May 15, 2018 at 5:01 p.m.
Focused on safety
School board to allow access to firearms
Focused on safety
Ninety days.
That’s how much time has passed since 17 students were killed and 15 wounded in a 5-minute span at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
And that’s how long it took for Jay Schools to set in place the last piece of its nine-part security plan.
School board members approved policy changes Monday that will allow screened, trained, volunteer staff members to access firearms secured in a biometric-controlled safe in the event of a school shooting incident.
“It’s sensible, it’s responsible and it does not reflect the risks associated with arming teachers in the classroom,” said superintendent Jeremy Gulley, who drafted the school corporation’s multi-faceted response in the wake of the Parkland shootings.
“Those kids were helpless,” he said. “Our kids will not be helpless.”
Other aspects of Gulley’s plan adopted by the board:
•The creation of a school safety commission involving law enforcement, educators and the community at large.
•An active shooter exercise at Jay County High School conducted last week.
•Increased staff training.
•Including law enforcement in developing remodeling plans for East and General Shanks elementary schools.
•A thorough review of individual school safety plans.
•An architectural assessment of building security and vulnerabilities.
•A threat assessment program in conjunction with the organization Sandy Hook Promise.
•An increased emphasis on mental health counseling.
Those have all been put in motion.
The final piece — increased armed security — will involve working with the county to have a full-time school resource officer at JCHS and Monday’s action by the board.
“Response time is a reality for us,” said Gulley.
That’s how much time has passed since 17 students were killed and 15 wounded in a 5-minute span at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
And that’s how long it took for Jay Schools to set in place the last piece of its nine-part security plan.
School board members approved policy changes Monday that will allow screened, trained, volunteer staff members to access firearms secured in a biometric-controlled safe in the event of a school shooting incident.
“It’s sensible, it’s responsible and it does not reflect the risks associated with arming teachers in the classroom,” said superintendent Jeremy Gulley, who drafted the school corporation’s multi-faceted response in the wake of the Parkland shootings.
“Those kids were helpless,” he said. “Our kids will not be helpless.”
Other aspects of Gulley’s plan adopted by the board:
•The creation of a school safety commission involving law enforcement, educators and the community at large.
•An active shooter exercise at Jay County High School conducted last week.
•Increased staff training.
•Including law enforcement in developing remodeling plans for East and General Shanks elementary schools.
•A thorough review of individual school safety plans.
•An architectural assessment of building security and vulnerabilities.
•A threat assessment program in conjunction with the organization Sandy Hook Promise.
•An increased emphasis on mental health counseling.
Those have all been put in motion.
The final piece — increased armed security — will involve working with the county to have a full-time school resource officer at JCHS and Monday’s action by the board.
“Response time is a reality for us,” said Gulley.
Under the policy changes approved Monday, staff members who volunteer, are screened psychologically, undergo at least 26 hours of training and are approved by the board would be able to carry a firearm on school property. Specifically, they would have access to firearms held in a safe with biometric controls.
Those individuals would have to be approved by board action, but their identities would be included in the school corporation’s security plan, making those identities confidential. That would create an added layer of uncertainty for any potential school shooter.
“We tried to find sensible middle ground to a very real threat,” said Gulley.
The board’s 6-0 action on Gulley’s proposal, with board member Beth Krieg absent, came after a screening of a video detailing the sequence of events in the Parkland shooting.
“We need to prevent these things. … We have to harden our schools. .. And then lastly, the unavoidable reality is response time,” said Gulley.
Ballistic resistant glass film has already been applied to all windows at JCHS. Gulley expects four more school buildings to receive the same treatment this summer.
“We’ve got mixed emotions about it,” admitted school board president Phil Ford. “But no school patron has contacted me about being opposed to this.”
In other business, board members:
•Approved the purchase of 24 Clevertouch 65-inch units for East Elementary School at a cost of $76,654.52. The units will replace “smartboards,” an earlier electronic replacement for whiteboards.
•Increased substitute teacher pay from $65 a day to $70 a day in an effort to be more competitive with area school districts.
•Approved the adoption of new JCHS textbooks for chemistry, family and consumer science and business classes.
•Approved the creation of an elementary student services coordinator position for East and Shanks. “I think we need to provide better counseling services and support services for our elementary-age students,” said Gulley. The post will be within the contract with the Jay Classroom Teachers Association.
•Noted that 2018-19 fees for preschool, latchkey and driver’s education will be unchanged.
•Approved a 10-cent increase in the price of school lunches.
•Noted that pay rates for after school tutoring and credit recovery will not change.
•Heard business manager Brad DeRome say that the corporation expects to end its calendar year in the black.
•Heard Gulley say, “There’s a very low likelihood of a reduction in force” on the part of teachers in the coming school year. “I am projecting no RIF.”
•Hired Rebecca Cloud as assistant JCHS band director and middle school band director.
•Approved the retirements of math teacher Carla Johnson and library instructional assistant Susan Glogas.
•Accepted the resignations of food service cook Mary Miller, special education teacher Sarah Jennings-Eppard, fourth grade teacher Dru Mercer and school psychologist Elizabeth Dennison.
