SA calendar realigned (10/15/03)

BERNE — The South Adams School Board decided Tuesday to approve a 2004-05 school calendar that allows more time for Christmas, a fall break and snow days at the end of the year.

Part of the reason for the change was to get the South Adams Schools calendar similar to those of surrounding schools. South Adams High School has 82 students travel to area schools for vocational classes — 59 students to Bellmont, 14 to Adams Central and nine to Jay County High School. The closer the schedules are to being the same, the easier it is for students who attend those vocational classes.

“It’s a difficult thing and I don’t believe it’s ever possible to get them identical,” SAHS principal Brent Lehman said. “I just feel we can get them closer than we have.”

Next year students will get a full two weeks for Christmas break, from Dec. 20 until Jan. 3; a fall break on Oct. 29; and snow days will be May 27, and June 1, and 2.

The calendar passed on a 6-1 vote. Board member Agnes Shock cast the nay vote, partly because she didn’t see why students needed an entire two weeks for Christmas break.

In other action Tuesday, the board:

•Approved an overnight field trip request for 13 high school students to attend the FFA National Convention in Louisville, Ky., on Oct. 29 until Nov. 1. The students and the FFA are paying for all expenses.

•Voted unanimously to donate fencing that used to be around the baseball field to Swiss Heritage Village in Berne. The fencing was removed earlier this year.

•Reappointed Naomi Lehman as representative to the Board of Trustees of the Berne Library.

•Granted the pregnancy leave request of teacher Tiffany Gorrell from February until April of 2004.

•Approved a request by the American Legion to use the high school auditorium on Sunday, Nov. 9 for a Veterans Day event.

•Granted the following conference requests: Jody Walker, Deb Hosier and Rhonda Clott, State Business and Marketing Education Conference, Indianapolis, Nov. 14-15; Sharyl Calhoun, National Reading Recovery Conference, Columbus, Ohio, on Jan. 31 until Feb. 1; Cindy Cash, Designing with Dreamweaver and Flash Attach, Fort Wayne, Dec. 2-3; Kristina Miller and Cindy Sprunger, Indiana Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Indianapolis, Oct. 12-13; Michael Maer, Coalwood October Sky Convention NASA and Homer Hickam, Coalwood, W.V., Oct. 3-4; Brent Lehman, Indiana Association of Secondary Principals’ Conference, Indianapolis, Nov. 16-18; Steve Huffman, Indiana Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, Indianapolis, Nov. 6-8.[[In-content Ad]]