July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Strategy for freshmen approved (03/18/08)
Jay School Board
By By MIKE SNYDER-
A major effort to get new high school students off to a good start will debut this fall in the Jay School Corporation.
A Freshman Academy, which incorporates the team teaching concept and a standards-driven curriculum to help students make a smooth transition to high school, was adopted Monday by the Jay School Board.
The concept, which was created by Jay County High School Principal Jeremy Gulley, assistant superintendent Dr. Wood Barwick and committee of teachers from JCHS, will not require any additional staff initially.
Only freshmen will be allowed in "academy" courses. Students will attend those courses one-half of the school day, and electives the other half of the day.
Beginning next year, a 45-minute third block will offer math and language arts labs, along with a science tutorial to improve ISTEP scores and reduce failure rates.
Three 100-member "teams" of students will be led by four teachers per team.
A goal will be to implement differentiated instruction, in which teachers build a curriculum around what individual students know and their abilities.
Also serving on the planning committee were guidance director Vickie Reitz, along with teachers Mindy Weaver, Crystal Laux, Dolphus Stephens, Joni Aulbach and Chris Compton.
Another effort made to improve performance by struggling students was approved Monday by board members Mike Shannon, Dr. Frank Vormohr, Greg Wellman, Mike Masters and Jay Halstead.
At the recommendation of Barwick, the board approved an intensive 29-day summer school schedule for students in grades 3-10. The sessions, which will be held at General Shanks Elementary, and East and West Jay middle schools, will be weekdays from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. June 8-July 18, with no school on Friday, July 4.
The summer sessions will be mandatory for some students who are struggling either with grades or ISTEP scores. "We think this will pay big dividends," Barwick said.
Also Wednesday, board members received an update on school funding from Brad DeRome, business manager for the corporation.
DeRome said the recently-completed session of the Indiana General Assembly resulted in all school general fund expenses being shifted to the state. About one-fourth of those expenses are currently covered by local property taxes.
Depending on the township or city, Jay County residents could see property taxes fall by one-third to one-half with the removal of the school tax levy.
He is unsure what other impact the changes will have, but said that one of the changes will be a change in the budget cycle to a July 1-June 30 calendar. That change will match schools up with the state's budget cycle.
"We weren't hit nearly as bad as some (other schools)," superintendent Dr. Tim Long said. "But it's not a real bright fiscal forecast we're seeing out there. I think it's going to be tightly controlled."
DeRome also said Monday that he has been told by county officials that it is unlikely that the spring installment of property tax bills will be mailed out in May as usual.
DeRome said he is making plans to borrow approximately $5 million from the Indiana Bond Bank, which could cost the school corporation about $13,000 in interest - depending on when the delayed tax draw is paid.
In other business, members of the board:
•Honored principal Dan Hoffman and staff from Bloomfield Elementary School for recently being named a 4-Star School in Indiana. The school has earned the distinction 10 times since 1992.
•Was thanked by Ron Laux, chairman of the recent Jay County Expo, for use of the Jay County High School commons and gym for the expo.
•Approved a policy for care of students with diabetes, but tabled action on a proposed random drug testing plan for students who drive or who are involved in extra-curricular activities at the high school. The discussion and vote were tabled at the request of board member Bryan Alexander, who could not be in attendance at Monday's meeting. At a meeting in February, Alexander's opposition to the idea triggered a sometimes-heated debate.
•OK'd the hiring of Bret Booher as a temporary seventh grade English teacher at West Jay, and Nicole Chapman as a part-time food service worker, also at West Jay.
Also approved was the retirement of Kay Rinard (administration) and resignations for Debi Weaver (food service, WJ) and Shawna Davis (secretary, Redkey Elementary).
Leaves for bus driver Linda Bryan and early childhood intervention specialist Theresa Linn were approved, along with extra-curricular resignations by Sherri McIntire (East Jay track) and Pete Vogler (JCHS summer guard).
The following extra-curricular appointments were approved: Sean McConnell (JCHS girls soccer), Kendra Stouder and Jenny Cornett (intramurals, Redkey Elementary), Jill Ford (intramurals, Pennville), Christine Garringer (volunteer assistant, JCHS boys track), Adam Norris (volunteer assistant, JCHS boys track), Tom Leonhard (assistant coach, JCHS boys track), Kim Bye (girls track, East Jay).
•Heard DeRome report that work is progressing on conversion of the former Portland Armory into administrative offices for Jay Schools. Work may be completed by the end of the school year, but it is likely the move will come during the summer, DeRome said.
[[In-content Ad]]About five years after it was first proposed, an auxiliary gym/multipurpose facility at Jay County High School is less than a year from completion.
Members of the Jay School Board awarded a $2.3 million contract Monday to a Fort Wayne firm for construction of a 26,000-square-foot steel and masonry facility.
The building, which will feature a total of six basketball courts and be adaptable to a variety of uses, will be block for the lower 12 feet of the exterior, with steel covering the remainder of the outside.
Measuring approximately 202-feet by 130-feet, the new building will be located west of the JCHS pool, on the site of a current circle drive behind the pool. The north end of the new gym will extend 20-30 feet beyond the current exterior of the pool, locker rooms and north entrance to the school.
