July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.

School budget draws no comment (8/23/05)


By By Jack Ronald-

A $30.7 million budget for Jay Schools cleared a public hearing without comment Monday.

The budget, which is set for formal adoption on Sept. 19, calls for a general fund of $22,852,400, up 2.6 percent from the current year. The debt service fund totals $1,952,305, the pension bond fund totals $555,172, the capital projects fund is $3,000,833, the transportation fund totals $1,667,100, the bus replacement fund totals $432,000, and the special education preschool fund totals $240,000.

In all, the budget calls for school spending to increase by 5.9 percent or $1,699,233 over the current budget year.

Property taxes will account for $14,241,374 of the budget, with the remainder coming from a variety of state and federal tax revenues.

A tentative tax rate of $2.0403 has been advertised by the school corporation, based upon an estimated total assessed valuation in the district of $698 million.

School board members unanimously set in motion a major renovation project at Jay County High School, approving a series of resolutions in connection with financing of the project.

As outlined by the Fort Wayne architectural firm of Barton Coe Vilamaa, the project has three major components:

•New boilers, air handling equipment and major upgrades to the heating, ventilation and air condition system.

•Renovation of the vocational education areas of the 30-year-old building, including significant updating of equipment.

•Renovation of the swimming pool and all locker room facilities.

Total cost of the project is estimated at $18 million, with about $13 million in construction and the balance in equipment.

School board attorney Phil Frantz outlined the financing procedure for such capital projects under Indiana law.

Under that procedure, the school corporation deeds the high school to the Building Corporation of Jay Schools, which in turn issues bonds to finance the renovation work. The building corporation then leases the building to the school corporation, with lease payments by the school corporation providing the revenue stream to pay off the bonds.

Terms call for the lease term to be 22 years with annual payments of $1,566,000. A public hearing on the proposed lease is set for Monday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m.

Sommer Barnard, an Indianapolis law firm, will serve as bond counsel for the project; and Therber and Brock, also of Indianapolis, will serve as financial adviser.

“It’s a good team,” superintendent Barbara Downing said of the bond counsel, architects and financial adviser. “It works very well together.”

Downing also reported that preliminary enrollment figures show a slight increase in the number of students attending Jay Schools.

“These are very preliminary figures as of 3:45 this afternoon,” she said, reporting a net increase of 46 students.

“The big increase is at the high school,” Downing said. “We have a large freshman class and a large sophomore class.”

Dealing with a large number of personnel items on the first day of classes for the new year, the board:

•Hired Ben Dues as a social studies teacher at JCHS, James Myers as a social studies teacher at West Jay Middle School, Christy Shauver as a special education teacher at East Jay Middle School, Tracy Heckler as a math-science teacher at EJMS, Kimberly Niekamp as a math teacher at WJMS, Lisa Tobe as a part-time kindergarten teacher at Redkey Elementary School, Katie Redwine as a part-time family and consumer science teacher at EJMS, Carissa Goldsworthy as a part-time social studies teacher at EJMS, Bonnie Muhlenkamp as an instructional assistant at JCHS, Nancy Snyder as a part-time nurse at East Elementary School, and Emily Funk as a special education teacher at JCHS.

•Accepted the resignations of Kim Shannon as an instructional assistant in adult education, Jesse Bivens as custodian at East Elementary, Dilcia Robbins as an instructional assistant, and Erin Hamilton as an instructional assistant at Redkey Elementary.

•Approved extracurricular contracts for Samantha Murdock as seventh grade volleyball coach at WJMS, Linda Brackman as volunteer cheer sponsor at WJMS, Greg Garringer as seventh grade football coach at WJMS, Rick Locke as assistant seventh grade football coach at WJMS, Randy Davis as eighth grade football coach at WJMS, Jack Houck as seventh grade football coach at EJMS, Violet Current as eighth grade volleyball coach at WJMS, Sheryl Buckmaster as yearbook sponsor and honor society co-sponsor at WJMS, James Myers as eighth grade assistant football coach at WJMS, and Zebulant Hudson as assistant volleyball coach at JCHS.

•Accepted the extracurricular resignation of Jennifer Crum as high school choir director and JCHS swing choir sponsor.

•Approved adult education teacher contracts for Dana McClung, Gary Tarr and John Ferguson.

•Approved a contract for INPACE coordinator in the adult education program for Jessie Mangus.

•Authorized a leave of absence for Susan DeRome as a teacher of English as a second language for the first semester.

In other business, the board:

•Commended JCHS dean of students Jeremy Gulley for his recent selection as the 2005 Indiana American Legion Educator of the Year.

•Approved an agreement with Stress Operations Group Inc. to provide counseling services related to the special education program.[[In-content Ad]]
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