April 20, 2021 at 5:26 p.m.
Funding priorities
Jay Schools lays out plans for federal emergency relief
Funding priorities
Jay School Corporation is expecting to receive millions in relief funds from the federal government.
It has developed a plan for how to utilize those dollars.
Jay School Board on Monday approved the school corporations’ application for the next round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds.
Also Monday, superintendent Jeremy Gulley announced plans for graduation and the board approved an increase in pay for driving buses for field trips and extracurricular activities.
Gulley, who attended the meeting virtually because two members of his household have tested positive for COVID-19, explained that Jay School Corporation is estimated to receive an additional $9.1 million — $2.88 million in the second round of funding and $6.24 million in the third — in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds. (It has already received $767,660 in the first round of emergency relief funding and $161,776 via a Governor's Emergency Education Relief grant.) The money was made available through the various federal COVID-19 relief measures and is being administered by Indiana Department of Education.
After receiving input from administrators, teachers and staff, Gulley on Monday presented a five-point plan to invest in instruction to help students affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, assist teachers and staff in their future work, support employees who kept schools open, upgrade technology and use resources for the long term.
Specifically, the corporation is hoping to:
•Offer expanded summer school programs for kindergarten through 12th grade to help students who may have fallen behind during the pandemic. “We’ve never been able to offer that option,” said Gulley. “We are going to work as hard as we can to come up with the right plans and communication to help the right kids who need it over two summers.”
•Provide extra support in the form of additional staff, including two to facilitate the return of the alternative school at John Jay Center for Learning and four reading recovery positions. (Both are intended to be permanent additions to the staff while several others will be added temporarily.)
•Offer an extended school day (one additional hour of instruction) for two years for students who need additional help.
•Expand special education services with additional staff for LifeSkills, English language learners, alternative programming and speech pathology, and funding for additional mental health services.
•Provide stipends to employees who took on extra duties to keep schools open during 2020-21.
•Make extra funding and resources available for professional development for teachers
•Upgrade technology with interactive panels in each classroom, new computers for teachers, upgraded servers and wireless access points, and software licenses
•Install GPS systems in all buses to include an app that allows parents to track pick-up and drop-off times and upgrade digital radio systems.
•Recoup costs related to the pandemic, including paying for additional substitute teachers and replenishing athletic department accounts that were hurt by attendance limits.
“The logic of this is to try to recoup as much as possible, prioritize for the summer school this summer … and then … as we move into ‘ESSER 3’ … that’s where you’ll see the bulk of the dollars move more aggressively into instruction and special ed,” said Gulley.
Board members Phil Ford, Ron Laux, Donna Geesaman, Mike Shannon, Vickie Reitz and Chris Snow, absent Jason Phillips, approved the application for the second round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding, for which the deadline is May 14. (The application period for the third round of funding begins May 14.) Spending plans must be approved by the state department of education.
Gulley also announced that plans have been made to hold this year’s graduation ceremony at 2 p.m. June 20, as scheduled. It will be an outdoor event at Harold E. Schutz Memorial Stadium, which will allow it to be held without any attendance limits.
If inclement weather is expected, the ceremony will be moved indoors to the JCHS gym. In that case, capacity would be limited, with each senior receiving an allotment of tickets.
(The 2020 graduation ceremony was held as a drive-in event in the parking lot between the soccer and softball fields.)
Board members also approved a new pay structure for “trip pay” — driving buses for field trips and extracurriculars.
Drivers who give up their regular route to accommodate a trip will be paid $25 for the first hour and $13 for each additional hour. Those who did not give up a route will be paid $13 per hour. In both cases, the driver will receive $25 if the trip is canceled with less than 24 hours notice.
Drivers had previously received $11.60 for the first hour, $9.45 for the second hour and $8.60 for each additional hour with a minimum of $25.
The corporation will also contribute a total of $47,000 for the remainder of this year and the 2021-22 school year to help extracurricular organizations cover the additional cost for travel.
The new system will be evaluated after the first semester of the 2021-22 school year.
In other business, the board:
•Recognized the Jay County High School early college program for being certified by the Center for Excellence and Leadership in Learning (see related story in Wednesday’s newspaper) and assistant superintendent Trent Paxson for being inducted into the Jay County FFA Hall of Fame.
•Approved the following: hiring Sara Hough as Bloomfield Elementary School secretary; the retirements of East Jay Elementary School third grade teacher Gay Jobe, Redkey Elementary School instructional assistant Betty Muhlenkamp and Bloomfield instructional assistant Joan Wilkins, effective at the end of the school year; a contract with Curtis & Livers Consulting for special education consulting; and a one-year extension of the school corporation’s contract with Chartwells for management of its food service.
•Learned from Gulley that IU Health Jay has offered to hold a coronavirus vaccination clinic for eligible students. The school corporation will send out a survey to gauge interest.
•Heard from business manager Shannon Current that she estimates a positive cash flow of more than $935,000 this year and a year-end cash balance of $4.75 million.
•Recognized current board members Mike McKee, Pat Bennett and Mike Medler, and former board member Neil Medler, for their service to the Building Corporation of Jay Schools.
•Hired various coaches and advisors, including Meg Mauger as assistant robotics coach, Edwin Dixon as assistant football coach, Marvin Buckner as assistant boys golf coach and Cindy Denney as junior high golf coach.
