SA budget will be posted

BERNE — The budget is ready to be advertised.
South Adams School Board on Tuesday gave permission to advertise its 2016 budget of $15.1 million, including just under $9 million in spending from the general fund.
Board members also got an update on IREAD-3 scores, a grant that promotes college and career readiness and the first day of school.
The South Adams budget, portions of which will be published in local newspapers with the full information available online at https://gateway.ifionline.org/, of $15,109,619 is down more than $250,000 from 2015. That includes general fund spending of $8,999,127 with a projection of deficit spending of about $310,000 in that area. About half a million in spending was cut by eliminating staff positions in an effort to save money as state funding has dipped because of declining enrollment.
South Adams projects to have a general fund balance of $1.4 million at the end of this year and about $1.1 million at the close of 2016, down from $2.28 million at the close of 2012.
The rest of the budget, which is supported by local property tax dollars, includes debt service ($1.9 million), capital projects ($1.7 million), transportation ($1.5 million), rainy day ($500,000) and bus replacement ($110,000). The tax rate in 2015 was $1.03 per $100 of assessed value and is expected to be similar this year.
A public hearing on the budget will be held during the board’s next meeting on Sept. 8, and adoption is scheduled for Oct. 13.
Superintendent Scott Litwiller updated the board about South Adams’s scores on IREAD-3, a reading assessment test given to third graders. During the 2014-15 school year, 95.3 percent — 82 out of 86 — of South Adams students passed the test.
South Adams has cleared the 91 percent mark each year the test has been given and has always been above the state average.
Guidance counselor Sheila Graber told the board about an $8,000 grant from the Olin and Desta Schwab Foundation that SAHS received last year to enhance college and career readiness. It was used for a variety of projects to boost student awareness of college scholarships and other opportunities, to support a freshman-only field trip to the University of Northwestern Ohio and Wright State University Lake Campus and to enroll in the National Student Clearinghouse to track how graduates perform in post-secondary education.
Plans for this year include creating graduation plans for all seniors and encouraging all juniors and seniors to make at least two college visits.
Litwiller and other administrators also noted that the first day of school Tuesday went smoothly.
“From my perspective, it was a great day,” said Litwiller. “I saw a lot of high fives, and a lot of hugs as well.”
In other business, the board:
•Recognized the following as examples of excellence: Ava Pyle, Jasper Shuck, Julia Arnold and Meredith Copaert, who placed in the top three in the region in the PBS Writing Contest; Drew LeFever, who finished 17th in the state in the discus in June; Dots in Blue Water for its efforts to provide clean drinking water in Haiti.
•Approved a $30 per month cell phone allowance for designated staff members for the 2015-16 school year.
•Hired part-time special ed aides Elizabeth Graber and Andrea Hough, part-time Title I aide Kelsey Schwartz and bus driver Trent Sprunger.
•Approved an Aug. 21 field trip to Kings Island in Cincinnati for juniors who participated in the class fundraiser.
•Heard an update from director of building and maintenance Dave Vorhees that construction has begun on the bus wash bay.
•Appointed Litwiller to serve on the School Employees Benefit Trust board and recognized Tina Miller as the representative from South Adams Classroom Teachers Association.
•Set driver’s education fees at $320 for South Adams students and $380 for non-South Adams students.
•Got a reminder that the Indiana School Board association fall conference is Sept. 28 and 29 in Indianapolis.
•Accepted donations of $1,000 for the cross country finish line project and $300 for new high school volleyball jerseys.
•Heard an update about a fund set up through Adams County Community Foundation that allows tax-deductible contributions for specific projects. So far, the fund has received $19,836 designated for projects at the baseball field. Projects for other sports are currently in the planning stages.
•OK’d the following extracurricular assignments: Jennifer Thomson (vocal music), Karen Moser (elementary musical), Margie Liechty (elementary yearbook), Brenda Beitler (middle school yearbook), Lana Shoaf (high school yearbook), Sheila Graber (high school student government), Gwen Habegger, Jeannine Wurster and Cindy Sprunger (middle school student government); Jane Miller (senior sponsor), Luke McClung (junior sponsor), Ashley Buckingham (sophomore sponsor), Morgan Mitchell (freshman sponsor), Steve Tatman (national honor society), Margie Dobler (project lead the way) and Kathy Turner (chess club). Also approved high school department chairs Steve Tatman (English), Buckingham (physical education/health), Kevin McClung (math), Curt Amstutz (music/art), Michael Baer (science), Jessie O’Dell (social studies), Gary McMillan (auto/machine) and Josh Hendrixson (special education); middle school team leaders Jeff Bradtmiller, Cindy Sprunger, Brad Buckingham and Graber; and elementary grade chairs Becky Dubach and Margie Liechty (kindergarten), Kathy King and Tracy Dinghy (first), Anita Goodwin (second), Jamie Gerber (third), Sara Wright and Betsy Minnich (fourth), Jennifer King (fifth).