June 13, 2017 at 3:10 a.m.
Board looks at options
Jay School Board
Board looks at options
Copyright 2017, The Commercial Review
All Rights Reserved
If Judge Haynes Elementary School is closed in 2018, what will have to be done to East and General Shanks elementaries to accommodate those students?
Jay School Board members began to ponder the options Monday night.
“Options, that’s the word I want to stress,” said superintendent Jeremy Gulley.
Though CSO Architects had sketched out some plans three years ago, Gulley wanted a second set of eyes on the problem and turned to the firm of Barton-Coe-Vilamaa of Fort Wayne.
“This is just a place to start the conversation,” said Dana Wannemacher, the architectural firm’s president.
Gulley, noting that the decision-making process will take the next several months, told the board it’s faced with five different options:
•Convert East to a kindergarten through second grade school and Shanks to a grade three through grade five facility.
•Make the same division of the elementary grades but put the lower grades at Shanks and the three through five students at East.
•Keep both buildings as kindergarten through grade five schools and make adjustments to the structures as needed.
•Keep both as kindergarten through grade five schools and make no physical adjustments to the buildings.
•Keep Judge Haynes open or simply defer the decision.
“I think we need to narrow those options,” said Gulley.
Factors such as class size, transportation issues, costs of renovations, noise, restrooms and the physical limitations of East and Shanks will come into play and shape the decision.
“We’re going to have to look at our debt level,” he said, since there would be capital costs involved in re-working the buildings. Also there’s the question “how much truly will be saved by closing Haynes?”
Wannemacher walked the board through some preliminary drawings and cost estimates for a kindergarten through second grade East building and a third through fifth grade Shanks.
He said it should be possible to modify East to create 18 classrooms for kindergarten through second grade, with the cost primarily dependent upon whether the open concept core of the school would be blocked off with dividers or whether new stud walls would be built for a better sound barrier. Partial walls would cost between $300,000 and $400,000, he estimated, while full height walls would bring the cost up to between $650,000 and $800,000. Additional work on ceilings, lights and electrical fixtures could cost another $350,000 to $600,000 depending upon the scope of the work. Flooring could cost between $125,000 and $250,000, again depending upon the scope.
In addition, because lower elementary grades usually involve more parental drop-off and pick-up of students, reconfiguration and expansion of the parking area at East would cost another $60,000.
General Shanks would require far less work and far less expense to accommodate 15 classrooms for grades three through five. Additional restrooms would cost $30,000 to $40,000, Wannemacher estimated. Ceilings through the building could run $225,000, and flooring another $200,000. Parking lot and driveway work at the school could cost $120,000.
Neither of the buildings would have space for pre-school under the new configuration. Pre-school space at the high school would have to be expanded to accommodate that program.
Wannemacher estimated that in the unlikely contingency that Jay Schools enrollment shoots up it would be feasible to build a four classroom addition to the north end of Shanks or the south side of East. In either case, such an addition is estimated to cost $1 million.
Those numbers are significantly lower than the estimates provided by CSO three years ago.
“This lets us see something we haven’t seen before,” said Gulley, stressing that committees of teachers are being formed to provide input and parent committees will be formed this summer.
“There will be no perfect option,” Gulley said.
“I agree with you none of them are perfect,” said board member Phil Ford. “But that’s the way decisions have to be made.”
Gulley has set a December deadline for a board decision on the future of Haynes, noting that if the board takes action then the work could be completed at East and Shanks by the fall of 2018.
“That’s a lot of work, Jeremy,” said board member Ron Laux.
“It has been a lot of work (already),” Gulley responded. “We will not rush to a bad decision.”
In other business, the board:
•Approved a new agreement with Area 18 Career and Technical Education.
•Approved shifting property casualty and workers’ compensation insurance to Educational Service Centers Risk Funding Trust, a consortium of Indiana school corporations. The move will save $48,825 per year, deductibles are lower and coverage is better than the school corporation’s current insurance.
