Looking closely at budget (01/27/2009)

Amid economic uncertainty, Jay School Corporation officials want to make sure they're ready for the year ahead.

"We've taken a great deal of time looking at various scenarios," superintendent Tim Long told the Jay School Board Monday. "I don't think we've seen the worst economic times yet. We've got to prepare for the worst and hope for the best."

School business manager Brad DeRome provided board members with an extensive and detailed review of school spending over the past nine years on a line-by-line basis.

Board members had expressed concern earlier this month that the school corporation finished the year with a smaller cash balance than the year before. At the end of December, the cash balance in the general fund was $2,953,718, down $291,188 from the year before.

The difference, DeRome said, was due to a significant drop in interest earnings and a lower than expected rate of collections of property taxes.

"The year just ended was our worst year of property tax collections in recent memory when compared with the certified levy that they tell us we should receive," DeRome said.

Normally 99 to 100 percent of property taxes are collected, but in 2008 it dropped to 97.5 percent.

Long and DeRome said interest expectations have been lowered for 2009 and an adjustment has been made to allow for lower property tax collections.

"We will take that lesson with us," Long said. "We feel we're on very solid ground moving forward."

Long told board members a dedication ceremony for Foster Greenhouse at Westlawn Elementary School has been set for 1 p.m. on Friday. An open house for the new auxiliary gym/multi-purpose facility at Jay County High School is planned for the Feb. 6 home basketball game.

Long said he expects the multi-purpose facility to be open by the end of this week.

Quotes are being reviewed for a new chiller and work on the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system at East Elementary School. Those quotes will be brought to the board for action in February.

"This is going to be a more reserved capital projects year for us," Long said of 2009.

In other business, the board:

•Hired Michelle Hersberger as an instructional assistant for computer labs at Pennville and Westlawn elementaries, Joel Freehill as a seventh grade English teacher at West Jay Middle School, and Erin Davis as a crossing guard at Pennville.

•Accepted the resignation of Naomi Strebel as Pennville crossing guard.

•Approved extracurricular assignments for Shelly King as assistant middle school swim coach at East Jay, Brandon Reed as head middle school swim coach at East Jay, Kyle Champ as volunteer assistant baseball coach at JCHS, Roy Adams as head girls' tennis coach at JCHS, and Jeff Hatch as varsity assistant baseball coach at JCHS.

•Approved a field trip by seventh grade students from East Jay Middle School to Cedar Point in May.

•Authorized a leave of absence for East Elementary fifth grade teacher Brooke Schmiesing.[[In-content Ad]]A 100 percent graduation rate has been set as a goal for Jay County High School, again.

Jay School Board members adopted the goal Monday evening, but a similar target was set by an earlier school board in the 1990s.

"We don't set a date for that, but I think it's a worthy goal to shoot for," assistant superintendent Wood Barwick told the board Monday.

The current graduation rate is 78 percent.

"Seventy-eight percent! We can do better than this," said superintendent Tim Long.

When an earlier school board set a similar goal, a specific year was targeted for reaching the 100 percent graduation rate. But over time and with changes on the board and in the administration, the goal fell by the wayside.