Starr to lead school board (7/3/03)

The Jay School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to appoint Duane Starr as school board president. Starr will follow former president Ted Champ, who indicated before the re-organizational meeting he did not want to continue in that position.

“I just don’t want to be president anymore,” Champ said following the meeting, expressing a desire to spend more time on his job and become more active making motions during meetings. “I enjoyed last year, but things move too slow in school board. I’m used to doing things, getting them done and moving on. There’s just too many hoops to go through with this.”

Doug Inman was elected as vice president, and Jay Halstead was named secretary.

Starr, entering the fourth year of his first term, takes over after having spent the past year as the board vice president. Inman made the motion to elect Starr as president, and Halstead seconded. The board voted 5-0 to appoint Starr to the position.

Board members Mike Shannon and Frank Vormohr were absent.

“I feel a lot more comfortable going in,” Starr said, citing several occasions when he led board meetings in Champ’s absence. “I’m quite comfortable with the group of fellas on this board.”

Also Tuesday, Jay Schools Supt. Barbara Downing appointed board members to the following committees: Negotiations Committee, Shannon and Bryan Alexander; Meet and Confer Committee, Starr; and Insurance Committee, Inman.

Downing also re-appointed Phil Frantz as legal counsel for the board. Frantz worked in the same position last year.

Other re-appointments by Downing included Jay Schools business manager Brad DeRome as corporation treasurer with Jane Carlin as deputy treasurer. DeRome, Downing and Carlin also were authorized to use the coporation’s safe deposit box.

All the appointments were approved by a unanimous vote.

In other action, the board unanimously:

•Appointed Alexander as the school board’s legislative liaison to the Indiana School Boards Association.

•Designated and approved the regular school board meeting dates for the 2003-2004 school year.

•Extended the Spring 2003 contracts for John Ferguson and Dana McClung to teach adult education. Both contracts are being funded by the state of Indiana. This adult education program is offered through the John Jay Center for Learning.

•Approved a field trip request for the Jay County High School varsity cheerleaders to attend a cheerleading camp in Lexington, KY, from July 11-14.[[In-content Ad]]