Shifting to digital

BERNE — Parents of South Adams students will be able to register their children online next year, cutting down on the piles of paperwork they have to fill out at the start of each school year.  

At its Tuesday meeting, South Adams School Board approved the purchase of software to allow parents to register students online.

Board members also approved a resolution that would cancel the existing Area 18 agreement and replace it with an amended agreement.

Each year South Adams hosts one school registration day for all students. Parents must come during that time to register their children, including filling out a packet of paperwork for each student, renting textbooks, signing up for athletics or other clubs and paying for food services. 

“Needless to say, this is kind of overwhelming,” said Myra Moore, the school’s technology director. 

Her committee discussed the possibility of making the day more streamlined and cutting back on the forms parents fill out. However, one suggestion stuck out as the most convenient: allowing families to register online. 

The software would be purchased from PowerSchool, which South Adams already uses for other programs. It costs $12,630 for the first year and then $7,950 each following year. Moore told the board she was offered a 20-percent discount if the school ordered before the end of September, bringing the cost down to $10,500 for the first year and $6,360 for the following years. 

Those who don’t wish to register online, such as the school’s Amish families and those without access to a computer, would still be able to and register in person, Moore said, as the school would keep its annual registration day. But online registration would offer more options to parents and make it easier for them to fill out the paperwork on their own time. 

It would also save time for school staff, who currently spend a week printing off forms prior to registration day and then two weeks following entering all the information into each student’s PowerSchool account. 

The board agreed the program would be useful, and voted to purchase it using money from the rainy day fund’s technology allocation. 

Board members Arlene Amstutz, John Mann, Landon Patterson, John Buckingham, Amy Orr and Mitch Sprunger, absent Julie Mansfield, also approved a resolution to amend the Area 18 agreement. 

Area 18 is a cooperative between Jay, South Adams, Blackford, Southern Wells, Adams Central, Bluffton-Harrison, North Adams (Bellmont), Northern Wells (Norwell) and Huntington schools to provide career and technical education to students. 

Last year, some Area 18 superintendents wanted to amend the agreement to stipulate that participating schools not be allowed to provide transportation into other school districts for transfer students. That vote was not unanimous, so the Indiana Department of Education advised Area 18 members it instead needed to vote to cancel the current agreement and implement a new agreement. 

Superintendent Scott Litwiller recommended that the board approve the resolution to cancel the agreement and accept the new version. The other option was to approve a resolution saying it wanted the current agreement to stay in place. Either decision would be reasonable, he said. 

“At this point, I don’t see a pitfall either way,” Litwiller said. “The No. 1 recommendation is that South Adams continue to be a participating member of Area 18.” 

He said that while amending the agreement will likely not end up dissolving Area 18 or prompting schools to drop out of the agreement, even if that did happen South Adams would retain its good relationships with surrounding schools. 

The board approved the resolution to cancel the agreement and accept the new version. Other school boards will also vote on the resolution, and if it passes with a majority it will go to the Indiana Department of Education for review.

Also at the meeting, the board presented its proposed 2019 budget for a public hearing. As no one made any comment, the $16,477,467 proposed budget is expected to be voted on at the Oct. 9 meeting. The 2018 budget was certified at $16.33 million by the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.

In other business, board members: 

•Were informed that South Adams enrollment as of Sept. 6 was 1,219 students. 

•Received an update on the school’s fund through the Adams County Community Foundation. Four years ago, the school created accounts with the foundation for community members to donate to different programs and projects at the school. The school has received $256,818 in donations since 2014, and has spent $110,386 on athletic facilities. 

The board also heard that South Adams has received $11,350 in grants from Adams County Community Foundation in the past year. 

•Had its first reading of eight school policy updates. Most are routine updates suggested by the state. One policy provides guidance on the use of hand-held metal detectors, which the school recently obtained from the state. School officials and law enforcement can use the detectors both to check specific individuals if there is suspicion or cause for concern and to search students at random non-discriminatorily. 

Another school policy dictates that school trips taking students out of the school corporation overnight or longer or that take them out of state will require approval by the board. Trips that are part of a regular season or an extended season — such as sectional games or state finals — are exempted. 

•OK’d the purchase of two 78-passenger school buses from IC/Collins for $89,837 each. The buses will be ordered under the 2018 prices but will be paid for out of the 2019 budget and delivered next year. 

•Were informed that school employees will have a 5-percent increase to their insurance premium rates. 

•Affirmed the existing policy adopted in 2017 that lays out the distribution of teacher appreciation grants. Teachers who are rated as effective or highly effective receive a cash stipend. 

•Approved a teacher evaluation policy, which was updated to reflect DOE standards. Litwiller was informed that the school needed to evaluate fourth through eighth grade language art and math teachers using students’ ISTEP scores. For teachers in that category, these scores account for 11 percent of their evaluation. 

•Set the fee for driver’s education for South Adams students at $330, up from $320 last year. The fee is $380 for non-South Adams students. 

•Approved a RISQ agreement for out-of-school suspensions. Students in middle or high school who receive out-of-school suspensions attend the alternative program, which focuses on completing homework and performing community service. Litwiller said the school typically spends between $8,000 and $9,000 per year on the program. 

•Accepted donations of $500 from Berne Ready-Mix for the Lifeskills class in memory of Jim Zerby, $500 from an anonymous donor for the fifth grade camping trip and $225 for a Buddy Bench from school psychologist Mike Brockley. 

•Learned the book fair will take place from Sept. 24 to 28 in the elementary/middle school library. 

•Accepted the resignations of Elizabeth Graber and Hannah Clines as special education aides and Ashley Fosnaugh as a middle school swim coach. 

•Hired Jenna Moreo as part-time middle school Title I aide; Susie Amstutz, Michael Baer, Julie Baumer, Emily Cook, Alissa Goldsworthy and Diane McClung as migrant tutors; Tina Miller and Jane Miller as high school after-school tutors; Michael Baer, Cindy Sprunger and Jeff Bradtmiller as middle school after-school study table tutors; Amie Parrish as a student specific aide for an elementary school student; Rusty Fights as a part-time student custodian; and Nikki Yunker and Ashley Pugsley as special education aides.