February 14, 2018 at 7:07 p.m.
Renovation set to begin during March
SAHS work will start with former office area
BERNE — By next month, work on the 2018 phase of the South Adams High School renovation project will be underway.
South Adams School Board was updated again Tuesday on the renovation and other capital projects.
The board also heard from superintendent Scott Litwiller about the Area 18 agreement and tabled a decision on how to handle background checks.
Director of buildings and maintenance Dave Vorhees told board members Arlene Amstutz, John Mann, Julie Mansfield and Amy Orr, absent John Buckingham, Landon Patterson and Mitch Sprunger, that preparations have begun for the second phase of the high school renovation project. The first phase that included renovation of some of the classrooms around the media center and the creation of a new office area and secure entrance was completed in 2017, with the bulk of the work happening during the summer months.
The first part of the 2018 renovation work will involve the former the high school office, with construction there expected to start in March. The space will become the new intense intervention classroom.
Work on the remainder of the $1.5-million project, which includes renovation of the remaining classrooms around the media center, is slated to begin after the final day of school in May.
Vorhees also said plans call for repainting the elementary school gym during spring break in March. The high school gym will be repainted this summer.
Litwiller told the board that Indiana Department of Education has said it has no role in overseeing local agreements such as the Area 18 agreement that governs the cooperative between Jay, South Adams, Blackford, Southern Wells, Adams Central, Bluffton-Harrison, North Adams (Bellmont), Northern Wells (Norwell) and Huntington schools to provide a variety of career and technical education programs.
The board had been waiting since June for a DOE opinion before voting on changes to the agreement that would prevent any participating district from running regular bus routes into another district to pick up students.
The board took no action on the issue. The agreement is expected to come up at the next Area 18 board meeting, which is scheduled for March 14.
Board members also delayed their vote on the second reading of a policy regarding background checks.
The state is now requiring that a background check be done on all school employees at least once every five years. The board had decided to pay for the cost of the checks for regular employees, but is still considering how to handle substitutes.
Board members asked for more information about how many substitutes South Adams has and how frequently they work.
In other business, the board:
•Honored the middle school STEM Club as an example of excellence and congratulated Jerod Dailey and the high school’s precision machining program for being recognized as a program of excellence by the state association for career and technical education Feb. 8 in Indianapolis.
South Adams School Board was updated again Tuesday on the renovation and other capital projects.
The board also heard from superintendent Scott Litwiller about the Area 18 agreement and tabled a decision on how to handle background checks.
Director of buildings and maintenance Dave Vorhees told board members Arlene Amstutz, John Mann, Julie Mansfield and Amy Orr, absent John Buckingham, Landon Patterson and Mitch Sprunger, that preparations have begun for the second phase of the high school renovation project. The first phase that included renovation of some of the classrooms around the media center and the creation of a new office area and secure entrance was completed in 2017, with the bulk of the work happening during the summer months.
The first part of the 2018 renovation work will involve the former the high school office, with construction there expected to start in March. The space will become the new intense intervention classroom.
Work on the remainder of the $1.5-million project, which includes renovation of the remaining classrooms around the media center, is slated to begin after the final day of school in May.
Vorhees also said plans call for repainting the elementary school gym during spring break in March. The high school gym will be repainted this summer.
Litwiller told the board that Indiana Department of Education has said it has no role in overseeing local agreements such as the Area 18 agreement that governs the cooperative between Jay, South Adams, Blackford, Southern Wells, Adams Central, Bluffton-Harrison, North Adams (Bellmont), Northern Wells (Norwell) and Huntington schools to provide a variety of career and technical education programs.
The board had been waiting since June for a DOE opinion before voting on changes to the agreement that would prevent any participating district from running regular bus routes into another district to pick up students.
The board took no action on the issue. The agreement is expected to come up at the next Area 18 board meeting, which is scheduled for March 14.
Board members also delayed their vote on the second reading of a policy regarding background checks.
The state is now requiring that a background check be done on all school employees at least once every five years. The board had decided to pay for the cost of the checks for regular employees, but is still considering how to handle substitutes.
