August 18, 2020 at 2:44 a.m.
Getting ready
Jay School Corporation is preparing for delayed start
Getting ready
Prepare and communicate.
Those are the focuses for Jay School Corporation as the delayed start of classes for the 2020-21 school year approaches, superintendent Jeremy Gulley told Jay School Board on Monday.
The board also gave business manager Tarinna Morris permission to advertise the 2021 budget.
Gulley said the decision to delay the start of school — classes were originally slated to begin Aug. 12 but the start date was moved to Sept. 9 — has allowed staff time to get ready and for the administration to observe what is happening as others open this month.
“We also need to have families prepare,” said Gulley.
To that end, the school corporation will be posting a variety of information — including graphics about at-home screening for COVID-19 and responses to “frequently asked questions” — on its website at jayschoolcorp.org.
Gulley also encouraged families to have a plan for a variety of situations. He noted one area district that had several bus routes unable to run because of drivers who either had positive tests for COVID-19 or had been in contact with someone who did. Information can change in a hurry, he noted.
“We will communicate quickly … but we can’t control when we get information,” he said.
Gulley added that it should not be a surprise if and when Jay Schools experiences cases of COVID-19.
“If COVID is in a community, it will be in a school,” he said, echoing the thoughts of state health commissioner Dr. Kristina Box.
The corporation’s plan, Gulley said, is to be transparent about is COVID-19 information. A “dashboard” will be placed on the website that will display COVID-19 data at the corporation level. It will show how many students and teachers are in isolation because of a positive test, have close contacts who are in quarantine and who have had a positive test and have been released from isolation.
Data will not be broken down by school because of privacy concerns.
Katie Clark, the corporation’s director of e-learning, gave board members Phil Ford, Ron Laux, Donna Geesaman, Jason Phillips and Krista Muhlenkamp, absent Chris Snow and Mike Shannon, a summary of how Jay Virtual School will operate this year. Thirteen percent of Jay Schools students chose the online-only option by the Aug. 7 deadline, up from 8% at the initial deadline in mid-July before Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb implemented a mask mandate.
Clark explained that nine classroom teachers and one special education teacher will handle kindergarten through sixth grade virtual classes full-time while teachers at the middle school and high school levels will split their time between in-person and virtual. Principals Rex Pinkerton (K-6) and Chad Dodd (7-12), who will also retain their roles leading Redkey Elementary School and Jay County Junior-Senior High School, respectively, will oversee the virtual learning.
Virtual students will use Google tools to communicate with teachers. Lessons are designed to be a mix of on-screen and off-screen work. The corporation is also piloting a program at the junior-senior high school that would allow students to livestream their classrooms from home.
Clark and technology coaches in each building are also preparing professional development lessons to help improve online learning.
Also Monday, Morris presented a 2021 budget estimate of $37,147,096, which would be down from this year’s $39,002,170. It includes $20.5 million in the education fund, $10.2 million in the operations fund, $5.03 million in debt service, $892,783 in school pension debt and $500,000 in the rainy day fund.
The corporation’s capital projects plan lays out projected work over a three-year span. It includes $200,000 for roof replacement each year, $250,000 for the Redkey Elementary School parking lot in 2022, $200,000 for the East Elementary School kitchen in 2022 and $200,000 for parking lot work in 2023.
The bus replacement plan calls for seven new buses in 2021 and 2022.
The budget and plans will be advertised both online and in local newspapers, with the public hearing to be held at the board’s Sept. 21 meeting.
In other business, the board:
•Accepted a $6,295 Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund grant of $6,295 from the Indiana Department of Education funded through the federal CARES Act for expenses related to virtual teaching
•Approved the hiring of Bloomfield Elementary School specials teacher Karen Huey, Bloomfield and East elementary technology instructional assistant Aundraya Steveson and bus aide Kelli Ridenour.
•Accepted the resignations of JCHS business teacher Steve Wickliffe, Westlawn sixth grade teacher Kaitlin Sunderland, elementary school instructional assistants Desiré Ballard and Denise Shannon, and bus drive Tracey VanSkyock.
•Heard from assistant superintendent Trent Paxson that new guidelines have been released for evaluating teachers who are working virtually. Administration plans to meet with Jay Classroom Teachers Association and have an agreement for approval next month.