•Adopted new cell phone policies for Jay County High School and both middle schools. The new policy for high school students specifies cell phones “will remain in the student’s locker during class, except when granted permission by the classroom teacher to use them for educational purposes.” That policy extends to all electronic devices except those approved for the BYOD (bring your own device) program. The new policy for middle school students requires all such devices other than the BYOD-approved device to be in lockers and silenced or turned off during school hours.
•Approved textbook rentals and fees for West Jay and East Jay middle schools for the 2017-18 school year.
•Hired Alicia Degler as a secretary at Judge Haynes.
•Transferred Amanda Burcham from instructional assistant to latchkey supervisor and Joe Fennig from instructional assistant to secretary at East Jay.
•Accepted the resignation of bus driver Michael Thurston.
•Contracted with Signature Therapy Services for occupational therapy in the next school year.
•Approved extracurricular assignments for Caleb Hummel as robotics sponsor at JCHS, Linda Lowe as Just Say No sponsor at East and Doug Johnson as cross country coach at East Jay.
•Accepted the extracurricular resignations of Krista Wellman as JCHS assistant swim coach, Valerie Jutte as boys’ basketball coach at East, Kendra Stouder as boys basketball coach at Redkey Elementary School, Jenny Gibson as intramurals coach at Redkey and Kathy Nelson as sponsor of honor society and Just Say No at West Jay.
•Authorized trips by the West Jay archery team to world competition in Orlando, Florida, and a group of JCHS students to Ireland and England.
•Reviewed roof repair and building maintenance reports from business manager Brad DeRome and Mark Myers.
•Agreed to pay for newly required extended background checks for all school corporation employees. New state law requires such checks every five years on an ongoing basis. New hires will be required to pay for their first background check, but subsequent checks will be at the expense of the school corporation. The checks currently cost $21.95 each, and Gulley estimated the expense for all employees at about $10,000.
•Authorized Gulley to file an unused building waiver application form with the Indiana Department of Education for the Pennville Elementary School building.
All Rights Reserved
If Judge Haynes Elementary School is closed in 2018, what will have to be done to East and General Shanks elementaries to accommodate those students?
Jay School Board members began to ponder the options Monday night.
“Options, that’s the word I want to stress,” said superintendent Jeremy Gulley.
Though CSO Architects had sketched out some plans three years ago, Gulley wanted a second set of eyes on the problem and turned to the firm of Barton-Coe-Vilamaa of Fort Wayne.
“This is just a place to start the conversation,” said Dana Wannemacher, the architectural firm’s president.
Gulley, noting that the decision-making process will take the next several months, told the board it’s faced with five different options:
•Convert East to a kindergarten through second grade school and Shanks to a grade three through grade five facility.
•Make the same division of the elementary grades but put the lower grades at Shanks and the three through five students at East.
•Keep both buildings as kindergarten through grade five schools and make adjustments to the structures as needed.
•Keep both as kindergarten through grade five schools and make no physical adjustments to the buildings.
•Keep Judge Haynes open or simply defer the decision.
“I think we need to narrow those options,” said Gulley.
Factors such as class size, transportation issues, costs of renovations, noise, restrooms and the physical limitations of East and Shanks will come into play and shape the decision.
“We’re going to have to look at our debt level,” he said, since there would be capital costs involved in re-working the buildings. Also there’s the question “how much truly will be saved by closing Haynes?”
Wannemacher walked the board through some preliminary drawings and cost estimates for a kindergarten through second grade East building and a third through fifth grade Shanks.
He said it should be possible to modify East to create 18 classrooms for kindergarten through second grade, with the cost primarily dependent upon whether the open concept core of the school would be blocked off with dividers or whether new stud walls would be built for a better sound barrier. Partial walls would cost between $300,000 and $400,000, he estimated, while full height walls would bring the cost up to between $650,000 and $800,000. Additional work on ceilings, lights and electrical fixtures could cost another $350,000 to $600,000 depending upon the scope of the work. Flooring could cost between $125,000 and $250,000, again depending upon the scope.
