Hall thanks board for China help

A local industry has received a major order from China and believes Jay Schools helped make it possible.
Dru Hall of SDP Manufacturing, Dunkirk, presented the Jay School Board with a certificate of appreciation Monday, thanking the board for its support of superintendent Tim Long’s China initiative.
“We’ve been working real hard to develop a market in China,” Hall said. “We’re getting a phenomenal order from our dealer in China. … I don’t know how we would have done it without the school corporation. … There’s not many school corporations that have done what this board has done.”
Under Long’s leadership, teacher and student exchange programs have been launched with both China and Taiwan.
Two more groups of teachers and students from China are expected for two four-day visits at the end of August, and for the second year a Chinese teacher will be part of the Jay Schools faculty on a program funded in part by the Chinese government.
That teacher, Guo Li, arrives July 28 and will divide her time between West Jay and East Jay middle schools and Jay County High School during the coming school year.
In a related action, the board approved a lease for an apartment in Dunkirk for Guo Li. Housing costs will be paid by the school corporation and reimbursed through a reduction in her salary. The Chinese government provides $13,000 of her salary, with the rest paid by Jay Schools.
Board member Jim Sanders, who has been a frequent critic of the China initiative, was the sole vote against the lease.
Long noted there are also exchanges involving Germany and Italy, and FCC (Indiana) has provided experiences in Japan for Jay students for several years.
School officials have expressed interest in establishing a local school-industry coalition working on economic development and educational issues.
An elementary redistricting plan floated by Long in June was partially adopted by the board.
In the coming school year, elementary students who live in the Piedmont and Maple Heights apartment complexes in Portland will attend Judge Haynes Elementary School instead of General Shanks Elementary School.
The exception will be special needs students, whose individual education plans call for them to stay at Shanks.
That change was adopted unanimously by the school board Monday, but rural redistricting has been put on hold so that the issue can be studied more closely.
Board members Ron Laux, Beth Krieg, and Mike Shannon agreed to serve on a study committee to examine rural redistricting. Long and board members said they had received a number of comments reflecting a wide range of opinion on the issue and wanted to take more time before acting.
Assistant superintendent Wood Barwick, who reviewed Jay Schools’ ISTEP scores for the board in June, said Monday that in a comparison to statewide performance, local students fared well.
In 11 of 16 areas of comparison, Jay students exceeded the state averages for the number of students passing the test.
“We’re improving in most areas,” said Barwick.
Long noted that improved scores are related to a change in approach in the classroom. “Today, we’re teaching the test,” he said. “If you’re on the acuity system, you’re teaching the test. But today that’s the name of the game.”
Board members gave unanimous approval to a new memorandum of understanding with non-certified personnel that will have employees move up one step on the pay scale and provide small raises for those at the top of the scale.
Business manager Brad DeRome noted that because of the 17 retirements of support staff employees, the expected payroll for support staff in 2011-2012 will be about $241,000 less than in the most recent school year.
DeRome also provided board members with an update on more than 30 maintenance and capital projects going on this summer and gave board members a preview of the 2012 capital projects plan to be included in next year’s school budget.
Summer projects include work on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems at East, Westlawn, and Redkey elementaries. Two sections of handicapped accessible bleachers have also been installed at the ends of the JCHS gym floor.
DeRome’s proposed capital projects fund totals $3,350,000 for 2012. That compares to $3,313,840 that was actually approved by the Department of Local Government Finance for 2011.
“If I ‘over-budget’ or budget too high, the (DLGF) will cut the budget appropriations down anyway to fit into their rate and formula caps,” DeRome told the board. “You advertise what you consider high because they’re going to cut it.”
Once a proposed school budget has appeared as a public notice advertisement in advance of its adoption, it can be lowered but cannot be raised.
Continuing changes by the state when it comes to school funding and budgeting are an ongoing challenge, Long and DeRome said.
“Every year there’s something that changes,” said Long. “Everybody’s looking at every dollar they can save.”
Two Jay elementary students were applauded by the board Monday for having perfect attendance records the past year. The two — Austin Sampley of Westlawn and Dylan Lewis of East — each received a $100 cash award from Cross Road Precision Tool of Jay County.
The company, owned by John Fennig, established the attendance awards to help build a strong work ethic and character among Jay County students.
“We certainly appreciate what you’re doing,” said board president Greg Wellman.
In other business, the board:
•Marked the recent death of Jay Schools food service director Bill Bussear with a moment of silence. “Bill was such a great person for the community in general,” said Long.
•Hired Trenton Yoder as a JCHS math teacher, Seth Swallow as a JCHS vo-ag mechanics teacher, Ed Bennett as a part-time math teacher at JCHS, Jacquelin Analco as an art teacher at West Jay and JCHS, Nicholas Ehrhart as a special education instructional assistant at East Jay, Alice Poole as secretary at Judge Haynes, and Pete Vogler and Sharon Newman as summer band staff.
•Accepted the resignations of math teacher Amy Cadwallader and bus driver Nicole Byers.
•Approved the retirement of instructional assistant Pam Tarr.
•Approved a leave of absence for Lona Shuey, a fifth grade teacher at Bloomfield Elementary School.
•Approved Cheree McCallister as cheerleader sponsor at West Jay and Kristen Selvey as assistant sponsor.
•Approved a field trip to North Star, Ohio, by members of FFA.
•Approved a bus request by Jay County Public Library.
•Noted the administration’s retreat will be Aug. 11 and the end-of-summer staff cookout will be July 29.
•Noted registration for JCHS will be Thursday, Aug. 4, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and from 1 to 6 p.m, and Monday, Aug. 8, from 11 a.m. to 7 pm.
•Noted registration for elementary and middle schools will be Thursday and Friday, Aug. 4 and 5, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 to 3 p.m., and Monday, Aug. 8, from noon to 6 p.m.
•Adopted textbook rental charges and student fees for JCHS. “I think we all keep looking with alarm at the cost of those textbooks,” said Barwick.[[In-content Ad]]