School board gives approval

The teacher contract and budget are both approved.

Next up will be the 2021-22 calendar.

Jay School Board on Monday approved its 2020-21 contract with Jay Classroom Teachers Association and 2021 budget in addition to its three-year capital improvement plan, bus replacement plan and a $5 increase for substitute teachers.

The teacher contract, which the teachers association approved Friday, calls for a 4% raise — an average of $2,012 — as well as a pay rate of $70 for teachers who teach extracurricular events at Jay County High School. (The raise would be reduced to 2% if virtual students are not fully funded by the state.)

The raise is the largest for Jay County teachers since they received an increase of up to $2,000 in 2016-17. Teachers got a 3.5% raise last year.

Prior to the board’s vote, teachers association president Paul Szymczak recalled the 2013-14 contract process that went all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court, saying he’s pleased with the way the board and JCTA have worked together in recent years.

“I thought about how far we had come from then to now …” he said. “I just wanted to, on behalf of the teachers association, thank the board, not just for the bargaining session … but all the other work that has been done on behalf of Jay Schools, the students, the teachers, all the support staff. … I appreciate all of the work that has been done by this board to get us to where we are.”

Next year’s budget was approved at just over $39 million — $21.8 million in the education fund; $10.4 million in the operation fund; $5.4 million in the debt service fund; $895,468 in the school pension debt fund and $500,000 in the rainy day fund. The projected tax rate for the school corporation is $1.65 per $100 of assessed value.

Business manager Tarinna Morris reported that she is projecting a positive cash flow of $1.13 million in the education fund at the end of the year. That would bring the corporation to a year-end balance of $3.71 million. It was below $1.5 million at the end of 2017.

The capital projects plan 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 kitchen in 2022 and $200,000 for parking lot work in 2023. The corporation plans to buy seven new buses in 2021, seven in 2022, three in 2023, three in 2024 and seven in 2025.

The board also approved a request from superintendent Jeremy Gulley to increase the pay rate for non-certified substitute teachers by $5 to $75 per day and to authorize him to hire three permanent substitutes at a rate of $80 per day. He noted that schools are struggling to find subs, saying the corporation has 35 substitutes this year compared to 57 in 2019-20.

Board members Phil Ford, Mike Shannon, Donna Geesaman, Chris Snow and Jason Phillips, absent Ron Laux and Krista Muhlenkamp, unanimously approved the contract, budget, capital improvement plan, bus replacement plan and substitute pay increase.

Gulley also presented the board with a first draft of the corporation’s 2021-22 calendar, which he projects will return to a mid-August start day with a mid-May finish. (The start of classes was delayed until after Labor Day this year in response to the coronavirus pandemic.) The current version of the calendar calls for the first day Aug. 12, fall break from Oct. 20 through 22, winter break from Dec. 23 through Jan. 3, spring break from March 21 through 25 and the end of school on May 23.

One change Gulley said he is looking at is eliminating built-in snow days, which he said no longer seem necessary with the ability to implement e-learning during inclement weather. Those days may be removed, allowing for breaks to be extended and/or school to let out earlier.

The board will review the schedule with plans to vote on it at the Nov. 16 meeting.

In other business, the board:

•Watched a demonstration of virtual learning from Bloomfield Elementary School fifth grade teacher Kristen Gibson during the Patriot Pride moment. She demonstrated how students can access assignments and take part in class virtually, and Gulley asked students questions about their virtual learning experiences.

•Approved the following: an agreement with Applied Technology Group of the installation and operation of a new phone system at Bloomfield Elementary School; for Morris to get quotes for a corporation mini van to replace the current vehicle that was purchased in 2007; policy updates on topics including committees, executive sessions, student records and graduation requirements; the hiring of Amanda Davis as a bus aide; the retirement of virtual special education teacher Debora Funk; leaves of absence for teacher Chris Krieg and bus driver Rick Current; extracurricular assignments for Jacquelin Analco (e-sports and ASL club sponsor), Katie Lyons (FFA advisor), Nick Leonhard (assistant wrestling coach), Jason Fosnaugh (freshman football coach) and Bill Saxman (seventh grade football coach).

•Accepted a $161,775,61 Center for Excellence in Leadership of Learning grant through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund for the implementation of virtual learning technology (see related story later this week) and a $3,000 grant from The Portland Foundation for Jay County Robotics to purchase equipment.

•Accepted the resignations of instructional assistants Kay LeMaster and Courtnie Darr and elementary intramural coach Bart Brandenburg.