July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
School work keys debate (11/25/2008)
Jay School Board
By By JACK RONALD-
Four of Jay County's elementary schools need work on their heating or air conditioning systems, but it's not clear how the Jay School Board will address or finance the improvements.
Superintendent Tim Long asked the board to move forward with a request for proposals to install a pair of new boilers and a new chiller at East Elementary School Monday night.
But Long's proposed method of financing the project - known as Senate Bill 516 - drew a cool response from some members of the board, including board president Bryan Alexander.
"I'm not opposed in principle here," said Alexander. "I'm not saying the concept doesn't make sense. I think there has been a bad taste in the mouth of the community when it comes to the 516 program."
Alexander was referring to a board decision almost 10 years ago to undertake a major energy efficiency program with Honeywell that has cost the school corporation $800,000 a year from its capital projects fund.
The cost of the program was to be offset by energy efficiency, but some board members have expressed doubts about the entire Honeywell project.
"I am frankly skeptical of the performance measurement," said Alexander.
The payments to Honeywell are phased out in 2010, freeing up $800,000 a year in the capital projects fund for building maintenance and improvements.
Long proposed using the 516 program, which has undergone major changes since the Honeywell project was launched, to spread the cost of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning projects over 10 years.
That would allow work to be done on four schools in a shorter time frame rather than one school at a time.
Joe Pash of Performance Services Inc., an Indianapolis firm that specializes in design/build projects, estimates that installing two new boilers and a new chiller at East would cost approximately $350,000.
If the 516 program was used for financing, using a local bank over a 10-year term, the annual cost to the capital projects fund would be $35,000.
Such an approach, Long said, would allow the corporation to address similar problems at Redkey Elementary School, Westlawn Elementary School, and Pennville Elementary School.
"From my vantage point, this is an easy project," said Long. Fully funding one school improvement project at a time from the capital projects fund "means that someone's going to give it up for three or four years. ... I don't want to wait that long to fix our issues when we've got a way to pay for it."
Board member Greg Wellman, however, leaned toward a pay-as-you-go one-school-at-a-time approach, noting that at the end of three or four years all of the work would be fully paid for.
Ultimately, board members agreed to advertise for a request for proposals on the East Elementary project so they could look at some firm numbers. No commitment was made, however, on whether the project would go forward paid for via the 516 program.
While the 516 question stirred much discussion, board members approved without comment Long's recommendations for leadership positions at Jay County High School.
Phil Ford, who has been serving as interim principal, was approved as principal. Ted Habegger was approved as athletic director, and Bev Arnold was approved as assistant athletic director.
Ford is operating under a memorandum of understanding for the remainder of the school year with the terms of a contract for next year yet to be determined.
Board members voted 6-0, with Frank Vormohr absent, to move forward with lunchroom management software by Lunchbox Services, Tallmadge, Ohio, at a cost of $27,700, with an additional $6,000 for training.
The system, which will be installed at JCHS, East Jay Middle School, and West Jay Middle School, is expected to increase participation in free and reduced lunch programs. "This will make it a little more anonymous," said Long.
Students will have individual accounts and a four-digit identification number. Parents will be able to pay in advance for food services via the Internet through a link with the Jay Schools web site. They will also be able to monitor what their students are having for lunch.
Typically, said Jim Caulfield of Lunchbox Services, participation in free and reduced lunch programs drops at the high school level because there is a social stigma attached. By increasing participation, the system not only improves nutrition for those students, it also increases federal support for the food service program.
Food service director Bill Bussear, his staff, and school technology specialist Dennis Green were all involved in the software recommendation. "For our networking system this is the best one I've seen," said Green.
At the recommendation of school business manager Brad DeRome, the board gave approval to spending $48,205 to re-carpet the large open area at East Elementary. The new carpet is part of a series of improvements at the school as it makes the transition from open concept to a more traditional classroom arrangement.
Board members took home for review possible school calendar options for 2009-2010, reflecting the latest discussions between the administration and the Jay Classroom Teachers Association. The JCTA has expressed an interest in having the first semester end prior to the Christmas vacation, but that would require a school starting date of Aug. 12, earlier than it has ever been. Assistant superintendent Wood Barwick said Adams and Wells schools are also looking at an Aug. 12 start date.
In other business:
•The oath of office was administered by school board attorney Phil Frantz to Jim Sanders, Mike Masters, and Greg Wellman. Sanders will assume his duties at the board's first meeting of 2009 on Jan. 12.
•Long reported that the wood floor at the auxiliary gymnasium/multi-purpose facility was to be installed beginning today.
•Board members learned that the Jay Schools United Way campaign had exceeded its goal of $19,000 and was now at $22,000.
•Long reported that the school system will be working with Project Impact, the state's new welfare to work program, in the months ahead.