•Approved leaves of absence for special education teacher Emily Knapke, instructional assistant Holly Knight, cook JoAnn Mock, second grade teacher Lauren Budde and fourth grade teacher Dru Mercer.
•Contracted for services with Curtis and Livers Consulting LLC, Rehabilitative Services and Crossing National Inc.
•Approved extracurricular assignments for Bill Back as assistant football coach, Amber Huelskamp as assistant girls’ track coach, Terry Robbins as freshman football coach, Caleb Hummel as robotics coach, Tom Leonhard as boys’ track coach, Chris Krieg as boys basketball coach at $9,000 per year through June 30, 2020, Kirk Comer as girls basketball coach at $9,000 per year through June 30, 2020, Tim Millspaugh as football coach at $9,000 per year through June 30, 2020, and Charles Wood as freshman football coach.
•Accepted the extracurricular resignations of seventh grade football coach Eric Myers and assistant seventh grade football coach Jeff Heller.
•Approved field trips by the JCHS animal science students, General Shanks fifth graders, East Jay Middle School eighth graders, JAG students, East Jay sixth graders, the JCHS girls’ basketball team, JCHS foreign language clubs, JCHS German 3 students, the West Jay Middle School newspaper staff and the archery teams from West Jay, East Jay and JCHS.
•Approved bus requests by The Rock church, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church’s youth organization, the Jay County summer swim team and Purdue Extension.
•Approved changes to elementary, middle school and high school student handbooks.
•Honored board member Kristi Betts for achieving master level board status from the Indiana School Boards Association.
Those individuals would have to be approved by board action, but their identities would be included in the school corporation’s security plan, making those identities confidential. That would create an added layer of uncertainty for any potential school shooter.
“We tried to find sensible middle ground to a very real threat,” said Gulley.
The board’s 6-0 action on Gulley’s proposal, with board member Beth Krieg absent, came after a screening of a video detailing the sequence of events in the Parkland shooting.
“We need to prevent these things. … We have to harden our schools. .. And then lastly, the unavoidable reality is response time,” said Gulley.
Ballistic resistant glass film has already been applied to all windows at JCHS. Gulley expects four more school buildings to receive the same treatment this summer.
“We’ve got mixed emotions about it,” admitted school board president Phil Ford. “But no school patron has contacted me about being opposed to this.”
In other business, board members:
•Approved the purchase of 24 Clevertouch 65-inch units for East Elementary School at a cost of $76,654.52. The units will replace “smartboards,” an earlier electronic replacement for whiteboards.
•Increased substitute teacher pay from $65 a day to $70 a day in an effort to be more competitive with area school districts.
•Approved the adoption of new JCHS textbooks for chemistry, family and consumer science and business classes.
•Approved the creation of an elementary student services coordinator position for East and Shanks. “I think we need to provide better counseling services and support services for our elementary-age students,” said Gulley. The post will be within the contract with the Jay Classroom Teachers Association.
•Noted that 2018-19 fees for preschool, latchkey and driver’s education will be unchanged.
•Approved a 10-cent increase in the price of school lunches.
•Noted that pay rates for after school tutoring and credit recovery will not change.
•Heard business manager Brad DeRome say that the corporation expects to end its calendar year in the black.
•Heard Gulley say, “There’s a very low likelihood of a reduction in force” on the part of teachers in the coming school year. “I am projecting no RIF.”
•Hired Rebecca Cloud as assistant JCHS band director and middle school band director.
•Approved the retirements of math teacher Carla Johnson and library instructional assistant Susan Glogas.
•Accepted the resignations of food service cook Mary Miller, special education teacher Sarah Jennings-Eppard, fourth grade teacher Dru Mercer and school psychologist Elizabeth Dennison.
•Approved leaves of absence for special education teacher Emily Knapke, instructional assistant Holly Knight, cook JoAnn Mock, second grade teacher Lauren Budde and fourth grade teacher Dru Mercer.
•Contracted for services with Curtis and Livers Consulting LLC, Rehabilitative Services and Crossing National Inc.
•Approved extracurricular assignments for Bill Back as assistant football coach, Amber Huelskamp as assistant girls’ track coach, Terry Robbins as freshman football coach, Caleb Hummel as robotics coach, Tom Leonhard as boys’ track coach, Chris Krieg as boys basketball coach at $9,000 per year through June 30, 2020, Kirk Comer as girls basketball coach at $9,000 per year through June 30, 2020, Tim Millspaugh as football coach at $9,000 per year through June 30, 2020, and Charles Wood as freshman football coach.
•Accepted the extracurricular resignations of seventh grade football coach Eric Myers and assistant seventh grade football coach Jeff Heller.
•Approved field trips by the JCHS animal science students, General Shanks fifth graders, East Jay Middle School eighth graders, JAG students, East Jay sixth graders, the JCHS girls’ basketball team, JCHS foreign language clubs, JCHS German 3 students, the West Jay Middle School newspaper staff and the archery teams from West Jay, East Jay and JCHS.
•Approved bus requests by The Rock church, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church’s youth organization, the Jay County summer swim team and Purdue Extension.
•Approved changes to elementary, middle school and high school student handbooks.
•Honored board member Kristi Betts for achieving master level board status from the Indiana School Boards Association.
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