July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
JSC closer to acquiring armory (07/17/07)
Jay School Board
By By JENNIFER TARTER-
The Jay School Corporation has taken another step towards acquiring the Portland National Guard Armory.
The Jay School Board voted Monday to send a letter to the Indiana Department of Administration expressing the corporation's continued interest in acquiring the building, located at 1976 West Tyson Road, Portland. This letter, along with a summary of how the corporation plans to utilize the 1,600-square-foot building, is due Aug. 3.
Jay School Corporation business manager Brad DeRome said Monday that the school corporation is waiting on completion of the state's legal process for the corporation to acquire the state-owned building at "basically zero cost."
The building built in 1976, is in good condition and is currently being rented by the corporation for $900 a month. It has been used since Jan. 1 for gymnastics and cheerleading practices and a classroom setting for alternative placement students.
Additional future plans for the building if it is acquired by the school corporation include additional central office space, record storage and possible practice space for wrestling and elementary basketball teams.
Also Monday, all six board members present gave Jay County High School principal Jeremy Gulley their backing for a service learning project that requires all students must complete six hours of community service their senior year at JCHS to be eligible for a diploma.
This requirement will begin in August at the start of the 2007-08 school year.
This project will be a requirement to receive credit for government class, which is needed to graduate.
Gulley said that there are approximately 150 not-for-profit organizations in Jay County and if students are unable to complete their service time with one of these groups, they are encouraged to mow a yard for an elderly resident or earn their time completing activities at their church that they are already doing.
"These kids are busy. I'm not against it... I just have a problem making kids do another thing," said board member Frank Vormohr.
Board president Bryan Alexander added: "It gives them a trait that some kids don't get at home. I have wrestled with it but I think that it is a positive thing."
In other business, Jay School Corporation assistant superintendent Wood Barwick reported on new education laws that were effective July 1.
Changes include a bill that allows the corporation to donate up to $25,000 per year from the corporation's general fund to a public school endowment, increases the maximum length of a school bus to 42 from 38 feet and increases the maximum speed a school bus driver can travel to 60 mph from 55 mph.
A new law also requires schools to notify parents of female students entering sixth grade in the 2008-09 school year of the dangers of human papillomavirus (HPV). The school corporation must also inform parent that this infection can cause cervical cancer, that there is a vaccine available and also must record which students have been immunized and which have not.
Also Monday, board members:
•Voted to keep elementary schools' textbook rental and fees the same as the 2006-07 school year.
Fees will remain $60 for kindergarten, $124 for first grade, $120 for second grade, $109 for third grade, $98 for fourth grade and $101 for fifth grade.
At the middle schools and high school, rental fees are determined books required for each class that individual students are taking.
•Were reminded that they will meet on Aug. 6 for the presentation of the school corporation's budget and again on Aug. 27 for a regular scheduled meeting.
•Voted to hire Pete Vogler as EJMS summer band director, Eric Myers as EJMS geography teacher, Cheryl Cook as EJMS choral and music teacher, Felicia McConnell as EJMS eighth grade teacher, Dana Brown to be moved to a sixth grade English from her position as a special education teacher, Lori DeRome as a health clerk/nurse for Judge Haynes Elementary and Marie Secor as a health clerk/nurse for Redkey and Bloomfield elementaries.
•Approved extra curricular assignments for Pete Vogler, Julie Szymczak, Devon Lykins, Greg Garringer, Jan Rittenhouse, Ryan Fritze, Andrew Isch, Christopher Osterholt, Emmett Lee Bales, Rayma Frankenfield, Shawn Roberts, Aaron Hoevel, Beth Stephen, Christy Shauver, Lori Sims, Sheri Ludy, Cheryl Guise and Michael W. Hunt.
•Accepted resignations and extra curricular resignations from JCHS math teacher Gwen Bergman and EJMS sixth grade English teacher Tess Thobe.
•Approved bus use requests for Jay County Public Library on August 13 for the bus safety and kindergarten orientation at Bloomfield Elementary and for Jay County Community Center boys' and girls' clubs to a Indianapolis Indians baseball game on July 31 and Kings Island Amusement Park in Mason, Ohio on Aug. 8.
•Authorized medical leave for Doris Muhlenkamp.
•Approved contracted services from Sarah Holmes for physical therapy; Trina Pope for music therapy; Rick Ritter and Sharon McNeany for counseling and Adams Counseling & Assessment for counseling.[[In-content Ad]]With plans on hold for construction of the proposed $4 million project to add an multipurpose facility/auxiliary gym at Jay County High School, board members discussed a possible road map for two other renovation projects.