•The board hired Kelly Bricker as a math coach and art teacher at Westlawn and Pennville, Ashley Clevenger as an English as a second language assistant, Shelly Rines as custodian at Judge Haynes Elementary School, Bethany Johnson as a sixth grade English teacher at West Jay, Christie Sommers as a health and physical education teacher at JCHS, and Bethany Hill as a teacher at Westlawn.
•The board accepted the resignations of Cathy Fullenkamp as an occupational assistant and Macey Boseck as a special education teacher at Redkey and the retirements of Barbara Miller as registrar at JCHS and Russell Sloan as custodian at JCHS.
•The board approved extracurricular assignments for Kim Haffner for the Earth Watch Club, Connie Aker for the JCHS academic team, Reba Brentz as volunteer helper for the choir at JCHS, Marc Bogenschutz as volunteer assistant girls' basketball coach at JCHS, Caleb Bye as volunteer diving coach at JCHS, Teresa Paquette as seventh grade girls' basketball coach at West Jay, and Tim Hower as assistant baseball coach at JCHS.
•The board appointed Myia Starr to the Dunkirk Public Library Board.
•A bus request by the Jay Community Center was approved.
•Long told the board his Chinese counterpart under an international exchange program will be coming to Indiana in late February or early March. Naiqiu Du is principal at Anshan No. 3 Senior High School in Anshan, Liaoning, China. Long will travel to China as part of the exchange program in April.
•Barwick informed board members that teacher Chandra Dawson had applied for a Lilly Teacher Creativity Grant.
•The board declared an FFA tractor at the high school to be surplus equipment and will place it for sale in an auction in December.
[[In-content Ad]]A Westlawn Elementary School teacher was approved for a Star of Character Award Monday night by the Jay School Board, and the board has adopted his dream project as one of its goals.
Jim Roberts - known to his students as "Mr. Jim" - is a life skills teacher at Westlawn and hopes to see a greenhouse established at the school in memory of Dalton Foster, one of his students who died last year.
Roberts himself has been diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer.
"Mr. Jim truly lives and reflects the six pillars of character in his life," said Westlawn principal Jeff Davis. "Mr. Jim is fighting a tough fight against an opponent who doesn't fight fair."
Students have raised about $1,500 for the greenhouse project, and Roberts said a group of Dunkirk businessmen led by auto dealer Rock Fuqua hopes to raise another $10,000.
"There needs to be all kinds of Jim Roberts in the world," said superintendent Tim Long. "We're going to make sure these efforts on the greenhouse happen."
Superintendent Tim Long asked the board to move forward with a request for proposals to install a pair of new boilers and a new chiller at East Elementary School Monday night.
But Long's proposed method of financing the project - known as Senate Bill 516 - drew a cool response from some members of the board, including board president Bryan Alexander.
"I'm not opposed in principle here," said Alexander. "I'm not saying the concept doesn't make sense. I think there has been a bad taste in the mouth of the community when it comes to the 516 program."
Alexander was referring to a board decision almost 10 years ago to undertake a major energy efficiency program with Honeywell that has cost the school corporation $800,000 a year from its capital projects fund.
The cost of the program was to be offset by energy efficiency, but some board members have expressed doubts about the entire Honeywell project.
"I am frankly skeptical of the performance measurement," said Alexander.
The payments to Honeywell are phased out in 2010, freeing up $800,000 a year in the capital projects fund for building maintenance and improvements.
Long proposed using the 516 program, which has undergone major changes since the Honeywell project was launched, to spread the cost of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning projects over 10 years.
That would allow work to be done on four schools in a shorter time frame rather than one school at a time.
Joe Pash of Performance Services Inc., an Indianapolis firm that specializes in design/build projects, estimates that installing two new boilers and a new chiller at East would cost approximately $350,000.
If the 516 program was used for financing, using a local bank over a 10-year term, the annual cost to the capital projects fund would be $35,000.
Such an approach, Long said, would allow the corporation to address similar problems at Redkey Elementary School, Westlawn Elementary School, and Pennville Elementary School.
"From my vantage point, this is an easy project," said Long. Fully funding one school improvement project at a time from the capital projects fund "means that someone's going to give it up for three or four years. ... I don't want to wait that long to fix our issues when we've got a way to pay for it."
Board member Greg Wellman, however, leaned toward a pay-as-you-go one-school-at-a-time approach, noting that at the end of three or four years all of the work would be fully paid for.
Ultimately, board members agreed to advertise for a request for proposals on the East Elementary project so they could look at some firm numbers. No commitment was made, however, on whether the project would go forward paid for via the 516 program.
While the 516 question stirred much discussion, board members approved without comment Long's recommendations for leadership positions at Jay County High School.
Phil Ford, who has been serving as interim principal, was approved as principal. Ted Habegger was approved as athletic director, and Bev Arnold was approved as assistant athletic director.