Contracts for several other major capital projects - including rebuilding the JCHS tennis courts, a new heating/cooling system at Bloomfield Elementary School and new roofing for a portion of West Jay Middle School - were also approved by the board Monday.
Members of the board and administration expressed satisfaction with a competitive bidding process for the gym.
With a base bid of $2,144,000 and three alternates, Michael Kinder and Sons, Fort Wayne, will be paid $2,340,800 for the project.
Construction will start as soon as weather and ground conditions allow.
Dr. Tim Long, superintendent of Jay Schools, said construction should be completed in December. The deadline for completion in the contract is Feb. 1, 2009, said Kari Villamaa, of Barton, Coe, Villamaa Architects.
"This may not be everything that everyone wanted ... everybody got some of what they wanted," Long said.
Voting to approve the project were board members Jay Halstead, Mike Masters, Greg Wellman, Dr. Frank Vormohr and Mike Shannon. Board members Bryan Alexander and Larry Paxson were not at Monday's meeting.
The alternates approved were enclosure of an area which will connect the current JCHS building to the new structure, covering the entire floor with a wood gym floor, and adding a second layer of oriented strand board (OSB) under the gym floor.
The majority of the cost of the project - more than $1.5 million - will be paid with money refunded to the school corporation through the refinancing of bonds in 2006.
The bonds were originally issued in 2002 for major projects including reconstruction of East Jay Middle School and major interior work at JCHS. When they were refinanced four years later at a lower rate, money was refunded to Jay Schools.
A total of $750,000 from the school capital projects fund will also be used toward the second gym, with no bonds issued.
The second gym was originally proposed as part of a major project completed last year, but was eliminated as a cost-saving measure. Eliminating the gym and other items trimmed the total cost to $18 million from more than $25 million.
Several years ago, the board met public resistance when it attempted to bond for a $4 million gym project, and abandoned those plans temporarily when faced with a petition drive.
A total reconstruction of the tennis courts at the high school will begin as soon as the girls tennis season is completed in mid-May. That work, which will be done by Lica Construction Corp., Berne, will be at a cost of $293,692.15. It will include the tearing up of the current surface, replacing all exterior fencing, and new lighting. Construction is projected to last 35-40 days.
Also this summer will be a complete heating and cooling upgrade at Bloomfield, which is currently cooled by individual units in only some of the classrooms.
That work, at a cost of $282,783, will be done by Lehman's Mechanical Inc, Anderson. That firm is also a subcontractor on the gym project.
The roofing project at West Jay will be done by Love Contractors, Gaston, for a contract of $186,000.
A Freshman Academy, which incorporates the team teaching concept and a standards-driven curriculum to help students make a smooth transition to high school, was adopted Monday by the Jay School Board.
The concept, which was created by Jay County High School Principal Jeremy Gulley, assistant superintendent Dr. Wood Barwick and committee of teachers from JCHS, will not require any additional staff initially.
Only freshmen will be allowed in "academy" courses. Students will attend those courses one-half of the school day, and electives the other half of the day.
Beginning next year, a 45-minute third block will offer math and language arts labs, along with a science tutorial to improve ISTEP scores and reduce failure rates.
Three 100-member "teams" of students will be led by four teachers per team.
A goal will be to implement differentiated instruction, in which teachers build a curriculum around what individual students know and their abilities.
Also serving on the planning committee were guidance director Vickie Reitz, along with teachers Mindy Weaver, Crystal Laux, Dolphus Stephens, Joni Aulbach and Chris Compton.
Another effort made to improve performance by struggling students was approved Monday by board members Mike Shannon, Dr. Frank Vormohr, Greg Wellman, Mike Masters and Jay Halstead.
At the recommendation of Barwick, the board approved an intensive 29-day summer school schedule for students in grades 3-10. The sessions, which will be held at General Shanks Elementary, and East and West Jay middle schools, will be weekdays from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. June 8-July 18, with no school on Friday, July 4.
The summer sessions will be mandatory for some students who are struggling either with grades or ISTEP scores. "We think this will pay big dividends," Barwick said.
Also Wednesday, board members received an update on school funding from Brad DeRome, business manager for the corporation.
DeRome said the recently-completed session of the Indiana General Assembly resulted in all school general fund expenses being shifted to the state. About one-fourth of those expenses are currently covered by local property taxes.
Depending on the township or city, Jay County residents could see property taxes fall by one-third to one-half with the removal of the school tax levy.
He is unsure what other impact the changes will have, but said that one of the changes will be a change in the budget cycle to a July 1-June 30 calendar. That change will match schools up with the state's budget cycle.
"We weren't hit nearly as bad as some (other schools)," superintendent Dr. Tim Long said. "But it's not a real bright fiscal forecast we're seeing out there. I think it's going to be tightly controlled."
DeRome also said Monday that he has been told by county officials that it is unlikely that the spring installment of property tax bills will be mailed out in May as usual.
DeRome said he is making plans to borrow approximately $5 million from the Indiana Bond Bank, which could cost the school corporation about $13,000 in interest - depending on when the delayed tax draw is paid.
