School properties available

Jay School Corporation is looking to offload three properties.

On Monday, Jay School Board voted to move forward with the process of selling or otherwise disposing of its current administrative office building, the former Judge Haynes Elementary School and a parcel of wooded land adjacent to Portland Memorial Park.

Of the properties to be sold or otherwise disposed of, the current administrative office building — 1976 W. Tyson Road, Portland — drew the most interest Monday night. (The administrative offices will move to the former General Shanks Elementary School building in Portland at the conclusion of the 2020-21 school year.)

Mindy Weaver, president of Jay County Humane Society, and Jay County Commissioner Chad Aker both requested that the school board consider donating the administrative office building to be converted into a new animal control shelter. Corey Heniser, CEO of Brigade Electronics, also expressed interest in the building, saying his company would pay “fair market value” to acquire it.

Jay Schools superintendent Jeremy Gulley noted that Portland Police Department, a church and at least two individuals have expressed interest in the property as well.

Indiana National Guard first rented the former armory, which was constructed in 1976, to Jay Schools and then donated it to the corporation in spring 2008.

It was converted into a new administrative office space — the previous office was in the former Garfield Elementary School on Arch Street in Portland — with the gym used for gymnastics and cheerleading. The school corporation put about $400,000 into upgrades at the facility, Gulley said.

He added that, if sold, any funds could be put toward school corporation needs.

“It’s an asset,” he said. “Those funds could be repurposed for the benefit of our students and our programs and our facilities and our people. You as a board, you’re just going to have to weigh that …”

Board members Phil Ford, Ron Laux, Donna Geesaman, Chris Snow, Vickie Reitz, Mike Shannon and Jason Phillips passed a resolution to authorize Gulley to obtain appraisals on the property and solicit proposals from real estate brokers.

The same resolution was also passed regarding a six-acre wooded parcel adjacent to Portland Memorial Park (north of Runkle-Miller Field and west of Hines-Inman Memorial Stadium). The land was donated to the school corporation but has never been used.

The board passed a separate resolution regarding the disposal of Judge Haynes Elementary School, 827 W. High St., Portland. Because the property was used as a school, it must go through a different process. The first step is to notify Indiana Department of Education that the site is “no longer required for school purposes.”

In other business, the board:

•During its Patriot Pride moment, recognized East Elementary School principal Julie Gregg for her 2020 selection as Indiana Association of School Principals District 6 Principal of the Year.

•Heard Snow thank Gregg and other Jay Schools staff for their efforts to raise funds for a student who has been diagnosed with cancer.

•Approved the following: 3% raises for support staff and 1% raises for administrators (teachers were given a 4% raise as part of their contract in the fall); conflict of interest forms for Geesaman, Ford, Snow, Laux, Paxson and Gulley; a high school band and color guard field trip July 26 through 30 for band camp at Taylor University; canceling a total of $4,705.04 in checks that were two years old or older as of Dec. 31; an amendment to a previous resolution to allow the business manager to transfer up to specified amounts each month to the operations fund from the education fund, as needed.

•Took its first look at policies regarding virtual instruction. They include password protecting all meetings and monitoring attendance to ensure privacy, managing scree-sharing options, stopping class if necessary to protect the privacy of students and banning the recording of classes unless permission has been obtained. The policies will be voted on at an upcoming meeting.

•Appointed Jessica Cook to the Jay County Public Library Board and Connie Retter to the Dunkirk Public Library Board.

•Approved the hiring of Christine Addington and Nichole Myers as driver education instructors, Matthew McKinley and Paula Bonvillian as bus drivers, Alison Homan as library instructional assistant at Redkey Elementary School, Amber Houck, Malarie Krieg and Brian Miles as Jay County High School assistant track coaches, Beth Nichols as junior high yearbook sponsor, Liza Lawson as JCHS fine arts academic sponsor and Victoria Towell as JCHS assistant softball coach.

•Accepted the resignations of East Jay Elementary School instructional assistant Belinda Cronin and Redkey Elementary School secretary Jenny Outcalt (effective April 29).