"Given the situation statewide it's a given that we will not act on (the multipurpose facility/auxiliary gym) at this time ... We need to be prudent and take a step back and go into a holding pattern," Jay School Corporation superintendent Tim Long said this morning, adding that the board has 60 days to contest a remonstrance petition filed against the multipurpose facility/auxiliary gym project. "(The proposed project) is right now in suspended animation. We will not pursue further lease financing."
Long also complimented State Rep. Bill Davis R-Portland (Dist. 33) on communicating the state's tax situation to the corporation.
The board must wait one year after that 60 day period has expired to approach the public to request lease financing. But the project could move forward if alternative funding, such as a gift, was obtained.
The only mention of the project at Monday's meeting was from Portland resident and volunteer assistant basketball coach Rod Ashman, who told the board he hopes they proceed with the project at JCHS.
"Kids lose valuable study time traveling to other places to practice," Ashman told the board. "They deserve more than that."
Also Monday, board members discussed preliminary drawings of proposed renovations of JCHS's current gym and East Elementary School, presented by K.R. Montgomery Associates Architecture and Interior Design of Anderson.
The drawings show proposed project at JCHS totaling approximately $598,000 and renovations at East Elementary are estimated at $6.9 million.
This JCHS renovation project includes removing the existing ceiling, covering the gym floor, painting the exposed ceiling joists and trusses, replacing the existing doors, covering the current 4,000 seat bleachers with vinyl covers, installing a new four sided score board in the middle of the gym, installing acoustical panels on the walls and installing a new lighting system. The project also includes installation of six new photo banners of JCHS athletes on one end of the gym.
Members of the high school athletic department, school board and administration met with the Anderson company to create the preliminary drawing.
Also, East Elementary teachers, principal Andy Schemenaur, custodians and school board members met with the company four times to give their input for designs of the school.
Proposed renovations at the elementary school include a new entrance and office addition, demolition of the building's interior, creation of new walls, renovation of the sprinkler and heating and cooling systems, new furnishings and a possible skylight.
The school, built in 1974, currently has a completely open classroom area. Individual classrooms are separated by movable dividers. The proposed renovations will construct a three class room space for each grade level that will be separate by possible moveable partitions.
Mike Montgomery of K.R. Montgomery Associates told the board that these projects can be completed in steps and are not "all or nothing" projects. He added that several small projects could be completed to improve the appearance of each space.
"Those are management plans that we want to address over time," Long said this morning. "Those plans are to show the board what the end result could look like. We may do painting this summer and use the colors that were proposed or cover some older parts of the bleachers at the high school with the vinyl covers. If we get a road map to where we are going and start down the path we will eventually get there."
The Jay School Board voted Monday to send a letter to the Indiana Department of Administration expressing the corporation's continued interest in acquiring the building, located at 1976 West Tyson Road, Portland. This letter, along with a summary of how the corporation plans to utilize the 1,600-square-foot building, is due Aug. 3.
Jay School Corporation business manager Brad DeRome said Monday that the school corporation is waiting on completion of the state's legal process for the corporation to acquire the state-owned building at "basically zero cost."
The building built in 1976, is in good condition and is currently being rented by the corporation for $900 a month. It has been used since Jan. 1 for gymnastics and cheerleading practices and a classroom setting for alternative placement students.
Additional future plans for the building if it is acquired by the school corporation include additional central office space, record storage and possible practice space for wrestling and elementary basketball teams.
Also Monday, all six board members present gave Jay County High School principal Jeremy Gulley their backing for a service learning project that requires all students must complete six hours of community service their senior year at JCHS to be eligible for a diploma.
This requirement will begin in August at the start of the 2007-08 school year.
This project will be a requirement to receive credit for government class, which is needed to graduate.
Gulley said that there are approximately 150 not-for-profit organizations in Jay County and if students are unable to complete their service time with one of these groups, they are encouraged to mow a yard for an elderly resident or earn their time completing activities at their church that they are already doing.
"These kids are busy. I'm not against it... I just have a problem making kids do another thing," said board member Frank Vormohr.
Board president Bryan Alexander added: "It gives them a trait that some kids don't get at home. I have wrestled with it but I think that it is a positive thing."
In other business, Jay School Corporation assistant superintendent Wood Barwick reported on new education laws that were effective July 1.
Changes include a bill that allows the corporation to donate up to $25,000 per year from the corporation's general fund to a public school endowment, increases the maximum length of a school bus to 42 from 38 feet and increases the maximum speed a school bus driver can travel to 60 mph from 55 mph.
A new law also requires schools to notify parents of female students entering sixth grade in the 2008-09 school year of the dangers of human papillomavirus (HPV). The school corporation must also inform parent that this infection can cause cervical cancer, that there is a vaccine available and also must record which students have been immunized and which have not.
Also Monday, board members:
•Voted to keep elementary schools' textbook rental and fees the same as the 2006-07 school year.
