Discussion begins

Jay Schools will hire an architect to examine all of its buildings as the board weighs its options in the face of declining student enrollment.
But the board wants to explore the possibility of a broad-based community discussion before making any decisions.
The idea of a process similar to the 20/20 countywide planning effort came from Pennville resident Joe Vinson, who spoke in support of Pennville Elementary School.
Vinson, who said some of Pennville’s declining enrollment is “self-induced” on the part of the school corporation as a result of changing school boundaries, urged the board to use the 20/20 process as a model.
“We are talking about the sustainability of entire towns,” he said. “Let’s be leaders so we can show other school districts how they can succeed.”
“There have not been decisions made,” school board president Mike Masters assured Vinson and others.
Concern about the potential of closing Pennville Elementary School surfaced over the past year or two.
And superintendent Tim Long has sketched out a possible consolidation plan that would not only merge Pennville’s student body with Redkey Elementary School, but would also move eighth grade students to a segregated area at Jay County High School, move all sixth and seventh grade students to East Jay Middle School and use the current West Jay Middle School building as a new home for Westlawn Elementary School.

Those possibilities brought a number of concerned parents to Monday’s school board meeting.
Justin Simos, a Dunkirk resident and a Jay Schools teacher, urged the board to be wary of unintended consequences, noting that students on the west side of the county could migrate out of Jay Schools altogether and attend classes in Delaware, Blackford or Randolph counties.
Long acknowledged that current rules about where students may attend school have changed the landscape significantly.
“The old concept of a school district has changed,” he noted.
While board member Greg Wellman urged bringing in an outside consultant to lead the board through the process of building a plan for the future, other board members were hesitant.
“Let’s bring in the people we need to bring in to say what Jay Schools is going to look like in the future,” said Wellman. “Let’s quit talking about it and start making a rational decision.”
Board members Beth Krieg, Kristi Betts, Ron Laux and Mike Shannon, however, urged gathering greater community input.
“It’s important that it becomes everybody’s vision,” said Krieg.
Shannon argued — and the board ultimately agreed — to have a facilities study conducted first.
“That’s one more tool we’ll have,” he said. “It’s going to clear up a lot of gray areas.”
The board agreed unanimously to have CSO Architects, Indianapolis, conduct the study at a cost not to exceed $7,500. The firm conducted a study of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in several, but not all, Jay Schools buildings a few years ago.
Long said he will contact The Portland Foundation to investigate how a planning process similar to 20/20 might be facilitated.
Enrollment in Jay Schools has declined over the past 40 years because of changing demographics. Current enrollment totals for individual schools are as follows, as of January: Bloomfield Elementary School, 248; East Elementary School, 260; General Shanks Elementary School, 327; Judge Haynes Elementary School, 230; Pennville Elementary School, 80; Redkey Elementary School, 163; Westlawn Elementary School, 235; East Jay Middle School, 554; West Jay Middle School, 245; and Jay County High School, 1,112.
Business manager Brad DeRome noted the current junior class at JCHS is exceptionally large, a “bubble class.” When those students graduate in 2016, the school corporation could see a drop in total enrollment of 40 to 50 students.
In other business, the board:
•Heard Trent Paxson, director of testing and assessment, say it’s still unclear how the Indiana Department of Education wants schools to proceed on this year’s ISTEP testing. The length of this year’s test has been a bone of political contention in Indianapolis, and it’s not yet clear how things will shake out. “They have discussed a multitude of things,” said Paxson.
•Approved participation again this summer in the Federal School Lunch Program. The program provides free lunches to children 18 and younger who live in the school district. There will be five sites open to the public (Pennville, Westlawn, Judge Haynes, Redkey and General Shanks) and seven sites that are closed to the public and serve specific groups (JCHS summer band program, the summer reading program at Jay County Public Library, summer programs at Jay Community Center, the life skills classes at General Shanks and Westlawn, the credit recovery program at JCHS, and Jay Schools programs at John Jay Center for Learning). Approval came on a 6-1 vote with Wellman, who has expressed concerns that the program lacks accountability, dissenting. Last summer, the program provided 11,098 student lunches and 3,021 student snacks over a period of seven weeks.
•Approved a list of goals presented by Long with the addition of exploring the addition of a junior ROTC program at the high school.
•Learned that DeRome hopes to return to the board in March or April with specific proposals for refinancing some construction bonds in order to save money.
•Gave permission to transportation director Teresa Myers to investigate the replacement of five school buses, including a lift bus. Myers estimates the total cost of the buses will be between $500,000 and $525,000. She hopes to bring price information to the board in April.
•Accepted the resignation of Daniel Tasson as an instructional assistant at JCHS.
•Approved the retirement of bus driver Esther Shaneyfelt and instructional assistant Helen Walter.
•Transferred bus aide Stacy Phelps from part-time to full-time.
•Contracted with RTI Consultation Services at a cost of $60 per hour.
•Terminated the employment of Keely Ferguson as a JCHS food service employee.
•Approved leaves of absence for second grade teachers Lisa Wellman and Shelly Miskinis.
•Approved extra-curricular assignments for William Saxman as assistant football coach at JCHS, Brian Carr as East Jay seventh grade boys’ basketball coach, Doug Johnson as East Jay sixth grade boys’ basketball coach, Eric Hemmelgarn as East Jay sixth grade boys’ basketball coach, Carissa Allred as East Jay honor society sponsor, Nicole Myers as middle school swim coach, Hannah Ainsworth as East Jay sixth grade girls’ basketball coach, Joe Imel as East Jay track coach and Richard Raines Jr. as assistant wrestling coach at West Jay.
•Approved field trips by band students to summer band camp and a group of JCHS students to Europe during spring break.
•Approved bus use requests by the Girl Scouts and the Nazarene Church children’s group.