In other business, members of the board:
•Honored principal Dan Hoffman and staff from Bloomfield Elementary School for recently being named a 4-Star School in Indiana. The school has earned the distinction 10 times since 1992.
•Was thanked by Ron Laux, chairman of the recent Jay County Expo, for use of the Jay County High School commons and gym for the expo.
•Approved a policy for care of students with diabetes, but tabled action on a proposed random drug testing plan for students who drive or who are involved in extra-curricular activities at the high school. The discussion and vote were tabled at the request of board member Bryan Alexander, who could not be in attendance at Monday's meeting. At a meeting in February, Alexander's opposition to the idea triggered a sometimes-heated debate.
•OK'd the hiring of Bret Booher as a temporary seventh grade English teacher at West Jay, and Nicole Chapman as a part-time food service worker, also at West Jay.
Also approved was the retirement of Kay Rinard (administration) and resignations for Debi Weaver (food service, WJ) and Shawna Davis (secretary, Redkey Elementary).
Leaves for bus driver Linda Bryan and early childhood intervention specialist Theresa Linn were approved, along with extra-curricular resignations by Sherri McIntire (East Jay track) and Pete Vogler (JCHS summer guard).
The following extra-curricular appointments were approved: Sean McConnell (JCHS girls soccer), Kendra Stouder and Jenny Cornett (intramurals, Redkey Elementary), Jill Ford (intramurals, Pennville), Christine Garringer (volunteer assistant, JCHS boys track), Adam Norris (volunteer assistant, JCHS boys track), Tom Leonhard (assistant coach, JCHS boys track), Kim Bye (girls track, East Jay).
•Heard DeRome report that work is progressing on conversion of the former Portland Armory into administrative offices for Jay Schools. Work may be completed by the end of the school year, but it is likely the move will come during the summer, DeRome said.
[[In-content Ad]]About five years after it was first proposed, an auxiliary gym/multipurpose facility at Jay County High School is less than a year from completion.
Members of the Jay School Board awarded a $2.3 million contract Monday to a Fort Wayne firm for construction of a 26,000-square-foot steel and masonry facility.
The building, which will feature a total of six basketball courts and be adaptable to a variety of uses, will be block for the lower 12 feet of the exterior, with steel covering the remainder of the outside.
Measuring approximately 202-feet by 130-feet, the new building will be located west of the JCHS pool, on the site of a current circle drive behind the pool. The north end of the new gym will extend 20-30 feet beyond the current exterior of the pool, locker rooms and north entrance to the school.
Contracts for several other major capital projects - including rebuilding the JCHS tennis courts, a new heating/cooling system at Bloomfield Elementary School and new roofing for a portion of West Jay Middle School - were also approved by the board Monday.
Members of the board and administration expressed satisfaction with a competitive bidding process for the gym.
With a base bid of $2,144,000 and three alternates, Michael Kinder and Sons, Fort Wayne, will be paid $2,340,800 for the project.
Construction will start as soon as weather and ground conditions allow.
Dr. Tim Long, superintendent of Jay Schools, said construction should be completed in December. The deadline for completion in the contract is Feb. 1, 2009, said Kari Villamaa, of Barton, Coe, Villamaa Architects.
"This may not be everything that everyone wanted ... everybody got some of what they wanted," Long said.
Voting to approve the project were board members Jay Halstead, Mike Masters, Greg Wellman, Dr. Frank Vormohr and Mike Shannon. Board members Bryan Alexander and Larry Paxson were not at Monday's meeting.
The alternates approved were enclosure of an area which will connect the current JCHS building to the new structure, covering the entire floor with a wood gym floor, and adding a second layer of oriented strand board (OSB) under the gym floor.
The majority of the cost of the project - more than $1.5 million - will be paid with money refunded to the school corporation through the refinancing of bonds in 2006.
The bonds were originally issued in 2002 for major projects including reconstruction of East Jay Middle School and major interior work at JCHS. When they were refinanced four years later at a lower rate, money was refunded to Jay Schools.
A total of $750,000 from the school capital projects fund will also be used toward the second gym, with no bonds issued.
The second gym was originally proposed as part of a major project completed last year, but was eliminated as a cost-saving measure. Eliminating the gym and other items trimmed the total cost to $18 million from more than $25 million.
Several years ago, the board met public resistance when it attempted to bond for a $4 million gym project, and abandoned those plans temporarily when faced with a petition drive.
A total reconstruction of the tennis courts at the high school will begin as soon as the girls tennis season is completed in mid-May. That work, which will be done by Lica Construction Corp., Berne, will be at a cost of $293,692.15. It will include the tearing up of the current surface, replacing all exterior fencing, and new lighting. Construction is projected to last 35-40 days.
Also this summer will be a complete heating and cooling upgrade at Bloomfield, which is currently cooled by individual units in only some of the classrooms.
That work, at a cost of $282,783, will be done by Lehman's Mechanical Inc, Anderson. That firm is also a subcontractor on the gym project.
The roofing project at West Jay will be done by Love Contractors, Gaston, for a contract of $186,000.
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