Those are the focuses for Jay School Corporation as the delayed start of classes for the 2020-21 school year approaches, superintendent Jeremy Gulley told Jay School Board on Monday.
The board also gave business manager Tarinna Morris permission to advertise the 2021 budget.
Gulley said the decision to delay the start of school — classes were originally slated to begin Aug. 12 but the start date was moved to Sept. 9 — has allowed staff time to get ready and for the administration to observe what is happening as others open this month.
“We also need to have families prepare,” said Gulley.
To that end, the school corporation will be posting a variety of information — including graphics about at-home screening for COVID-19 and responses to “frequently asked questions” — on its website at jayschoolcorp.org.
Gulley also encouraged families to have a plan for a variety of situations. He noted one area district that had several bus routes unable to run because of drivers who either had positive tests for COVID-19 or had been in contact with someone who did. Information can change in a hurry, he noted.
“We will communicate quickly … but we can’t control when we get information,” he said.
Gulley added that it should not be a surprise if and when Jay Schools experiences cases of COVID-19.
“If COVID is in a community, it will be in a school,” he said, echoing the thoughts of state health commissioner Dr. Kristina Box.
The corporation’s plan, Gulley said, is to be transparent about is COVID-19 information. A “dashboard” will be placed on the website that will display COVID-19 data at the corporation level. It will show how many students and teachers are in isolation because of a positive test, have close contacts who are in quarantine and who have had a positive test and have been released from isolation.
Data will not be broken down by school because of privacy concerns.
Katie Clark, the corporation’s director of e-learning, gave board members Phil Ford, Ron Laux, Donna Geesaman, Jason Phillips and Krista Muhlenkamp, absent Chris Snow and Mike Shannon, a summary of how Jay Virtual School will operate this year. Thirteen percent of Jay Schools students chose the online-only option by the Aug. 7 deadline, up from 8% at the initial deadline in mid-July before Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb implemented a mask mandate.
Clark explained that nine classroom teachers and one special education teacher will handle kindergarten through sixth grade virtual classes full-time while teachers at the middle school and high school levels will split their time between in-person and virtual. Principals Rex Pinkerton (K-6) and Chad Dodd (7-12), who will also retain their roles leading Redkey Elementary School and Jay County Junior-Senior High School, respectively, will oversee the virtual learning.
Virtual students will use Google tools to communicate with teachers. Lessons are designed to be a mix of on-screen and off-screen work. The corporation is also piloting a program at the junior-senior high school that would allow students to livestream their classrooms from home.
Clark and technology coaches in each building are also preparing professional development lessons to help improve online learning.
Also Monday, Morris presented a 2021 budget estimate of $37,147,096, which would be down from this year’s $39,002,170. It includes $20.5 million in the education fund, $10.2 million in the operations fund, $5.03 million in debt service, $892,783 in school pension debt and $500,000 in the rainy day fund.
The corporation’s capital projects plan lays out projected work over a three-year span. It includes $200,000 for roof replacement each year, $250,000 for the Redkey Elementary School parking lot in 2022, $200,000 for the East Elementary School kitchen in 2022 and $200,000 for parking lot work in 2023.
The bus replacement plan calls for seven new buses in 2021 and 2022.
The budget and plans will be advertised both online and in local newspapers, with the public hearing to be held at the board’s Sept. 21 meeting.
In other business, the board:
•Accepted a $6,295 Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund grant of $6,295 from the Indiana Department of Education funded through the federal CARES Act for expenses related to virtual teaching
•Approved the hiring of Bloomfield Elementary School specials teacher Karen Huey, Bloomfield and East elementary technology instructional assistant Aundraya Steveson and bus aide Kelli Ridenour.
•Accepted the resignations of JCHS business teacher Steve Wickliffe, Westlawn sixth grade teacher Kaitlin Sunderland, elementary school instructional assistants Desiré Ballard and Denise Shannon, and bus drive Tracey VanSkyock.
•Heard from assistant superintendent Trent Paxson that new guidelines have been released for evaluating teachers who are working virtually. Administration plans to meet with Jay Classroom Teachers Association and have an agreement for approval next month.
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