Board passes 2015 budget

BERNE — The budget is ready for 2015. The calendar will wait another month.
South Adams School Board approved its 2015 budget Tuesday, but tabled discussion about both the 2015-16 school calendar and the possibility of adding a three-hour delay option in times of inclement weather.
The board also approved an agreement with the City of Berne for the Safe Routes to School Program and rejected bids for construction of a proposed bus wash bay.
Board members Arlene Amstutz, John Mann, Julie Mansfield, John Buckingham, Amy Orr, Landon Patterson and Ray Gill unanimously gave their final approval of the budget, which comes in at $15.3 million, including 9.3 million in the general fund. It is up slightly from last year’s total of $15.2 million.
While the budget passed with no comment, the board decided to continue considering options for next year’s calendar.
Administrators for South Adams, North Adams and Adams Central schools have been discussing the possibility of a change to the school calendar to create a week-long fall break, which would require starting the school year earlier, ending it later or shortening winter break. The schools, which along with Jay County seek to have matching calendars to accommodate vocational and special needs students, have traditionally had a three-day break in October.
A survey showed 63 percent of South Adams parents favor sticking with the current three-day break while a majority of teachers (76 percent) and support staff (83 percent) support either a two- or three-day break.
Board members said they’d like to follow the wishes of the parents and teachers, but Mann added that it’s important that whatever calendar is implemented is good for all three Adams County school corporations.
“I would like to see all three schools the same,” he said. “I understand a three-day is what we’ve been used to … but I don’t know what AC and North Adams are going to do.”
The survey also asked about the three-hour delay, with 70 percent of parents and 55 percent of teachers supporting the addition of the option. Support staff favored sticking with just the two-hour delay, 51 percent to 38 percent.
Mann and Gill were in favor of giving Litwiller the option of a three-hour delay in addition to the current two-hour delay, citing student safety as the key factor.
“It’s not a convenience issue. It’s a safety issue,” said Gill. “We have to deal with the safety of the children.”
Patterson and Mansfield expressed concerns about extending the school day by an hour, which would be required on days when a three-hour delay is implemented.
“I’m not a big fan of them getting home later than they already do,” said Patterson. “The younger the kids are, at the end of the day, they’re wiped out. They just need a little more time to wind down at the end of the day. It just shortens their home time a little bit.”
The board decided to take more time to consider both issues, but hopes to make a decision on the school calendar at its November meeting.
After hearing from Jay Stankiewicz, project manager for the Safe Routes to School program in Berne, the board gave permission for the city to construct sidewalks on school property. The longest stretch of new sidewalk, which will connect to those that already exist, will be on the south side of Parkway Street near the baseball field and tennis courts. Construction is expected to begin in May.
Board members rejected bids for the proposed bus wash bay because they came in well over the estimated $150,000 cost of the project. Bids from Limberlost Construction and Marquis Builders came in at $199,721 and $240,950 respectively.
Director of building and maintenance Dave Vorhees plans to review the bids and the specifications for the project to see where money could be saved, with plans to try again in 2015.
In other business, the board:
•Heard no comment during a public hearing on renewal of superintendent Scott Litwiller’s contract. The contract extension through 2019 calls for a base salary of $104,690.
The board scheduled a special meeting for 5 p.m. Tuesday to vote on approval of the contract and discuss goals for Litwiller.
It also renewed contracts of high school principal Trent Lehman, middle school principal Jeff Rich, elementary school principal Shelly Miller, athletics director Jason Arnold and Title I director Michelle Clouser through the 2015-16 school year, and approved 1.75-percent raises for classified staff to be paid in the one-time stipend.
•Approved on second and final reading revisions of school board policies. Changes include requiring coaches to have concussion and sudden cardiac arrest training, allowing students to be absent in order to attend Indiana State Fair if they or a family member have an exhibit and permitting firearms on school grounds if they remain concealed and locked in a vehicle.
Also approved on first reading a new policy that states “the board prohibits fundraising that involves games of chance that require the issuance of a license.”
•Re-appointed Julie Reef and Carolyn Fletcher to Berne Public Library Board for four-year terms.
•Accepted the resignation of Ben Wanner as middle school wrestling coach, and approved Family Medical Leave Act leaves for Ashley Light, Teri Walsh and Jamie Gerber.
•Approved overnight field trips for the FFA livestock judging team to the Hoosier Beef Congress Judging Contest Dec. 5 and 6 in Indianapolis; a group of high school biology students the week of June 1 to study marine biomes; Dots in Blue Water in June to Haiti; and the cross country teams to the Nov. 1 cross country state meet in Terre Haute.
•Accepted donations of a Ford Taurus ($2,800) from Moser Motors for the auto mechanics class, and $640 from the Rainbow Lake 5K and $500 from Muncie Ironman Foundation for the cross country teams.
•Hired Susan Snowden as a 19-hour custodian, Cindy Sprunger as a middle school tutor and Sally Morrison as a high school tutor. Also hired high school coaches Barry Humble (wrestling), Jim Marbach and Robert Loshe (assistant wrestling), Andy Brown (boys basketball), Larry Patterson (assistant boys basketball), Josh Hendrixson (junior varsity boys basketball), Josh Roby (freshman boys basketball), Brett Freeman (girls basketball), Morgan Mitchell (junior varsity girls basketball), Andy Lehman (swimming) and Jeannine Wurster and Taylor Turner (assistant swimming). And hired middle school coaches Isaac Werst (assistant wrestling), Corey LeMaster (eighth grade boys basketball), Don Foust (seventh grade boys basketball), Gregg Nussbaum (eighth grade girls basketball), Kim LeFever and Chad Grabau (seventh grade girls basketball), Steve Dellinger (middle school volunteer girls basketball) and Ashley Koons (swimming).