July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
China deal extended
Jay School Board
An initiative to bring Chinese language, culture and history to students in Jay County will continue for at least one more year.
Members of the Jay School Board voted Monday to continue funding a partnership with The College Board that has brought He Yan Xin to teach at West Jay Middle School and Westlawn Elementary.
School officials hope to work out a schedule that will allow the teacher to spend a semester each at East Jay and West Jay middle schools and one class per day at Jay County High School during the 2011-12 school year.
Jay Schools will pay about $21,000 in salary, while a sub-group of The College Board will pay about $13,000 in expenses related to the teacher.
The renewal of the Chinese initiative was approved by a 6-1 margin. Board members Mike Masters and Greg Wellman were among the most strident supporters, while Jim Sanders dissented.
“We have the ball rolling … stopping that would be the wrong thing to do,” said Wellman, who said he had asked officials from his Catholic diocese whether supporting bringing a teacher from a country with a repressive government was contrary to his faith.
He said he was told that allowing someone from China the opportunity to experience freedom in America would be a positive example.
Masters, who said he was leaning toward not renewing the initiative until receiving a supportive e-mail from Jessie Mangus, president of the Jay Classroom Teachers Association, repeatedly thanked Mangus for her input — as did new board member Ron Laux.
“The whole idea is … our students have an advantage,” Mangus told member members Monday evening. She also related a story about the excitement and enthusiasm shown by West Jay students in He’s class.
Sanders said Monday he believes that the district’s resources would be better spent helping students to catch up and excel in more traditional subject areas.
“I have a far greater interest in our children. I’d rather hire teachers who can teach our kids to read and do math,” he said. “The Chinese, at this point in time, is not that important to me.”
Later in the discussion, after Sanders implied that approving the contract would not be a vote for local students, Wellman replied: “At least some of us believe voting for the China initiative is voting for our kids.”
Along with the contract renewal, board members also agreed to create a goal to develop a local community coalition that would generate support and possibly funding for future initiatives.
Also voting in support of the renewal were board members Larry Paxson, Beth Krieg and Michael Shannon.
Jay Schools Superintendent Tim Long originally championed the initiative.
Also Monday, the board approved the hiring of an architecture firm to design plans for a new heating and cooling system at West Jay Middle School. The project is expected to cost approximately $1.3 million, while the design work is estimated at $45,000-$60,000.
Although board members have agreed major work is necessary, they have yet to decide what type of system will be installed and how they plan to pay for the project.
Long asked the board for permission to hire CSO Architects, Indianapolis, to handle the design work.
Sanders objected, saying that if the corporation planned to replace the system currently in place at West Jay that it would be more cost-effective to hire an engineer to guide the replacement.
During a drawn-out debate that appeared at times to confuse the board more than enlighten, Long defended his proposal.
“The board asked me to get (another architect) … and that’s what I did,” Long said in reference to major projects at three district elementary schools. “We can’t go out and design a system ourselves … if we’re going to press forward with this, we’re going to need a team.”
Long said the best time to complete such a major project at West Jay would be over the summer months. If that work is to be done this summer, design and bidding must move forward relatively quickly.
“I’m not that sold on the architect … in this venture,” said Sanders, who was the lone dissenter in a 6-1 vote to hire CSO Architects.
In other business, board members:
•Gave final approval to a “Freedom from Student Activities,” policy, which, with only a few exceptions, prohibits extracurricular activities on Wednesday evenings. The policy has been discussed for several years at the urging of Wellman.
•Learned from Jay Schools business manager Brad DeRome that the corporation brought in $1,499 more than it spent during 2010. It was the second consecutive year the corporation finished “in the black,” and the seventh of the last eight years.
The balancing of the budget was accomplished despite the fact that about $1 million in state funding was cut for 2010. The district did use rainy day funds for expenses in December.
The district, which uses a partially self-funded health insurance system, incurred the highest medical expenses it has incurred in the past 10 years — a total of $5,216,000 (medical and prescription).
“We feel proud … we did reach that goal of staying in the black,” DeRome said.
DeRome also said Monday that the district’s 2011 $34.8 million budget was recently approved by the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance. The school tax rate for 2011 is expected to be $1.17 per $100 of assessed valuation, down from $1.22 per $100 in 2010.
•Approved several personnel moves, including the hiring of Travis Younts as a part-time custodian at the administrative office and annex. Board members also approved the following: Retirement for Crystal Laux, math teacher, JCHS (effective at end of current school year); resignation of Josh Gibson, assistant football coach, JCHS; and the hiring of Heath Williams, volunteer assistant baseball coach, JCHS and Brian Weaver, assistant wrestling coach, West Jay Middle School.
The board also approved the use of a corporation school bus by Jay County Girl Scouts on March 12, 2011 to attend a Disney on Ice program in Fort Wayne.
•Awarded contracts for the purchase of three vehicles to Kenny Vice Ford of Ladoga, Ind. The district is buying a one-tone pick-up truck ($27,726), a one-ton dually with dump bed ($31,349) and a one-ton cargo van with bins and racks ($21,182). Kenny Vice was the low bidder on all three vehicles among Ron Garrett Chevrolet (Greenville, OH), Hubler Chevrolet (Indianapolis) and Moser Ford (Berne).[[In-content Ad]]
Members of the Jay School Board voted Monday to continue funding a partnership with The College Board that has brought He Yan Xin to teach at West Jay Middle School and Westlawn Elementary.