Fees will remain $60 for kindergarten, $124 for first grade, $120 for second grade, $109 for third grade, $98 for fourth grade and $101 for fifth grade.
At the middle schools and high school, rental fees are determined books required for each class that individual students are taking.
•Were reminded that they will meet on Aug. 6 for the presentation of the school corporation's budget and again on Aug. 27 for a regular scheduled meeting.
•Voted to hire Pete Vogler as EJMS summer band director, Eric Myers as EJMS geography teacher, Cheryl Cook as EJMS choral and music teacher, Felicia McConnell as EJMS eighth grade teacher, Dana Brown to be moved to a sixth grade English from her position as a special education teacher, Lori DeRome as a health clerk/nurse for Judge Haynes Elementary and Marie Secor as a health clerk/nurse for Redkey and Bloomfield elementaries.
•Approved extra curricular assignments for Pete Vogler, Julie Szymczak, Devon Lykins, Greg Garringer, Jan Rittenhouse, Ryan Fritze, Andrew Isch, Christopher Osterholt, Emmett Lee Bales, Rayma Frankenfield, Shawn Roberts, Aaron Hoevel, Beth Stephen, Christy Shauver, Lori Sims, Sheri Ludy, Cheryl Guise and Michael W. Hunt.
•Accepted resignations and extra curricular resignations from JCHS math teacher Gwen Bergman and EJMS sixth grade English teacher Tess Thobe.
•Approved bus use requests for Jay County Public Library on August 13 for the bus safety and kindergarten orientation at Bloomfield Elementary and for Jay County Community Center boys' and girls' clubs to a Indianapolis Indians baseball game on July 31 and Kings Island Amusement Park in Mason, Ohio on Aug. 8.
•Authorized medical leave for Doris Muhlenkamp.
•Approved contracted services from Sarah Holmes for physical therapy; Trina Pope for music therapy; Rick Ritter and Sharon McNeany for counseling and Adams Counseling & Assessment for counseling.[[In-content Ad]]With plans on hold for construction of the proposed $4 million project to add an multipurpose facility/auxiliary gym at Jay County High School, board members discussed a possible road map for two other renovation projects.
"Given the situation statewide it's a given that we will not act on (the multipurpose facility/auxiliary gym) at this time ... We need to be prudent and take a step back and go into a holding pattern," Jay School Corporation superintendent Tim Long said this morning, adding that the board has 60 days to contest a remonstrance petition filed against the multipurpose facility/auxiliary gym project. "(The proposed project) is right now in suspended animation. We will not pursue further lease financing."
Long also complimented State Rep. Bill Davis R-Portland (Dist. 33) on communicating the state's tax situation to the corporation.
The board must wait one year after that 60 day period has expired to approach the public to request lease financing. But the project could move forward if alternative funding, such as a gift, was obtained.
The only mention of the project at Monday's meeting was from Portland resident and volunteer assistant basketball coach Rod Ashman, who told the board he hopes they proceed with the project at JCHS.
"Kids lose valuable study time traveling to other places to practice," Ashman told the board. "They deserve more than that."
Also Monday, board members discussed preliminary drawings of proposed renovations of JCHS's current gym and East Elementary School, presented by K.R. Montgomery Associates Architecture and Interior Design of Anderson.
The drawings show proposed project at JCHS totaling approximately $598,000 and renovations at East Elementary are estimated at $6.9 million.
This JCHS renovation project includes removing the existing ceiling, covering the gym floor, painting the exposed ceiling joists and trusses, replacing the existing doors, covering the current 4,000 seat bleachers with vinyl covers, installing a new four sided score board in the middle of the gym, installing acoustical panels on the walls and installing a new lighting system. The project also includes installation of six new photo banners of JCHS athletes on one end of the gym.
Members of the high school athletic department, school board and administration met with the Anderson company to create the preliminary drawing.
Also, East Elementary teachers, principal Andy Schemenaur, custodians and school board members met with the company four times to give their input for designs of the school.
Proposed renovations at the elementary school include a new entrance and office addition, demolition of the building's interior, creation of new walls, renovation of the sprinkler and heating and cooling systems, new furnishings and a possible skylight.
The school, built in 1974, currently has a completely open classroom area. Individual classrooms are separated by movable dividers. The proposed renovations will construct a three class room space for each grade level that will be separate by possible moveable partitions.
Mike Montgomery of K.R. Montgomery Associates told the board that these projects can be completed in steps and are not "all or nothing" projects. He added that several small projects could be completed to improve the appearance of each space.
"Those are management plans that we want to address over time," Long said this morning. "Those plans are to show the board what the end result could look like. We may do painting this summer and use the colors that were proposed or cover some older parts of the bleachers at the high school with the vinyl covers. If we get a road map to where we are going and start down the path we will eventually get there."
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