School board sets budget timeline

It’s budget time.

Jay School Board on Monday heard an update on its budget adoption timeline while also approving the annual financial report for publication.

Business manager Tarinna Morris plans to present the school corporation’s capital projects and bus replacement plans, as well as budget forms, during the board’s regular Aug. 17 meeting. The notice to taxpayers will then be published on the state gateway, the school corporation website and local newspapers later that week.

A public hearing on the budget is slated for the board’s Sept. 21 meeting, with adoption of the budget to follow at its Oct. 19 meeting.

While no longer required by law, board members Phil Ford, Jason Phillips, Ron Laux and Donna Geesaman, absent Chris Snow, Krista Muhlenkamp and Mike Shannon, voted to continue publishing the budget in local newspapers. Superintendent Jeremy Gulley recommended doing so, saying local residents depend on both the local newspaper and radio station as sources of information.

The board also approved the annual financial report for publication. It is required to be published once a year between Aug. 1 and Aug. 15.

Gulley reminded parents that the deadline to register for both in-person and online-only school for the 2020-21 year is Friday. Classes are now slated to begin Sept. 9. The start date was delayed from Aug. 12 to allow staff more time to prepare for the school year in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“We are encouraging our parents to be informed,” he said, noting information on the school corporation’s website and social media as well as via WPGW and The Commercial Review. “We really do want to make sure folks get all the information we have available.”

The board also approved a resolution regarding emergency paid leave, which will be available to staff members who need to be quarantined because of COVID-19, are experiencing symptoms of the disease or are caring for someone who is in COVID-19 isolation. Full-time employees are eligible for up to 80 hours of paid leave, with part-time employees eligible for the average number of hours they work over a two-week period. Additional paid leave is available in some situations.

In other business, the board:

•Recognized Jay County High School graduates Cooper Jacks, Jackson Lyons and Levi Peterson for earning multilingual proficiency and recording a score of four or better (out of five) on their Advance Placement exam in German.

•Heard from Gulley that plans call for the board to begin meeting at the former General Shanks Elementary School beginning with its Aug. 17 meeting.

•Accepted the resignations of East Jay Elementary School teacher Curtis Little, Bloomfield Elementary School special education teacher Kayla Luginbill and technology teacher Aaron Vaughn.

•Updated the sixth grade textbook fees approved last week to include a total ($197).

•Approved updates to school polices regarding technology, staff use of personal communication devices, pandemics and epidemics, web content, apps and services, and other topics as recommended by NEOLA.