June 13, 2018 at 5:15 p.m.
SAHS project is on schedule
South Adams schools
SAHS project is on schedule
BERNE — The second phase of the South Adams High School renovation project is on track.
Superintendent Scott Litwiller updated South Adams School Board about the project Tuesday, reviewing both the finances and timeline.
The board also heard about other work that will be completed this summer, was updated about recent action taken by Area 18 and approved a transfer to the rainy day fund.
Litwiller said about half of the $1.5 million appropriated for the second phase of the high school renovation has been spent so far. The project is expected to come in about $66,000 under that total, with the remaining funds to be spent on classroom equipment.
The bulk of phase two of the project — phase one, which included renovation of some of the classrooms around the media center and the creation of a new office area and secure entrance, was completed in 2017 — involves renovating the remaining classrooms on the southwest side of the media center. The other major work is to renovate the former office area into intense intervention classrooms.
Currently, the project is on schedule to be complete before the 2018-19 school year begins.
“Things are moving along quite nicely,” said Litwiller. “We still have a long way to go, but we’re on schedule.”
The board also approved repaving the school’s north parking lot at a cost not to exceed $115,000. That work will be handled by Brooks Construction of Fort Wayne.
A culvert will also be replaced under Starfire Way on the south side of the facility.
School maintenance staff will handle other projects, including sealing cracks and repainting lines in the south parking lot, installing a water line at the cross country pavilion and replacing several storm drains.
Board members also approved the transfer of up to $400,000 from the transportation fund and up to $500,000 from the bus replacement fund to the rainy day fund to be earmarked for future bus purchases.
Superintendent Scott Litwiller updated South Adams School Board about the project Tuesday, reviewing both the finances and timeline.
The board also heard about other work that will be completed this summer, was updated about recent action taken by Area 18 and approved a transfer to the rainy day fund.
Litwiller said about half of the $1.5 million appropriated for the second phase of the high school renovation has been spent so far. The project is expected to come in about $66,000 under that total, with the remaining funds to be spent on classroom equipment.
The bulk of phase two of the project — phase one, which included renovation of some of the classrooms around the media center and the creation of a new office area and secure entrance, was completed in 2017 — involves renovating the remaining classrooms on the southwest side of the media center. The other major work is to renovate the former office area into intense intervention classrooms.
Currently, the project is on schedule to be complete before the 2018-19 school year begins.
“Things are moving along quite nicely,” said Litwiller. “We still have a long way to go, but we’re on schedule.”
The board also approved repaving the school’s north parking lot at a cost not to exceed $115,000. That work will be handled by Brooks Construction of Fort Wayne.
A culvert will also be replaced under Starfire Way on the south side of the facility.
School maintenance staff will handle other projects, including sealing cracks and repainting lines in the south parking lot, installing a water line at the cross country pavilion and replacing several storm drains.
Board members also approved the transfer of up to $400,000 from the transportation fund and up to $500,000 from the bus replacement fund to the rainy day fund to be earmarked for future bus purchases.
Changes to the way the state organizes school budgets will be implemented for 2019, including the elimination of the bus replacement and transportation funds. Those will instead be part of a new “operations” fund.
South Adams decided to move the money to the rainy day fund in order to make sure it is available for future bus needs.
“We feel like it’s a little more secure and we can keep it safe if we take it out of the operations fund and put it into the rainy day for future bus purchases,” said Litwiller.
He also updated the board on possible changes to the Area 18 agreement, which have been in limbo for about a year, reporting that it has been sent to the state board of education for review. The amended agreement states “participating school corporations agree, as a condition of participation, not to provide any school transportation services within other participating school corporations’ boundaries …” except for shared services (career and technical education programs), field trips and extra-curricular events.
It was approved by a majority vote of the Area 18 board and by school boards of five of the nine participating corporations.
Area 18 is a cooperative between Jay, South Adams, Blackford, Southern Wells, Adams Central, Bluffton-Harrison, North Adams (Bellmont), Northern Wells (Norwell) and Huntington schools for providing a variety of career and technical education programs. The issue arose last summer after Southern Wells announced plans to send regular buses into adjacent districts, including Jay County, in order to pick up students. Southern Wells had been attracting students from other districts for years, especially in the Montpelier area of Blackford County and the Warren area of Huntington County, but had previously not sent buses across district lines.
In other business, the board:
•Honored the Allen County Athletic Conference champion girls track team and individual state finalists Addie Wanner, Lars In’t Groen and Kallee Patch as examples of excellence.
•Heard from Litwiller that an audit of the school’s extra-curricular accounts showed them to be in good shape.
•Approved the following: an agreement to pay the Town of Geneva $51,484.01 for a school resource officer with half of that money to be reimbursed via a Secured School Safety Grant; a one-year service agreement with The Crossing for its alternative high school program; allowing Becky Biberstein and Litwiller to make any necessary transfers prior to the end of the fiscal year June 30; Field trips for wrestlers June 27 through 30 to Earlham College and the marching band July 23 to Cedar Point; a 10-cent per hour longevity raise for classified support staff.
