July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Improvements top $26 million (11/23/04)
School projects carry hefty price tag
An estimated $26.6 million dollars — the largest amount in school corporation history — in improvement projects were discussed Monday.
Projects at Jay County High School discussed by Jay School Board members included a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, an addition which includes a new swimming pool, auxiliary gym and locker rooms and remodeling projects to the central office area, vocational area, existing pool area and parking lot.
Despite some opposition to proceed with a 1028 hearing on Monday, Dec. 20 at JCHS commons at 6 p.m., the board approved a resolution 5 to 2 scheduling the hearing. Board members Michael Masters and Greg Wellman voted against the resolution, after earlier approving a motion made by Wellman to postpone voting on a resolution to set the hearing.
The Dec. 20 public hearing will be held for community members to discuss the proposed projects and to issue bonds and enter into a lease, according to the resolution.
“A 1028 hearing is a legal hearing where public input is given ... It is an opportunity for taxpayers to be heard,” Jay Schools superintendent Barbara Downing said Monday.
Approximately 60 community members attended a special school board meeting on Nov. 17 at JCHS where these projects were discussed.
Wellman suggested taking three or four months to get more input from the public on these projects before holding the 1028 hearing.
“I’m not convinced more time would hurt,” Wellman said.
Board member Jay Halstead said three or four months could increase costs of the project.
“We’re either going to do this (project) now or wait until the next year or the next year. Each year we wait, our costs are going to go up,” Halstead said.
Board members Mike Shannon said these projects need to be done.
“These decisions have to be for the kids,” Shannon said. “If it’s going to help (the kids), then I will spend the money.”
Board member Frank Vormohr said he supported Shannon and Halstead’s views and was disappointed by the attendance at the Nov. 17 meeting. He had hoped more area residents would attend.
Wellman’s motion to postpone the vote on the resolution to hold the meeting with Masters seconding that motion was met by applause from a group of community members in the back of the board room.
The motion was voted down 5 to 2, with Wellman and Masters voting for the motion.
Project price estimates, submitted by Kari Vilamaa of Barton, Coe, Vilamaa Architects and Engineers of Fort Wayne were presented Monday by Downing.
Cost of the HVAC, including units, piping, demolition, new ceilings, lighting and a geothermal addition was estimated at $8,650,000. A 69,320-square-foot addition, which includes a pool, auxiliary gym, lobby, corridors and locker rooms is expected to cost $8.7 million. Renovation projects include the addition of approximately 140 parking spaces for $180,000, renovating the central office area for $450,000 and existing locker room renovations for $310,000.
Also, $2.3 million has been estimated for renovation work on the vocational area, and $1.1 million has been calculated for work on classrooms in the existing pool area.
The project total also includes an estimated $4,977,000 for legal costs, interest, vocational equipment, architect and construction manager fees.
Before approval of the resolution, Ron Krieg, director of facilities for Jay Schools, spoke about the school’s current HVAC system. He said Monday the corporation paid $75,000 in 2000 and $133,000 in 2003 for natural gas to heat and cool the school.
“These numbers will continue to go higher,” Krieg said, adding he expects the school will pay more than $150,000 for gas in 2004. “It is scary what the price will be to operate a building like (JCHS) in the future.”
The school’s current system was installed when JCHS was built in 1975.
Downing said the school’s current system runs at 50 percent efficiency.
In related news, Jay Schools business manager Brad DeRome gave examples of how this tax increase could financially impact home and land owners based on an estimated 20 cents tax rate increase, if the corporation would sell bonds for the estimated $26 million project.
DeRome said that a homeowner in Wayne Township with a home with an assessed value of $50,000 could expect a $14.36 annual tax increase, and the owner of a home in Wayne Township valued at $100,000 could expect to pay $74.17 more a year.
For landowners, he estimated that taxes for the owner of 300 acres with a value of $192,000 in Bearcreek Township could see an increase of $260, and a owner of 1,000 acres with a value of $642,000 in the same township could expect to pay $866 more taxes a year.[[In-content Ad]]Jay School Board members voted Monday to borrow $3,252,329 from the Indiana Bond Bank for 2005.
These funds are an advance against future property tax funds, Jay Schools business manager Brad DeRome said Monday. The corporation expects to receive its tax money in June and December 2005.
