More retirements OK'd

Another wave of early retirements was approved Monday by the Jay School Board as part of a move to reduce the school corporation’s personnel costs.
Last year and this year, the board has approved the use of federal stimulus dollars to create an early retirement incentive package for teachers, administrators, and non-certified personnel. By filling those vacancies with younger, less-experienced staff, the school system will see its personnel expense drop significantly.
Twenty-seven people are opting for early retirement at the end of this school year, while 42 took early retirement in 2011.
Among those whose early retirement was approved Monday are Bloomfield Elementary School principal Dan Hoffman and special education director Dave Chastain.
Retirements also approved Monday included: Redkey Elementary School third grade teacher Sharon Hoffman, Bloomfield kindergarten teacher Carolyn Scott, Bloomfield second grade teacher Gladys Mitchel, Bloomfield fourth grade teacher Deborah Warwick, East Elementary School fourth grade teacher Katherine Littler, Judge Haynes Elementary School second grade teacher Teresa Fulton, East Jay Middle School English teacher Deborah Kilander, East Jay physical education and health teacher Butch Gray, East Jay art teacher Jan Hurst, West Jay Middle School secretary Brenda Whitesell, bus driver and mechanic Richard Jones, accounts payable secretary Sharon Dues, and special education secretary Linda Leonhard.
Board member Mike Shannon cast a symbolic vote against approval of the retirements, saying he didn’t want to see Chastain go.
“That’s just for the record,” he said.
Board president Greg Wellman noted he was particularly sorry to see so many good staff members leaving Bloomfield.
Wellman and a committee of Bloomfield teachers and parents will be reviewing the top applicants for the principal’s position at Bloomfield, which has been a Four Star school several times under Hoffman’s leadership.
“We’ve got 10 great candidates right now,” said superintendent Tim Long. “It’s going to take a great one to fill Dan Hoffman’s shoes.”
On Long’s recommendation, the board voted 6-1 to hire former Jay County High School principal Jeremy Gulley as high school coordinator for the RISE teacher evaluation system being put in place and Judge Haynes principal Trent Paxson as the RISE coordinator for middle and elementary schools. Board member Jim Sanders voted against the move, having expressed opposition to new hiring in the past.
Long said he is pursing two different funding options to help get a Chinese teacher on staff next year.
A total of 46 students have signed up to take Chinese in the fall.
He also said he expects a delegation of teachers from Anshan, China, to come to Jay County in September or October to work on classroom management and English skills. “It’s at no cost to us,” Long said.
Several teachers, administrators, and students who recently took part in another exchange visit with educators in Anshan reported to the board on their experiences. Long noted that the Jay Schools relationship with school counterparts in Anshan is now in its sixth year. Nineteen people took part in this spring’s exchange visit.
“It’s an exchange program, not a vacation,” said Long. “All of these people came up with their own money to go.”
Board members also heard a presentation by participants in the school corporation’s robotics program, which is beginning to attract national attention.
Robotics teacher Doug Tipton noted that professors at Utah State University consider the Jay program to be one of the top ten in the country and want to study why the program has been so successful. Unlike robotics programs in many school districts, the Jay program is open to all students, working at various levels of academic achievement.
“How do you explain to people how great this is?” said Tipton.
In other business, the board:
•Heard school patron Paula Confer ask why the Indiana Bond Bank wasn’t being used for borrowing for an upcoming heating, ventilation, and air conditioning project at West Jay. School officials noted that borrowing from the bond bank is intended to be short-term and must be paid back within a year.
•Formally accepted a $1,500 donation by Verallia to the technology program at Westlawn Elementary School, a $1,000 donation by First Merchants Corp. to the technology program at Westlawn, and a $500 donation by Masters Financial Network of Dunkirk to the cultural exchange program.
•Hired Stephanie Wellman as an instructional assistant, Giles Laux as an elementary teacher, and Dru Mercer as an elementary teacher.
•Learned that a common wage hearing was held on the West Jay HVAC project and that the Association of Building Contractors rate was approved. Proposals on that project are expected to come to the board on June 25 with work to take begin soon after.
•Approved leaves of absence for kindergarten teacher Celeste Tetrault, physical education teacher Barry Weaver, instructional assistant Colinda Anderson, and secretary Brandy Chowning.
•Approved the AdvanceED School Executive Summary for the high school, which represents the new version of school accreditation that used to be handled by the North Central Association
•Accepted the resignations of secretary Shawna Davis and part-time custodian Grant Fager.
•Approved extra-curricular assignments for Matthew Slavik and Cody Linville as freshman football coaches at JCHS.
•Accepted the extra-curricular resignation of Laura McConnell as academic competition coordinator at West Jay.
•Approved field trips by JCHS Latin classes, JCHS and West Jay archery teams, the JCHS show choir and FFA, and junior high and varsity basketball teams.
•Approved bus use requests by the Zion Early Learning Center, the Jay County Visitors and Tourism Bureau, and the Portland High School Alumni Association.
•Appointed Sara Farris to the board of managers of the Hawkins Community Trust.
•Approved a contract with Phil Frantz to continue to serve as school board attorney on an annual retainer of $2,800 and an hourly rate of $190 per hour.
•Approved revised student handbooks for the high school, middle schools, and elementary schools to meet new state requirements.
•Approved adoption of elementary art and music textbooks as recommended.[[In-content Ad]]