School officials hope to work out a schedule that will allow the teacher to spend a semester each at East Jay and West Jay middle schools and one class per day at Jay County High School during the 2011-12 school year.
Jay Schools will pay about $21,000 in salary, while a sub-group of The College Board will pay about $13,000 in expenses related to the teacher.
The renewal of the Chinese initiative was approved by a 6-1 margin. Board members Mike Masters and Greg Wellman were among the most strident supporters, while Jim Sanders dissented.
“We have the ball rolling … stopping that would be the wrong thing to do,” said Wellman, who said he had asked officials from his Catholic diocese whether supporting bringing a teacher from a country with a repressive government was contrary to his faith.
He said he was told that allowing someone from China the opportunity to experience freedom in America would be a positive example.
Masters, who said he was leaning toward not renewing the initiative until receiving a supportive e-mail from Jessie Mangus, president of the Jay Classroom Teachers Association, repeatedly thanked Mangus for her input — as did new board member Ron Laux.
“The whole idea is … our students have an advantage,” Mangus told member members Monday evening. She also related a story about the excitement and enthusiasm shown by West Jay students in He’s class.
Sanders said Monday he believes that the district’s resources would be better spent helping students to catch up and excel in more traditional subject areas.
“I have a far greater interest in our children. I’d rather hire teachers who can teach our kids to read and do math,” he said. “The Chinese, at this point in time, is not that important to me.”
Later in the discussion, after Sanders implied that approving the contract would not be a vote for local students, Wellman replied: “At least some of us believe voting for the China initiative is voting for our kids.”
Along with the contract renewal, board members also agreed to create a goal to develop a local community coalition that would generate support and possibly funding for future initiatives.
Also voting in support of the renewal were board members Larry Paxson, Beth Krieg and Michael Shannon.
Jay Schools Superintendent Tim Long originally championed the initiative.
Also Monday, the board approved the hiring of an architecture firm to design plans for a new heating and cooling system at West Jay Middle School. The project is expected to cost approximately $1.3 million, while the design work is estimated at $45,000-$60,000.
Although board members have agreed major work is necessary, they have yet to decide what type of system will be installed and how they plan to pay for the project.
Long asked the board for permission to hire CSO Architects, Indianapolis, to handle the design work.
Sanders objected, saying that if the corporation planned to replace the system currently in place at West Jay that it would be more cost-effective to hire an engineer to guide the replacement.
During a drawn-out debate that appeared at times to confuse the board more than enlighten, Long defended his proposal.
“The board asked me to get (another architect) … and that’s what I did,” Long said in reference to major projects at three district elementary schools. “We can’t go out and design a system ourselves … if we’re going to press forward with this, we’re going to need a team.”
Long said the best time to complete such a major project at West Jay would be over the summer months. If that work is to be done this summer, design and bidding must move forward relatively quickly.
“I’m not that sold on the architect … in this venture,” said Sanders, who was the lone dissenter in a 6-1 vote to hire CSO Architects.
In other business, board members:
•Gave final approval to a “Freedom from Student Activities,” policy, which, with only a few exceptions, prohibits extracurricular activities on Wednesday evenings. The policy has been discussed for several years at the urging of Wellman.
•Learned from Jay Schools business manager Brad DeRome that the corporation brought in $1,499 more than it spent during 2010. It was the second consecutive year the corporation finished “in the black,” and the seventh of the last eight years.
The balancing of the budget was accomplished despite the fact that about $1 million in state funding was cut for 2010. The district did use rainy day funds for expenses in December.
The district, which uses a partially self-funded health insurance system, incurred the highest medical expenses it has incurred in the past 10 years — a total of $5,216,000 (medical and prescription).
“We feel proud … we did reach that goal of staying in the black,” DeRome said.
DeRome also said Monday that the district’s 2011 $34.8 million budget was recently approved by the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance. The school tax rate for 2011 is expected to be $1.17 per $100 of assessed valuation, down from $1.22 per $100 in 2010.
•Approved several personnel moves, including the hiring of Travis Younts as a part-time custodian at the administrative office and annex. Board members also approved the following: Retirement for Crystal Laux, math teacher, JCHS (effective at end of current school year); resignation of Josh Gibson, assistant football coach, JCHS; and the hiring of Heath Williams, volunteer assistant baseball coach, JCHS and Brian Weaver, assistant wrestling coach, West Jay Middle School.
The board also approved the use of a corporation school bus by Jay County Girl Scouts on March 12, 2011 to attend a Disney on Ice program in Fort Wayne.
•Awarded contracts for the purchase of three vehicles to Kenny Vice Ford of Ladoga, Ind. The district is buying a one-tone pick-up truck ($27,726), a one-ton dually with dump bed ($31,349) and a one-ton cargo van with bins and racks ($21,182). Kenny Vice was the low bidder on all three vehicles among Ron Garrett Chevrolet (Greenville, OH), Hubler Chevrolet (Indianapolis) and Moser Ford (Berne).[[In-content Ad]]
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