The approved amount is approximately $500,000 less than the amount borrowed for 2004, which totaled $3,714,422.
These funds are used for operating costs and replace payments of funds which are delayed by the state, according to information from DeRome.
Also Monday, the board approved the first reading of revisions and additions to school corporation’s policies.
New policies approved include a board member leave of absence for military service and a policy outlining new federal guidelines for No Child Left Behind.
Revisions were made to policies including school accountability, employment of professional staff, selecting student teachers, unrequested leave of absence, student supervision and welfare, employment of support staff, eligibility of resident and non-resident students, attendance, use of medications, immunizations, short-term indebtedness, special education preschool fund, student records and transportation.
Board members will vote on the second and final reading of these policies at their December meeting.
In other business, the board heard from attorney Jill Gonzalez representing Fayne Parr and Helen Ferrell, who feel that their daughter, a Jay County High School student, was unfairly suspended from school.
The student was suspended for her involvement in an altercation at the school, which Gonzalez said was an “act of self defense.” The girl was placed in an alternative placement program.
Gonzalez told the board the student was wrongly punished, and her grades have suffered after she was placed in the alternative placement program.
She asked board members to look at the school’s policies. The board took no action Monday.
Also Monday, board members:
•Accepted a $8,574.03 donation of playground equipment from Bloomfield Elementary School PTO; a $5,000 donation for computers to General Shanks Elementary by the school’s PTO and a $2,000 donation from the East Jay Middle School booster club for padding on the walls at the north end of the gymnasium.
•Congratulated JCHS family and consumer science teacher Kay LeMaster for winning the 2004 Optimist Partner in Education Award.
•Recommended to re-appoint Sharon Bubp to the Portland Park Board. She will serve a four-year term.
•Authorized field trips by the JCHS German students to Chicago, Ill. on Dec. 6; JCHS ninth grade English class to Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio on Jan. 11, EJMS sixth graders to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Ill. on May 13; and JCHS Friendship Company and Music Connection choirs to perform at the Alabama Theater in Myrtle Beach, S.C. from May 11 to 15.
•Granted requests for use of school corporation buses from the Jay Community Center on Dec. 22 and Dec. 26.
Projects at Jay County High School discussed by Jay School Board members included a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, an addition which includes a new swimming pool, auxiliary gym and locker rooms and remodeling projects to the central office area, vocational area, existing pool area and parking lot.
Despite some opposition to proceed with a 1028 hearing on Monday, Dec. 20 at JCHS commons at 6 p.m., the board approved a resolution 5 to 2 scheduling the hearing. Board members Michael Masters and Greg Wellman voted against the resolution, after earlier approving a motion made by Wellman to postpone voting on a resolution to set the hearing.
The Dec. 20 public hearing will be held for community members to discuss the proposed projects and to issue bonds and enter into a lease, according to the resolution.
“A 1028 hearing is a legal hearing where public input is given ... It is an opportunity for taxpayers to be heard,” Jay Schools superintendent Barbara Downing said Monday.
Approximately 60 community members attended a special school board meeting on Nov. 17 at JCHS where these projects were discussed.
Wellman suggested taking three or four months to get more input from the public on these projects before holding the 1028 hearing.
“I’m not convinced more time would hurt,” Wellman said.
Board member Jay Halstead said three or four months could increase costs of the project.
“We’re either going to do this (project) now or wait until the next year or the next year. Each year we wait, our costs are going to go up,” Halstead said.
Board members Mike Shannon said these projects need to be done.
“These decisions have to be for the kids,” Shannon said. “If it’s going to help (the kids), then I will spend the money.”
Board member Frank Vormohr said he supported Shannon and Halstead’s views and was disappointed by the attendance at the Nov. 17 meeting. He had hoped more area residents would attend.
Wellman’s motion to postpone the vote on the resolution to hold the meeting with Masters seconding that motion was met by applause from a group of community members in the back of the board room.
The motion was voted down 5 to 2, with Wellman and Masters voting for the motion.
Project price estimates, submitted by Kari Vilamaa of Barton, Coe, Vilamaa Architects and Engineers of Fort Wayne were presented Monday by Downing.
