School to borrow for HVAC work

The Jay School Corporation plans to borrow about $3.25 million to pay needed upgrades to school heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and will spend about $300,000 from its capital projects budget this year on the same work.

After about six months of debate over whether to fund the HVAC work through a Senate Bill 516 loan, pay for it piecemeal, or do a combination of both, Jay School Board members chose the latter course of action.

On a 6-1 vote with board member Jim Sanders dissenting, the board directed the administration to develop a request for proposals from firms that specialize in 516 financing.

Under the Senate Bill 516 system, school corporations can borrow without going through the bonding process, paying off the loan by dedicating a portion of the capital projects fund for a period of years.

Jay Schools used the 516 system when funding a controversial Honeywell energy-savings project. Payments on the Honeywell loan consumed more than $800,000 of the capital projects budget each year, seriously limiting other work on school buildings. If the school system borrowed the entire $3.25 million, payments would be about $400,000 for ten years.

"I really don't like the 516," board member Jay Halstead said, adding that the Honeywell project "haunted" him. "But I don't know how we're going to do at least two of the projects without a 516."

An HVAC assessment by Validated Custom Solutions and CSO Architects, identified work that needs to be done at Judge Haynes, General Shanks, East, Bloomfield, Redkey, and Westlawn elementaries and West Jay Middle School.

The original estimate for that work was more than $4 million, but Sanders worked closely with architects over a period of several months and brought that total down to about $3.5 million.

Board members noted that some of the projects could be addressed a few at a time by dedicating $300,000 per year from capital projects. But two of the projects - Westlawn and West Jay - are significantly larger.

Work at Westlawn has been estimated at $630,000, and the West Jay project has been estimated at more than $1.3 million.

"We need to get a lot of these things done," board member Mike Shannon said. "Sometimes money borrowed is money saved."

But Sanders was firm in his opposition. "I don't want to put our taxpayers any further in debt," he said. "I think we pay as we go."

"This is 'pay as we go,'" countered board president Bryan Alexander. "I don't know of one fiscal conservative that would vote no on this. It's a no-brainer. It does not raise taxes."

Superintendent Tim Long told board members the administration is continuing to work on ways to cut costs, faced with reductions in state funding this year and the expectation of further cuts next year.

"We're going to continue to cut the things that are obvious," Long said. "My intent is to cut through attrition, but it's only an intent."

"Can you do it without RIFs (reductions in force)?" asked Alexander.

"I'm not prepared to say that," said Long.

Board members revisited the purchase of an activity bus Monday at Long's urging, this time approving a purchase they had rejected at their last meeting.

Halstead, who had opposed the purchase at the prior meeting, said Monday he should have had the matter tabled until he could do more research. After reviewing information from transportation director Teresa Myers and cost-savings data from Long, Halstead reversed his position.

"I feel a little more confident now," he said.

Not all board members agreed, however.

Purchase of the 14-passenger bus from Kerlin Motors of Silver Lake at a cost of $51,898 was approved on a 4-3 vote, with Sanders, Mike Masters, and Greg Wellman opposed.

In other business, the board:

•Heard another report on success with the Read 180 program, this one from East Jay Middle School teacher Abby Tipton.

"It's leveled to the kids. It meets them where they are," said Tipton. "They know exactly what's expected of them every single day."

•Was reminded by Long of a visit by a group of Chinese educators Feb. 22-25. There will be a public reception for the Chinese group at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 23, at Arts Place in Portland. "It's going to be a busy two and a half days," said Long.

•Adopted two new goals, helping the Jay County Public Library in promotion of the "1,000 Books Before Kindergarten" program and developing a media campaign to improve the image of education in the community.

•Learned that 4-Star status for General Shanks Elementary School had been appealed to the Indiana Department of Education. The school missed 4-Star status by a statistical whisker. "We're not coming up with the same numbers they are," said Long.

•Discussed the potential impact of cutting summer school for middle school students and agreed to continue the discussion at a future meeting.

•Accepted two $800 donations from the glass workers union at Saint-Gobain Containers in Dunkirk, one for Westlawn and one for Pennville Elementary School.

•Approved Nicci Littler and Lindsey Peterson as speech and language pathologists, Dave Humbert as a high school band volunteer, Heath Williams as volunteer assistant baseball coach, Ted Habegger and Dennis Dwiggins as driver education teachers, and Dana McClung, Gary Tarrr, and John Ferguson as adult education teachers.

•Accepted the resignation of speech and language pathologist Kiera Zerrer.

•Approved leaves of absence for custodian Wanda Imel and teachers Kristy Blalock, Kelly Brandenburg, and Tom Weaver.

•Authorized field trips by the West Jay choirs and band to Kings Island, the Jay County High School varsity cheerleaders to the University of Kentucky, the East Jay sixth grade to Chicago, and the high school PVE club to Kentucky and Ohio.

•Approved a bus request from Zion Early Learning Center.[[In-content Ad]]