Ford is operating under a memorandum of understanding for the remainder of the school year with the terms of a contract for next year yet to be determined.
Board members voted 6-0, with Frank Vormohr absent, to move forward with lunchroom management software by Lunchbox Services, Tallmadge, Ohio, at a cost of $27,700, with an additional $6,000 for training.
The system, which will be installed at JCHS, East Jay Middle School, and West Jay Middle School, is expected to increase participation in free and reduced lunch programs. "This will make it a little more anonymous," said Long.
Students will have individual accounts and a four-digit identification number. Parents will be able to pay in advance for food services via the Internet through a link with the Jay Schools web site. They will also be able to monitor what their students are having for lunch.
Typically, said Jim Caulfield of Lunchbox Services, participation in free and reduced lunch programs drops at the high school level because there is a social stigma attached. By increasing participation, the system not only improves nutrition for those students, it also increases federal support for the food service program.
Food service director Bill Bussear, his staff, and school technology specialist Dennis Green were all involved in the software recommendation. "For our networking system this is the best one I've seen," said Green.
At the recommendation of school business manager Brad DeRome, the board gave approval to spending $48,205 to re-carpet the large open area at East Elementary. The new carpet is part of a series of improvements at the school as it makes the transition from open concept to a more traditional classroom arrangement.
Board members took home for review possible school calendar options for 2009-2010, reflecting the latest discussions between the administration and the Jay Classroom Teachers Association. The JCTA has expressed an interest in having the first semester end prior to the Christmas vacation, but that would require a school starting date of Aug. 12, earlier than it has ever been. Assistant superintendent Wood Barwick said Adams and Wells schools are also looking at an Aug. 12 start date.
In other business:
•The oath of office was administered by school board attorney Phil Frantz to Jim Sanders, Mike Masters, and Greg Wellman. Sanders will assume his duties at the board's first meeting of 2009 on Jan. 12.
•Long reported that the wood floor at the auxiliary gymnasium/multi-purpose facility was to be installed beginning today.
•Board members learned that the Jay Schools United Way campaign had exceeded its goal of $19,000 and was now at $22,000.
•Long reported that the school system will be working with Project Impact, the state's new welfare to work program, in the months ahead.
•The board hired Kelly Bricker as a math coach and art teacher at Westlawn and Pennville, Ashley Clevenger as an English as a second language assistant, Shelly Rines as custodian at Judge Haynes Elementary School, Bethany Johnson as a sixth grade English teacher at West Jay, Christie Sommers as a health and physical education teacher at JCHS, and Bethany Hill as a teacher at Westlawn.
•The board accepted the resignations of Cathy Fullenkamp as an occupational assistant and Macey Boseck as a special education teacher at Redkey and the retirements of Barbara Miller as registrar at JCHS and Russell Sloan as custodian at JCHS.
•The board approved extracurricular assignments for Kim Haffner for the Earth Watch Club, Connie Aker for the JCHS academic team, Reba Brentz as volunteer helper for the choir at JCHS, Marc Bogenschutz as volunteer assistant girls' basketball coach at JCHS, Caleb Bye as volunteer diving coach at JCHS, Teresa Paquette as seventh grade girls' basketball coach at West Jay, and Tim Hower as assistant baseball coach at JCHS.
•The board appointed Myia Starr to the Dunkirk Public Library Board.
•A bus request by the Jay Community Center was approved.
•Long told the board his Chinese counterpart under an international exchange program will be coming to Indiana in late February or early March. Naiqiu Du is principal at Anshan No. 3 Senior High School in Anshan, Liaoning, China. Long will travel to China as part of the exchange program in April.
•Barwick informed board members that teacher Chandra Dawson had applied for a Lilly Teacher Creativity Grant.
•The board declared an FFA tractor at the high school to be surplus equipment and will place it for sale in an auction in December.
[[In-content Ad]]A Westlawn Elementary School teacher was approved for a Star of Character Award Monday night by the Jay School Board, and the board has adopted his dream project as one of its goals.
Jim Roberts - known to his students as "Mr. Jim" - is a life skills teacher at Westlawn and hopes to see a greenhouse established at the school in memory of Dalton Foster, one of his students who died last year.
Roberts himself has been diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer.
"Mr. Jim truly lives and reflects the six pillars of character in his life," said Westlawn principal Jeff Davis. "Mr. Jim is fighting a tough fight against an opponent who doesn't fight fair."
Students have raised about $1,500 for the greenhouse project, and Roberts said a group of Dunkirk businessmen led by auto dealer Rock Fuqua hopes to raise another $10,000.
"There needs to be all kinds of Jim Roberts in the world," said superintendent Tim Long. "We're going to make sure these efforts on the greenhouse happen."
Top Stories
9/11 NEVER FORGET Mobile Exhibit
Chartwells marketing
September 17, 2024 7:36 a.m.
Events
250 X 250 AD