In addition, because lower elementary grades usually involve more parental drop-off and pick-up of students, reconfiguration and expansion of the parking area at East would cost another $60,000.
General Shanks would require far less work and far less expense to accommodate 15 classrooms for grades three through five. Additional restrooms would cost $30,000 to $40,000, Wannemacher estimated. Ceilings through the building could run $225,000, and flooring another $200,000. Parking lot and driveway work at the school could cost $120,000.
Neither of the buildings would have space for pre-school under the new configuration. Pre-school space at the high school would have to be expanded to accommodate that program.
Wannemacher estimated that in the unlikely contingency that Jay Schools enrollment shoots up it would be feasible to build a four classroom addition to the north end of Shanks or the south side of East. In either case, such an addition is estimated to cost $1 million.
Those numbers are significantly lower than the estimates provided by CSO three years ago.
“This lets us see something we haven’t seen before,” said Gulley, stressing that committees of teachers are being formed to provide input and parent committees will be formed this summer.
“There will be no perfect option,” Gulley said.
“I agree with you none of them are perfect,” said board member Phil Ford. “But that’s the way decisions have to be made.”
Gulley has set a December deadline for a board decision on the future of Haynes, noting that if the board takes action then the work could be completed at East and Shanks by the fall of 2018.
“That’s a lot of work, Jeremy,” said board member Ron Laux.
“It has been a lot of work (already),” Gulley responded. “We will not rush to a bad decision.”
In other business, the board:
•Approved a new agreement with Area 18 Career and Technical Education.
•Approved shifting property casualty and workers’ compensation insurance to Educational Service Centers Risk Funding Trust, a consortium of Indiana school corporations. The move will save $48,825 per year, deductibles are lower and coverage is better than the school corporation’s current insurance.
•Adopted new cell phone policies for Jay County High School and both middle schools. The new policy for high school students specifies cell phones “will remain in the student’s locker during class, except when granted permission by the classroom teacher to use them for educational purposes.” That policy extends to all electronic devices except those approved for the BYOD (bring your own device) program. The new policy for middle school students requires all such devices other than the BYOD-approved device to be in lockers and silenced or turned off during school hours.
•Approved textbook rentals and fees for West Jay and East Jay middle schools for the 2017-18 school year.
•Hired Alicia Degler as a secretary at Judge Haynes.
•Transferred Amanda Burcham from instructional assistant to latchkey supervisor and Joe Fennig from instructional assistant to secretary at East Jay.
•Accepted the resignation of bus driver Michael Thurston.
•Contracted with Signature Therapy Services for occupational therapy in the next school year.
•Approved extracurricular assignments for Caleb Hummel as robotics sponsor at JCHS, Linda Lowe as Just Say No sponsor at East and Doug Johnson as cross country coach at East Jay.
•Accepted the extracurricular resignations of Krista Wellman as JCHS assistant swim coach, Valerie Jutte as boys’ basketball coach at East, Kendra Stouder as boys basketball coach at Redkey Elementary School, Jenny Gibson as intramurals coach at Redkey and Kathy Nelson as sponsor of honor society and Just Say No at West Jay.
•Authorized trips by the West Jay archery team to world competition in Orlando, Florida, and a group of JCHS students to Ireland and England.
•Reviewed roof repair and building maintenance reports from business manager Brad DeRome and Mark Myers.
•Agreed to pay for newly required extended background checks for all school corporation employees. New state law requires such checks every five years on an ongoing basis. New hires will be required to pay for their first background check, but subsequent checks will be at the expense of the school corporation. The checks currently cost $21.95 each, and Gulley estimated the expense for all employees at about $10,000.
•Authorized Gulley to file an unused building waiver application form with the Indiana Department of Education for the Pennville Elementary School building.
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