July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Building on SA agenda (02/20/07)
South Adams School Board
By By JACK RONALD-
BERNE - Construction of a new elementary and middle school at the South Adams campus could move a step closer to reality tonight.
The South Adams School Board will meet at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium to weigh the scope of the project before moving forward. A broad-based advisory community advisory committee is meeting at 5:30 p.m. to develop its recommendations.
School board members have been discussing the need to replace the aging middle school facility in Geneva and the outdated elementary school facility in Berne for several months.
If all goes as expected, the board will come away from tonight's meeting with an upper-end cost estimate on the project. A public hearing would then be scheduled for March, and construction bonds could be sold as soon as July.
Superintendent Cathy Egolf sought to spike rumors that the board planned to construct a new drive to the school campus off U.S. 27.
"We are not going to do it," she said, noting that the campus already has sufficient access from both the north and south from streets that intersect with U.S. 27.
At Monday's meeting, board members unanimously gave Egolf permission to pursue appraisals on a number of school properties which could be sold, including 26 acres of land at the site of an old football field and the current administrative office building.
Revenue from the sale of the properties could help reduce the amount of any construction bond issue.
The board also gave swift unanimous approval to Egolf's request that the South Adams campus be made tobacco-free. "I really appreciate you acting on it so quickly," Egolf said.
The superintendent noted she has been working on a drug testing policy for the high school which she will bring back to the board for action.
That policy and all other board policies will be discussed later this week with NEOLA, a legal consulting firm based in the Midwest which focuses on school-related issues.
Citing the negative impact on mathematics classes, the board agreed with the need to eliminate swimming as part of the physical education program for grades 4, 5, and 6.
In the past, those students have been bused from the middle school to the high school to use the pool during the last grading period of the year.
"When we get all (students) on one campus, I see that pool being used constantly," Egolf said. The high school pool will continue to be used for swimming classes at the elementary level.
In other business Monday, the board:
• Hired Nathan Houser as technical coordinator assistant. Houser, a resident of Bryant, is a graduate of Tri-State University and Jay County High School.
• Agreed to lease 52 computers from Apple over a three year period at a cost of about $73,000. Funds for the lease, which allows for a $1 buyout at the end of three years, were included in the school system's budget.
• Learned student management services software will be switched to a program called Power School next summer. The move is expected to make it much easier for students and parents to keep informed on grades and assignments.
• Approved the purchase of three Blue Bird school buses from low-bidder Cardinal Bus Sales, Greenfield, for $210,000. Four old Wayne buses will be traded in.
• Approved the use of dual class rankings for this year's seniors to clarify confusion related to the weighting of grades. At Egolf's request, the board will re-visit the grade-weighting issue in the future.
• Commended South Adams vocational and technical students who excelled in the recent regional vocational skills competition in Fort Wayne. Those advancing to the state competition include Justin Strader and Seth Huber in auto service technology, Wes Myers in precision machine technology, Craig Amstutz in milling technology, and Ben Dobler, Tiffany Miller, Breanna Amstutz, and Nicole Dyne in computer technology.[[In-content Ad]]
The South Adams School Board will meet at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium to weigh the scope of the project before moving forward. A broad-based advisory community advisory committee is meeting at 5:30 p.m. to develop its recommendations.
School board members have been discussing the need to replace the aging middle school facility in Geneva and the outdated elementary school facility in Berne for several months.
If all goes as expected, the board will come away from tonight's meeting with an upper-end cost estimate on the project. A public hearing would then be scheduled for March, and construction bonds could be sold as soon as July.
Superintendent Cathy Egolf sought to spike rumors that the board planned to construct a new drive to the school campus off U.S. 27.
"We are not going to do it," she said, noting that the campus already has sufficient access from both the north and south from streets that intersect with U.S. 27.
At Monday's meeting, board members unanimously gave Egolf permission to pursue appraisals on a number of school properties which could be sold, including 26 acres of land at the site of an old football field and the current administrative office building.
Revenue from the sale of the properties could help reduce the amount of any construction bond issue.
The board also gave swift unanimous approval to Egolf's request that the South Adams campus be made tobacco-free. "I really appreciate you acting on it so quickly," Egolf said.
The superintendent noted she has been working on a drug testing policy for the high school which she will bring back to the board for action.
That policy and all other board policies will be discussed later this week with NEOLA, a legal consulting firm based in the Midwest which focuses on school-related issues.
Citing the negative impact on mathematics classes, the board agreed with the need to eliminate swimming as part of the physical education program for grades 4, 5, and 6.
In the past, those students have been bused from the middle school to the high school to use the pool during the last grading period of the year.
"When we get all (students) on one campus, I see that pool being used constantly," Egolf said. The high school pool will continue to be used for swimming classes at the elementary level.
In other business Monday, the board:
• Hired Nathan Houser as technical coordinator assistant. Houser, a resident of Bryant, is a graduate of Tri-State University and Jay County High School.
• Agreed to lease 52 computers from Apple over a three year period at a cost of about $73,000. Funds for the lease, which allows for a $1 buyout at the end of three years, were included in the school system's budget.
• Learned student management services software will be switched to a program called Power School next summer. The move is expected to make it much easier for students and parents to keep informed on grades and assignments.
• Approved the purchase of three Blue Bird school buses from low-bidder Cardinal Bus Sales, Greenfield, for $210,000. Four old Wayne buses will be traded in.
• Approved the use of dual class rankings for this year's seniors to clarify confusion related to the weighting of grades. At Egolf's request, the board will re-visit the grade-weighting issue in the future.
• Commended South Adams vocational and technical students who excelled in the recent regional vocational skills competition in Fort Wayne. Those advancing to the state competition include Justin Strader and Seth Huber in auto service technology, Wes Myers in precision machine technology, Craig Amstutz in milling technology, and Ben Dobler, Tiffany Miller, Breanna Amstutz, and Nicole Dyne in computer technology.[[In-content Ad]]
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