as INPACE intake coordinator at John Jay Center for Learning, Dana McClung as an adult education teacher at John Jay, Gary Tarr as an adult education teacher at John Jay, John Ferguson as an adult education teacher at John Jay, Dennis Dwiggins as a driver education teacher at JCHS, Amie Sprunger as a certified occupational therapy assistant for the school district, and Joni Ostrowski as a special education instructional assistant at General Shanks.
•Accepted the resignations of Laurie Muhlenkamp as nurse coordinator for the district and Bruce McGill as a vocational business teacher at JCHS.
•Approved extracurricular assignments for Doug Tipton as robotics coach at East Jay and JCHS, Dolphus Stephens as the coordinator of the freshman academy at JCHS, Ed Geesaman as assistant girls' basketball coach at JCHS, Greg Garringer as varsity boys' track coach at JCHS, Kim Haffner as volunteer girls' basketball coach at JCHS, Tiffany Mathias as assistant girls' swim coach at JCHS, Jason Robbins as assistant boys' swim coach at JCHS, Rod Ashman as assistant boys' varsity basketball coach at JCHS, Kristin Brown as assistant gymnastics coach at JCHS, Sarah Rasso as freshman girls' basketball coach at JCHS, Thomas Leonard as assistant varsity boys' track coach at JCHS, Abby Arnold as junior varsity and freshman cheerleader coach at JCHS, Tony Overton as boys' basketball coach at East Elementary School, Justin Lowe as girls' basketball coach at East, Chelsee Brunswick as intramurals coach at East, Sarah Davidson as yearbook sponsor at East, Bill Saxman as boys' basketball coach at Judge Haynes Elementary School, Andrew Mishler as fifth grade boys' basketball coach at Pennville Elementary School, Andy Pfeifer as assistant wrestling coach at JCHS, William Back as assistant eighth grade football coach at West Jay, Teresa Paquette as sixth grade volleyball coach at West Jay, Whitney Homan as volunteer girls' basketball coach at Bloomfield, Steve Sommerfield as robotics coach at West Jay, Donald Gillespie as girls' basketball coach at Judge Haynes, Terry Bantz as eighth grade boys' basketball coach at West Jay, James Roberts III as seventh grade boys' basketball coach at West Jay, Stephanie Arnold as archery coach at East Jay, Jennifer Crum as archery coach at West Jay, Rodney Craig as archery coach at West Jay, and Jack Wood as head softball coach at JCHS.
•Accepted extracurricular resignations from Matthew Slavik as assistant boys' swim coach at West Jay, Butch Gray as seventh grade boys' basketball coach at East Jay, Bill Saxman as basketball coach at Pennville, and Jane Prescott as girls' basketball coach, Just Say No Advisor, yearbook sponsor, and intramurals coach at East.
•Approved a trip by the Jay County Marching Patriots to Myrtle Beach, S.C., at the end of May 2009.[[In-content Ad]]Jay School Board members unanimously gave their blessing to an initiative aimed at reducing childhood obesity locally.
Led by Jay County Hospital, the Jay County Childhood Obesity Task Force is putting together a program aimed at providing nutrition information, physical activity challenges, and healthier food for students.
"We just want to improve some of the eating habits of school-age children, said Carrie Wilcox R.N., community health educator at the hospital. "It can increase the students' alertness, the ability to learn."
Wilcox and Julayne Ross, registered dietitian at the hospital, told the board a $125,000-a-year three-year grant is being sought from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Ross noted Indiana has the dubious honor of being one of the nation's leaders in terms of rising obesity. As of 2003, 25 percent or more Hoosier adults were considered overweight.
Overall, Indiana ranks tenth in the nation in terms of adult obesity, and 15 percent of high school students in the state are obese.
They estimated that in Jay County 30 to 40 percent of children seen by a physician are considered to be obese.
"We make all of our patterns (of behavior) when we are kids," said Ross. "When kids have a problem, it's probably not going to get better."
The task force will begin its efforts with a student survey of eating habits and physical activity.
Taste tests, adjustments to the school food service menu, and nutrition education during lunch periods are among the possible steps that may be taken.
In addition to Ross and Wilcox, members of the task force committee include Joe Johnston, chief executive officer of Jay County Hospital; Dr. Scott Frankenfield; Cheryl Miller, manager of the hospital's specialty referral clinic; Katie McIntire, administrative assistant at the hospital; Jack Houck, executive director at Jay Community Center; Bill Bussear, food services director for Jay Schools; Lisa Wood, nurse at Jay County High School; Nancy Berry, nurse at West Jay Middle School; and Kristi Henry, dietitian for Purdue Cooperative Extension Service.
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