Cost of the HVAC, including units, piping, demolition, new ceilings, lighting and a geothermal addition was estimated at $8,650,000. A 69,320-square-foot addition, which includes a pool, auxiliary gym, lobby, corridors and locker rooms is expected to cost $8.7 million. Renovation projects include the addition of approximately 140 parking spaces for $180,000, renovating the central office area for $450,000 and existing locker room renovations for $310,000.
Also, $2.3 million has been estimated for renovation work on the vocational area, and $1.1 million has been calculated for work on classrooms in the existing pool area.
The project total also includes an estimated $4,977,000 for legal costs, interest, vocational equipment, architect and construction manager fees.
Before approval of the resolution, Ron Krieg, director of facilities for Jay Schools, spoke about the school’s current HVAC system. He said Monday the corporation paid $75,000 in 2000 and $133,000 in 2003 for natural gas to heat and cool the school.
“These numbers will continue to go higher,” Krieg said, adding he expects the school will pay more than $150,000 for gas in 2004. “It is scary what the price will be to operate a building like (JCHS) in the future.”
The school’s current system was installed when JCHS was built in 1975.
Downing said the school’s current system runs at 50 percent efficiency.
In related news, Jay Schools business manager Brad DeRome gave examples of how this tax increase could financially impact home and land owners based on an estimated 20 cents tax rate increase, if the corporation would sell bonds for the estimated $26 million project.
DeRome said that a homeowner in Wayne Township with a home with an assessed value of $50,000 could expect a $14.36 annual tax increase, and the owner of a home in Wayne Township valued at $100,000 could expect to pay $74.17 more a year.
For landowners, he estimated that taxes for the owner of 300 acres with a value of $192,000 in Bearcreek Township could see an increase of $260, and a owner of 1,000 acres with a value of $642,000 in the same township could expect to pay $866 more taxes a year.[[In-content Ad]]Jay School Board members voted Monday to borrow $3,252,329 from the Indiana Bond Bank for 2005.
These funds are an advance against future property tax funds, Jay Schools business manager Brad DeRome said Monday. The corporation expects to receive its tax money in June and December 2005.
The approved amount is approximately $500,000 less than the amount borrowed for 2004, which totaled $3,714,422.
These funds are used for operating costs and replace payments of funds which are delayed by the state, according to information from DeRome.
Also Monday, the board approved the first reading of revisions and additions to school corporation’s policies.
New policies approved include a board member leave of absence for military service and a policy outlining new federal guidelines for No Child Left Behind.
Revisions were made to policies including school accountability, employment of professional staff, selecting student teachers, unrequested leave of absence, student supervision and welfare, employment of support staff, eligibility of resident and non-resident students, attendance, use of medications, immunizations, short-term indebtedness, special education preschool fund, student records and transportation.
Board members will vote on the second and final reading of these policies at their December meeting.
In other business, the board heard from attorney Jill Gonzalez representing Fayne Parr and Helen Ferrell, who feel that their daughter, a Jay County High School student, was unfairly suspended from school.
The student was suspended for her involvement in an altercation at the school, which Gonzalez said was an “act of self defense.” The girl was placed in an alternative placement program.
Gonzalez told the board the student was wrongly punished, and her grades have suffered after she was placed in the alternative placement program.
She asked board members to look at the school’s policies. The board took no action Monday.
Also Monday, board members:
•Accepted a $8,574.03 donation of playground equipment from Bloomfield Elementary School PTO; a $5,000 donation for computers to General Shanks Elementary by the school’s PTO and a $2,000 donation from the East Jay Middle School booster club for padding on the walls at the north end of the gymnasium.
•Congratulated JCHS family and consumer science teacher Kay LeMaster for winning the 2004 Optimist Partner in Education Award.
•Recommended to re-appoint Sharon Bubp to the Portland Park Board. She will serve a four-year term.
•Authorized field trips by the JCHS German students to Chicago, Ill. on Dec. 6; JCHS ninth grade English class to Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio on Jan. 11, EJMS sixth graders to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Ill. on May 13; and JCHS Friendship Company and Music Connection choirs to perform at the Alabama Theater in Myrtle Beach, S.C. from May 11 to 15.
•Granted requests for use of school corporation buses from the Jay Community Center on Dec. 22 and Dec. 26.
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