School board shifts duties

The final adjustments were made Monday to account for eliminating a Jay School Corporation administrative position.

Jay School Board voted to assign some of the former director of teacher effectiveness duties to Trent Paxson while shifting others to John Jay Center for learning.

It also recognized Judge Haynes Elementary for being a finalist for a state award.

Following the recommendation of superintendent Jeremy Gulley, board members voted to assign additional testing and evaluation duties to Paxson. As part of the change, Paxson, currently the director of testing and assessment, will get a new title and contract effective Jan. 1.

When hiring Gulley, the former director of teacher effectiveness, to become the new superintendent in October, the board also decided to eliminate his previous position as a cost-saving measure. It was then explained last month that John Jay Center for Learning would take on some of his prior job functions while others would need to be reassigned within the school corporation.

Paxson will take on those teacher evaluation tasks while keeping all of his prior duties under the new job title of director of curriculum and instruction. His new salary will be $96,378, but he will not longer receive $1 insurance. (The board has made a point of trying to remove the $1 insurance benefit over the last several years.)

By eliminating the position, the school corporation will save about $115,000 annually.

Board members Kristi Betts, Greg Wellman, Beth Krieg, Ron Laux, Tammy Bennett, Mike Shannon and Cory Gundrum also voted to transfer remaining Jay County Promise grant funds to John Jay Center for Learning as the organization will take on administration of that initiative.

In his presentation in preparation for taking over Jay County Promise, John Jay executive director Rusty Inman shared with the board findings from a University of Kansas study.

The study noted that prior to the start of Jay County Promise, 74 percent of parents said they expected their child to attain education after high school but only 8 percent were saving for that purpose. Since then, Jay County has seen 41 percent growth in its use of college savings accounts for a total of 1,124, mostly in grades kindergarten through five.

Inman noted that the study shows attaining some sort of post-secondary education leads to higher wages and lower likelihood of unemployment.

“We need a cultural change in Jay County. This is one thing — the education, the hope,” said Inman. “The 529 savings is a promise to the kids that they’re going to have an opportunity to go to college, whatever circumstances they were born into. This is going to have a profound impact on low-income families.”

Gulley also informed the board that Judge Haynes was a finalist to be named an Indiana Title I Distinguished School for exceptional performance. The award is open to schools that have at least 75 percent of students on free or reduced lunch that have achieved an A grade each of the last six years.

Judge Haynes was a finalist along with Indianapolis-area schools James A. Allison (Speedway), the eventual winner, and Hawthorne Elementary (Warren Township).

In other business, the council:

•Amended its rainy day fund regulations to expand its uses to include paying for services, salaries and wages (limited to the extent necessary to preserve positions and programs), supplies, equipment, capital improvement and repairs. The fund previously allowed spending only for transportation, retirement obligations, emergency small equipment and emergency capital repairs.

•Heard from business manager Brad DeRome that the corporation is currently projected for a $53,000 budget deficit for 2016. He noted that he hopes to close that gap by the end of the year. (Most of that projected deficit would be erased if the sale of the former Beacon Heights Drive-In property for $50,000 can be closed by Dec. 31.)

•Set its organizational meeting for 2017 for 7 p.m. Jan. 9. The meeting includes election of officers.

•Accepted the resignations of instructional assistants Julie Carner and Frida Hernandez and West Jay Middle School special education teacher/instructional assistant Beth Stafford, and approved leaves of absence for Lori DeRome, Marisa Moore, Autumn Brown and Angie Ingram.

•Approved extra-curricular assignments for the following coaches: Pazia Williams (assistant girls basketball), Lana Kahlig (part-time assistant gymnastics), Joseph Missicano (assistant baseball), Liz Lawson (assistant academic team), Rhea Walradth (WJMS eighth grade girls basketball) Darren Scott (East Jay Middle School sixth grade boys basketball) and Mitch Waters (EJMS sixth grade girls basketball).

•Rescinded a previously-approved agreement for rental of West Jay Community Center and approved a corrected agreement. The new contract calls for compensation of $8,400 for 2017 and specifies gym use times. The previously contract was for $5,400.

•Voided 13 checks totaling $1,177.22. The checks were more than two years old.

•OK’d a field trip Jan. 20 through 22 for the JCHS Thespian Club to Indiana University - South Bend for the state thespian competition.

•Recognized Wellman and Bennett for their service to the board. Wellman is completing his third term (12 years) on the board. Bennett has been on the board for one year after she was selected to fill Mike Masters’ term after his resignation last year. Both chose not to run for re-election and will be replaced on the board by Krista Muhlenkamp and Phil Ford respectively.