•Hired the following: Kristi Plattner as a speech and language pathologist; Lois Bailey, Kristie Brown, J.D. Keller, Andy Sommer, Sandy Sprunger, Lonnie Teeple, Jeff Bradtmiller and Josh Hendrixson as elementary/middle summer school staff; Andres Aza, Shelly Tighe, Sheryl Ringler, Kristina Olivares, Victoria Nonigo, Jesus Nonigo, Jacob Amstutz, Lisa Creek, Alissa Goldsworthy, Diane McClung, Alexandria Rosswurm, Ashley Stewart, Sydne Zuber and Alina Cummings as Migrant Education Resource Center summer tutors; Ben Amstutz and Parker Collinsworth as student custodians for the summer; fall coaches, including head coaches Ashley Buckingham (volleyball), Grant Moser (football), Luke McClung (boys soccer), Chad Mitchell (girls soccer), Seth Sprunger (girls golf), Kristin Miller (cheer) and Clint Anderson (cross country).
•Accepted the resignations of nurse Gina Dunnuck, pre-school aide Teri Walsh, tennis coach Josh Zurcher and special education aides Kaylea Kongar and Teresa Smith.
•Made the following transfers: Susie Amstutz to Title 3 English learning coordinator/teacher from Migrant Education Resource Center; Julie Baumer to Elementary School Title I from Migrant Education Resource Center; Crystal Haines to elementary school special education aide from pre-school aide; and Jeanie Stultz and Erika Grush both to full-time special education aid from part-time special education aide.
•Heard that students and teachers involved in this year’s Dots in Blue Water trip to Haiti were expected to return late Tuesday night.
South Adams decided to move the money to the rainy day fund in order to make sure it is available for future bus needs.
“We feel like it’s a little more secure and we can keep it safe if we take it out of the operations fund and put it into the rainy day for future bus purchases,” said Litwiller.
He also updated the board on possible changes to the Area 18 agreement, which have been in limbo for about a year, reporting that it has been sent to the state board of education for review. The amended agreement states “participating school corporations agree, as a condition of participation, not to provide any school transportation services within other participating school corporations’ boundaries …” except for shared services (career and technical education programs), field trips and extra-curricular events.
It was approved by a majority vote of the Area 18 board and by school boards of five of the nine participating corporations.
Area 18 is a cooperative between Jay, South Adams, Blackford, Southern Wells, Adams Central, Bluffton-Harrison, North Adams (Bellmont), Northern Wells (Norwell) and Huntington schools for providing a variety of career and technical education programs. The issue arose last summer after Southern Wells announced plans to send regular buses into adjacent districts, including Jay County, in order to pick up students. Southern Wells had been attracting students from other districts for years, especially in the Montpelier area of Blackford County and the Warren area of Huntington County, but had previously not sent buses across district lines.
In other business, the board:
•Honored the Allen County Athletic Conference champion girls track team and individual state finalists Addie Wanner, Lars In’t Groen and Kallee Patch as examples of excellence.
•Heard from Litwiller that an audit of the school’s extra-curricular accounts showed them to be in good shape.
•Approved the following: an agreement to pay the Town of Geneva $51,484.01 for a school resource officer with half of that money to be reimbursed via a Secured School Safety Grant; a one-year service agreement with The Crossing for its alternative high school program; allowing Becky Biberstein and Litwiller to make any necessary transfers prior to the end of the fiscal year June 30; Field trips for wrestlers June 27 through 30 to Earlham College and the marching band July 23 to Cedar Point; a 10-cent per hour longevity raise for classified support staff.
•Hired the following: Kristi Plattner as a speech and language pathologist; Lois Bailey, Kristie Brown, J.D. Keller, Andy Sommer, Sandy Sprunger, Lonnie Teeple, Jeff Bradtmiller and Josh Hendrixson as elementary/middle summer school staff; Andres Aza, Shelly Tighe, Sheryl Ringler, Kristina Olivares, Victoria Nonigo, Jesus Nonigo, Jacob Amstutz, Lisa Creek, Alissa Goldsworthy, Diane McClung, Alexandria Rosswurm, Ashley Stewart, Sydne Zuber and Alina Cummings as Migrant Education Resource Center summer tutors; Ben Amstutz and Parker Collinsworth as student custodians for the summer; fall coaches, including head coaches Ashley Buckingham (volleyball), Grant Moser (football), Luke McClung (boys soccer), Chad Mitchell (girls soccer), Seth Sprunger (girls golf), Kristin Miller (cheer) and Clint Anderson (cross country).
•Accepted the resignations of nurse Gina Dunnuck, pre-school aide Teri Walsh, tennis coach Josh Zurcher and special education aides Kaylea Kongar and Teresa Smith.
•Made the following transfers: Susie Amstutz to Title 3 English learning coordinator/teacher from Migrant Education Resource Center; Julie Baumer to Elementary School Title I from Migrant Education Resource Center; Crystal Haines to elementary school special education aide from pre-school aide; and Jeanie Stultz and Erika Grush both to full-time special education aid from part-time special education aide.
•Heard that students and teachers involved in this year’s Dots in Blue Water trip to Haiti were expected to return late Tuesday night.
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