Board hires staff, adjusts policies

The school year is here, almost.

Jay School Board in a special meeting Tuesday got a final update ahead of the start of school and approved policy changes and employment updates.

Today was scheduled as the first day of the 2020-21 school year, but classes were called off because of heavy fog. (The year was originally slated to begin Aug. 12 but was postponed to allow staff more time to prepare in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.)

Jay Schools superintendent Jeremy Gulley informed board members Tuesday that he has inspected each of the corporation’s buildings along with nurses, custodians and other staff to make sure they are ready for the school year.

“Everything looks good,” said Gulley.

He added that he expects transportation to be a bit slower on the first day of school.

He said that’s usually the case on the first day and new COVID-19 procedures and the new school configuration — shifting seventh and eighth graders to Jay County Junior-Senior High School and converting the former East Jay Middle School into an elementary school — would likely have a greater impact.

To help with any last-minute questions, the school’s transportation department was open until 9 p.m. Tuesday to answer questions.

The board approved new policies regarding nondiscrimination, virtual education and protective face coverings. They were approved 4-1, with Phil Ford, Ron Laux, Donna Geesaman and Jason Phillips in favor and Chris Snow against. (Mike Shannon and Krista Muhlenkamp were absent.)

Snow also cast the lone vote against the mask policy at the board’s July 29 meeting.

The board approved a memorandum of understanding with Jay Classroom Teachers Association to provide compensation for professional development related to virtual instruction. The policy allows staff to be paid $25 per hour for a maximum of eight hours for that work.

Board members OK’d the hiring of Jay County Junior-Senior High School tech/business teacher Ryan Fritze, instructional assistant Sherry Haffner and custodian Tim Lewis; East Jay Elementary School fourth grade teacher Breea Holdcroft and sixth grade teacher Emily Back; East Elementary School instructional assistant Rebecca Rowles; art instructor Kayla Rowles; and library instructional assistant Kim Jellison

Also approved were the following JCHS extracurricular assignments: assistant girls basketball coach Marc Bogenschutz; girls soccer coach and freshman girls basketball coach Renae Laux; assistant girls soccer coach Abby Theurer; archery coach Dwane Ford; and assistant boys soccer coach Braulio Ruiz.

In other business, the board:

•Heard from Gulley that the corporation has a new website at jayschoolcorp.org. He added that the site is now compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. It also provides staff with a simplified system for notifying parents via phone call, text and social media.

•Declared two 2005 buses, each with more than 210,000 miles, to be obsolete.

•Adopted its policy for teacher appreciation grants as required by the state. There were no changes from the 2019-20 school year.

•Set its adult lunch price at $3.75 to bring it in compliance with federal guidelines.

•Approved the retirement of instructional assistant Sheryl Lawrence and accepted the resignations of Westlawn Elementary School special education teacher Renee Haack and Bloomfield Elementary School American Sign Language interpreter Judd Haack.