Jay teachers get raises

Jay County teachers will receive a raise.
Jay School Board approved a contract for the 2016-17 school year that includes a raise of up to $2,000 for most teachers. Jay Classroom Teachers Association had approved the contract earlier in the day.
The board also got an update on the bond refinancing process, discussed potential upgrades to the girls locker rooms at Jay County High School and approved its 2017 budget.
The contract with teachers includes a base-salary raise of up to $2,000 for teachers who are rated highly effective or effective. The raise is more than three times what teachers received in 2015-16 ($600) and is at least double any raise teachers have received in the last five years.
The contract, which was required to be complete by Sept. 30, also includes adjustments to the amounts the school corporation contributes toward single ($7,000) and family ($16,000) health plans, the date of payments into benefit plans and the base salary for which extracurricular pay is based. It calls for a joint committee to be formed to review how the “sick bank” is being used.
JCTA and the school corporation also reached a compromise on an issue that was an area of contention in the 2013-14 contract that went all the way to Indiana Supreme Court. The court had ruled in favor of the corporation, which included a provision that allowed the superintendent to set the pay scale for any teacher hired after the start of the school year.
In the 2016-17 contract, the corporation agreed that the superintendent will consult with JCTA before making such a placement.
JCTA president Paul Szymczak referred to that change as a “good-faith gesture.”
“The atmosphere was different this year,” he added of the contract contract process as a whole. “It was just a very streamlined negotiation.
“We did a lot of the legwork ahead of time before we actually met as two groups, which helped out a lot. We were all kind of on the same page. It was just a really good process.”
“I thought the process went really well,” agreed interim superintendent Brad DeRome. “We came up with an agreement that we thought each side could live with.”
Mike Therber of financial firm Therber and Brock, Indianapolis, updated the board about the process of refinancing $17.8 million worth of debt from 2006 bonds.
He told the board he expects that by refinancing the corporation could get an interest rate of about 2 percent, down from the current rate of 4.1 percent. That reduction would lead to significant savings for Jay Schools, which plans to set aside $1 million for upgrades, with the remainder, estimated at $800,000, used to reduce debt.
Board members Kristi Betts, Ron Laux, Greg Wellman, Beth Krieg, Mike Shannon, Cory Gundrum and Tammy Bennett voted to allow the refinancing process to proceed.
One of the projects that $1 million could go to is renovated the girls locker rooms at JCHS, an issue that was brought to the board last month by senior volleyball player Abby Barcus. The girls locker rooms have not had significant upgrades since the school opened in 1975 while the boys locker rooms on the opposite side of the gym were renovated as part of a larger project about a decade ago.
Having met with a group of female athletes, JCHS principal Chad Dodd, JCHS athletics director Steve Boozier and architects from Barton-Coe-Vilamaa, DeRome presented the board with two potential plans for renovations to the girls locker rooms on the east side of the gym. A price tag for such a project has not yet been determined.
“There’s not a one of you who would say it’s not time to do. I assure you of that,” said DeRome, offering to take any board member interested on a tour of the locker rooms. “It would be a huge upgrade for our young ladies who participate in PE as well as sports.”
Other projects planned include paving, replacing bleachers and fixing the roof at JCHS, replacing bleachers and East Jay and West Jay middle schools and paving and fixing the roof at Bloomfield Elementary.
The board voted 6-1 to move ahead with Barton-Coe-Villamaa, which handled design for the last major renovation at JCHS, with plans for the locker rooms. Wellman cast the dissenting vote, saying after the meeting that he is for the process but was not pleased with the work Barton-Coe-Villamaa did previously.
The board also approved the school corporation’s 2017 budget without comment. The budget came in at $36.6 million, which is up about $735,000 from 2016. It includes just over $25 million in spending from the general fund.
DeRome noted that the Jay Schools’ enrollment on Indiana’s official count day Friday was 3,380 students, which is down 45 from the February count. He noted that the numbers is 11 fewer than had been forecast in the budget numbers, which could lead to a decrease in state funding.
In other business, the board:
•Approved leaves of absence for General Shanks principal Julie Gregg, elementary school instructional assistant Betty Harris, JCHS English teacher Megan Byard and bus driver Sharon Pyle. Also approved Brittany Kloer as a long-term substitute in place of Gregg and Colton Prescott to fill Kloer’s role as an agriculture teacher at JCHS.
•Heard from DeRome that facility usage contracts with Jay Community Center and West Jay Community Center are still in the works.
•Hired teachers Katie Berno (General Shanks special education), Paul Hyatt (JCHS social studies), Julie Kable (Pennville Elementary special education and ESL) and Margaret Mauger (JCHS business), and guidance counselor Mika Cupp (WJMS).
•Accepted the resignations of JCHS boys golf assistant coach Brad Horn, Redkey basketball coach Jenny Gibson and food service employee Melissa Bantz.
•Approved extracurricular assignments for Diana Hill (Westlawn boys basketball coach), Dru Mercer (Redkey Just Say No sponsor), Kris Wolford (Pennville Just Say No sponsor), Tom Leonhard (JCHS boys track assistant coach), Susan Denney (JCHS musical director), Cathy Franks (Redkey student council sponsor), Jenny Outcalt (Redkey yearbook sponsor) and Kendra Stouder (Redkey boys basketball coach).
•Accepted donations of $522 through DonorsChoose.org to Pennville Elementary for Chromebook purchases.
•Were reminded that there is a Indiana State School Board Association regional meeting Oct. 12  in Hagerstown.
•Approved field trips for JCHS theatre students Oct. 13 through 16 to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada, and high school FFA students to the state soils evaluation Oct. 13 through 15 in Marshall County.