Returning to normal

The start of the 2021-22 school year will mark a return to normal.

Jay School Board on Monday approved the school corporation’s COVID mitigation plan for the coming year, with a general return to standard operating procedures.

Mask wearing, which was required for the bulk for the 2020-21 school year, will be optional. All capacity and distancing guidelines related to the coronavirus pandemic that were in place for most of the last year have also been lifted.

The corporation policy calls for staying in contact with Jay County Health Department for guidance. If there is a significant increase in cases of COVID-19, the corporation is prepared to reactivate precautions from its 2020-21 COVID plan as it deems necessary.

Jay County has averaged 0.56 new cases of COVID-19 per day this month, down from 0.63 in June and the lowest since 0.42 in July 2020. The high mark for a month was 22.8 new cases per day in November.

“The health department communication will continue,” said Jay Schools superintendent Jeremy Gulley. “And I think it’s like any other school in the country … We’re just going to see how it goes.”

Board members Phil Ford, Ron Laux, Vickie Reitz, Jason Phillips and Donna Geesaman approved the plan, with Mike Shannon and Chris Snow absent. (Shannon arrived later in the meeting.)

The board also heard from Gulley that the school corporation was notified that the county has terminated its memorandum of understanding with the school corporation for a full-time school resource officer.

The previous agreement, which had been in place for two years, called for the school resource officer to be on a Jay Schools campus from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on days in which classes were in session. The officer worked as a county sheriff’s deputy during the summer months, with the school corporation and county splitting the salary on a 75/25 basis.

School and county officials will meet Wednesday to discuss a potential new agreement.

The board also approved using Anthem and Delta Dental for health, vision and dental insurance. Health insurance premiums dropped between 3.41% and 5.3% while dental insurance premiums went up by about 9.8%. Vision insurance premiums remained the same.

Board members also gave the OK for the corporation to use the Tax Refund Exchange and Compliance System for collecting debts, such as unpaid food service fees. The program, which comes at no cost to Jay Schools, collects debts via pending state personal income tax refunds. (Last month, the school wrote off about $90,000 in unpaid fees.)

In other business, the board:

•Recognized the impact of Jay County High School’s dual credit program during its Patriot Pride moment. For the 2020-21 school year, JCHS students earned a total of 1,349 credit hours through Ivy Tech Community College and saved a total of $201,744 in tuition.

•OK’d a new driver’s education agreement that sets out guidelines and fees for cancellations. Those who cancel with less than 24 hours' notice will be charged a $30 fee and there will not be refunds for students who do not complete the program. There have been issues recently with students failing to attend their assigned sessions.

•Approved the following: donating trophies, photos, yearbooks and other items from the former West Jay Middle School (now West Jay Elementary School) to Dunkirk Historical Society; holding a public auction Aug. 27 at the former bus garage at East Jay Elementary School to dispose of surplus items; the financial report, which showed a projected positive cash flow of $987,000 for 2021 in the education fund for a year-end cash balance of $4.8 million; the school board meeting schedule for 2021-22 with most meetings at 5 p.m. on the third Monday of each month, except for August when the board will meet on the second and fourth Mondays; textbook fees for the 2021-22 school year

•Accepted the retirements of Lisa Lyons (JCHS family and consumer science teacher), Karen Hirschy (junior-senior high instruction assistant) and Paul Zimmerman (maintenance). Also accepted the resignations of teachers Kelly Riemesch, Andrew Davidson and Jenna (Guggenbiller) Cupp.

•Approved the hiring of a long list of employees, including Todd Gibson as a high school social studies teacher, Kaylyn Mundt-Davis as a high school Spanish teacher, Breana Madaj as a seventh grade English teacher, Katelyn Warner as an eighth grade English teacher, Jackie Roessner as a third grade teacher at East Jay Elementary School and the following as teachers at West Jay Elementary: Ashlyn Homan (fifth grade), Kimberly Hawkins (sixth grade), Emily Coons (second grade) and Megan Chalfant (second grade).

•OK’d junior-senior high extracurricular assignments, including Steve Boozier as assistant football coach, Aaron Daniels as assistant boys basketball coach, Braulio Ruiz as assistant boys soccer coach, Kendra Lyons as assistant softball coach and eighth grade volleyball coach and Kristin Crump as junior high assistant cheer coach.