Board members asked for more information about how many substitutes South Adams has and how frequently they work.
In other business, the board:
•Honored the middle school STEM Club as an example of excellence and congratulated Jerod Dailey and the high school’s precision machining program for being recognized as a program of excellence by the state association for career and technical education Feb. 8 in Indianapolis.
•Heard Indiana’s Department of Local Government Finance certified South Adams’ 2018 budget at $16.3 million, slightly less than what the school board advertised at $16.5 million. The reduction came in the capital projects fund. The result is a tax rate of $1.03 per $100,000 of assessed value, which is up from $1 last year.
•Approved the 2018-19 high school course description guide, including the addition of a second-year fire and rescue course. Other changes included: adding animal science, advanced animal science and ag business management as dual credit courses; adding psychology; adding ethnic studies and Indiana studies; and phasing out world languages.
•Accepted the resignations of food service director Katie Redwine, effective at the end of the current school year, full-time special ed aide Corrine Bussel and part-time custodian Jennifer Toledo.
•Approved the transfer of Teresa Smith to become a full-time elementary school aide from her previous position as a part-time high school aide and the hiring of Erica Grush as a part-time high school aide, Sarah Kincer as a part-time custodian and Denise Habegger as the accompanist for the school musical. Also approved the following as ISTEP and IREAD bootcamp tutors: JD Keller, Kyle Sprunger, Kathy Bauman, Joni Bixler, Sandy Sprunger, Kristie Brown, Andrew Sommer, Laura Bergman, Jeff Bradtmiller, Jeannine Wurster, Erin Hubbard, Cindy Sprunger, Gwen Habegger and Brad Buckingham. Also approved spring coaches, including head coaches Brad Buckingham (baseball), Josh Hendrixson (boys golf), Clint Anderson (track), Jessie O’Dell (softball) and Josh Zurcher (girls tennis).
•OK’d the purchase of two new buses from IC/Collins at a total cost of $185,858.
•Approved an intermittent medical leave for Jodi Zerby.
•Heard from student representative Ethan Duff that the school will perform the musical “Bye Bye Birdie” on March 9 and 10.
•OK’d a field trip for middle school STEM students for March 8 and 9 to Indiana State University in Terre Haute for the Technology Student Association conference.
•Accepted an anonymous donation of $500 for the baseball program.
•Approved the 2018-19 high school course description guide, including the addition of a second-year fire and rescue course. Other changes included: adding animal science, advanced animal science and ag business management as dual credit courses; adding psychology; adding ethnic studies and Indiana studies; and phasing out world languages.
•Accepted the resignations of food service director Katie Redwine, effective at the end of the current school year, full-time special ed aide Corrine Bussel and part-time custodian Jennifer Toledo.
•Approved the transfer of Teresa Smith to become a full-time elementary school aide from her previous position as a part-time high school aide and the hiring of Erica Grush as a part-time high school aide, Sarah Kincer as a part-time custodian and Denise Habegger as the accompanist for the school musical. Also approved the following as ISTEP and IREAD bootcamp tutors: JD Keller, Kyle Sprunger, Kathy Bauman, Joni Bixler, Sandy Sprunger, Kristie Brown, Andrew Sommer, Laura Bergman, Jeff Bradtmiller, Jeannine Wurster, Erin Hubbard, Cindy Sprunger, Gwen Habegger and Brad Buckingham. Also approved spring coaches, including head coaches Brad Buckingham (baseball), Josh Hendrixson (boys golf), Clint Anderson (track), Jessie O’Dell (softball) and Josh Zurcher (girls tennis).
•OK’d the purchase of two new buses from IC/Collins at a total cost of $185,858.
•Approved an intermittent medical leave for Jodi Zerby.
•Heard from student representative Ethan Duff that the school will perform the musical “Bye Bye Birdie” on March 9 and 10.
•OK’d a field trip for middle school STEM students for March 8 and 9 to Indiana State University in Terre Haute for the Technology Student Association conference.
•Accepted an anonymous donation of $500 for the baseball program.
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