It has developed a plan for how to utilize those dollars.
Jay School Board on Monday approved the school corporations’ application for the next round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds.
Also Monday, superintendent Jeremy Gulley announced plans for graduation and the board approved an increase in pay for driving buses for field trips and extracurricular activities.
Gulley, who attended the meeting virtually because two members of his household have tested positive for COVID-19, explained that Jay School Corporation is estimated to receive an additional $9.1 million — $2.88 million in the second round of funding and $6.24 million in the third — in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds. (It has already received $767,660 in the first round of emergency relief funding and $161,776 via a Governor's Emergency Education Relief grant.) The money was made available through the various federal COVID-19 relief measures and is being administered by Indiana Department of Education.
After receiving input from administrators, teachers and staff, Gulley on Monday presented a five-point plan to invest in instruction to help students affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, assist teachers and staff in their future work, support employees who kept schools open, upgrade technology and use resources for the long term.
Specifically, the corporation is hoping to:
•Offer expanded summer school programs for kindergarten through 12th grade to help students who may have fallen behind during the pandemic. “We’ve never been able to offer that option,” said Gulley. “We are going to work as hard as we can to come up with the right plans and communication to help the right kids who need it over two summers.”
•Provide extra support in the form of additional staff, including two to facilitate the return of the alternative school at John Jay Center for Learning and four reading recovery positions. (Both are intended to be permanent additions to the staff while several others will be added temporarily.)
•Offer an extended school day (one additional hour of instruction) for two years for students who need additional help.
•Expand special education services with additional staff for LifeSkills, English language learners, alternative programming and speech pathology, and funding for additional mental health services.
•Provide stipends to employees who took on extra duties to keep schools open during 2020-21.
•Make extra funding and resources available for professional development for teachers
•Upgrade technology with interactive panels in each classroom, new computers for teachers, upgraded servers and wireless access points, and software licenses
•Install GPS systems in all buses to include an app that allows parents to track pick-up and drop-off times and upgrade digital radio systems.
•Recoup costs related to the pandemic, including paying for additional substitute teachers and replenishing athletic department accounts that were hurt by attendance limits.
“The logic of this is to try to recoup as much as possible, prioritize for the summer school this summer … and then … as we move into ‘ESSER 3’ … that’s where you’ll see the bulk of the dollars move more aggressively into instruction and special ed,” said Gulley.
Board members Phil Ford, Ron Laux, Donna Geesaman, Mike Shannon, Vickie Reitz and Chris Snow, absent Jason Phillips, approved the application for the second round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding, for which the deadline is May 14. (The application period for the third round of funding begins May 14.) Spending plans must be approved by the state department of education.
Gulley also announced that plans have been made to hold this year’s graduation ceremony at 2 p.m. June 20, as scheduled. It will be an outdoor event at Harold E. Schutz Memorial Stadium, which will allow it to be held without any attendance limits.
If inclement weather is expected, the ceremony will be moved indoors to the JCHS gym. In that case, capacity would be limited, with each senior receiving an allotment of tickets.
(The 2020 graduation ceremony was held as a drive-in event in the parking lot between the soccer and softball fields.)
Board members also approved a new pay structure for “trip pay” — driving buses for field trips and extracurriculars.
Drivers who give up their regular route to accommodate a trip will be paid $25 for the first hour and $13 for each additional hour. Those who did not give up a route will be paid $13 per hour. In both cases, the driver will receive $25 if the trip is canceled with less than 24 hours notice.
Drivers had previously received $11.60 for the first hour, $9.45 for the second hour and $8.60 for each additional hour with a minimum of $25.
The corporation will also contribute a total of $47,000 for the remainder of this year and the 2021-22 school year to help extracurricular organizations cover the additional cost for travel.
The new system will be evaluated after the first semester of the 2021-22 school year.
In other business, the board:
•Recognized the Jay County High School early college program for being certified by the Center for Excellence and Leadership in Learning (see related story in Wednesday’s newspaper) and assistant superintendent Trent Paxson for being inducted into the Jay County FFA Hall of Fame.
•Approved the following: hiring Sara Hough as Bloomfield Elementary School secretary; the retirements of East Jay Elementary School third grade teacher Gay Jobe, Redkey Elementary School instructional assistant Betty Muhlenkamp and Bloomfield instructional assistant Joan Wilkins, effective at the end of the school year; a contract with Curtis & Livers Consulting for special education consulting; and a one-year extension of the school corporation’s contract with Chartwells for management of its food service.
•Learned from Gulley that IU Health Jay has offered to hold a coronavirus vaccination clinic for eligible students. The school corporation will send out a survey to gauge interest.
•Heard from business manager Shannon Current that she estimates a positive cash flow of more than $935,000 this year and a year-end cash balance of $4.75 million.
•Recognized current board members Mike McKee, Pat Bennett and Mike Medler, and former board member Neil Medler, for their service to the Building Corporation of Jay Schools.
•Hired various coaches and advisors, including Meg Mauger as assistant robotics coach, Edwin Dixon as assistant football coach, Marvin Buckner as assistant boys golf coach and Cindy Denney as junior high golf coach.
Top Stories
9/11 NEVER FORGET Mobile Exhibit
Chartwells marketing
September 17, 2024 7:36 a.m.
Events
250 X 250 AD