Staff to get extra-duty stipend

School staffers who were forced into extra work during the coronavirus pandemic will receive compensation.

Jay School Board on Monday approved an extra-duty stipend for teachers, support staff and administrators via Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds being provided through federal COVID-19 legislation.

Jay Schools superintendent Jeremy Gulley explained that rules for how the relief funds must be spent do not allow blanket bonuses for staff. The plan as approved Monday received the OK from Indiana Department of Education.

Teachers and administrators will receive a $1,200 stipend for extra duty related to the pandemic. Nurses will receive a $1,000 stipend and non-certified employees (bus drivers, secretaries, custodians, etc.) will receive $765.

Gulley noted that food service employees, who are now employees of Chartwells, will also receive the $765 stipend.

Board members Phil Ford, Ron Laux, Donna Geesaman, Mike Shannon, Jason Phillips, Vickie Reitz and Chris Snow also approved the corporation’s spending plan for the third round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, estimated at $6.24 million in the third. It calls for reimbursement of teacher salaries, educational software, the addition of several teaching employees, summer school and tutoring expansion, transportation software, interactive classroom panels and other items.

The board also approved one roof project and gave permission to advertise for bids for another.

Approved was a project to replace just over 8,000 square feet of the roof at Bloomfield Elementary School. McGuff Roofing was awarded the project at a cost of $103,860. It is expected to be complete this fall.

Board members granted business manager Shannon Current permission to advertise for bids for replacing a total of nearly 43,000 square feet of the roof at Jay County Junior-Senior High School. (A sealed bid process is required because the cost of the project is expected to be more than $150,000.) It will be advertised over the next two weeks with the board expected to review bids at its June meeting.

Current said the corporation is in the process of having the former West Jay Middle School roof assessed with plans to have a section replaced in the coming year.

More than half of the about 50-minute meeting was spent on Patriot Pride moments and other recognition, including the retirement of school board attorney Phil Frantz. He has served as the board’s attorney for 32 years and will be retiring from Portland firm Coldren, Frantz and Sprunger at the end of the week.

The board also recognized the following for Patriot Pride:

•Students from East Jay Elementary School for their efforts via the Care and Share program. Students Cameron Coats, Trinity Pyle and Freddie Lingo explained that students received a $400 grant from The Portland Foundation but that they and their classmates wanted to raise more. Through school activities including a dress-up week, they were able to donate a total of $1,040 to Jay County Cancer Society.

•Members of the Jay County High School business club. They competed in regional and state competitions, with Samuel Bracy, Isaac Braun, Dylan Burress, Grace Morgan and Marissa Overla advancing to the national competition. The club has also re-opened Jay Cafe, which offers coffee and other drinks for sale to students and staff before each school day.

•Staff retiring from Jay Schools this year, including Ventura “Bennie” Moreno, who has 45 years of service as a custodian. Other retirees include Gay Jobe, Sheryl Lawrence, Joan Wilkins, Betty Muhlenkamp, Ed Geesaman and Debora Funk.

•The local manufacturing council, a partnership between the school corporation and John Jay Center for Learning. It has expanded to cover 13 counties and focuses on providing advanced manufacturing training.

In other business, the board:

•Heard from assistant superintendent Trent Paxson that a two-hour delay on the first Wednesday of each month will be recommended for the 2021-22 school year. The time is planned to be used for teachers to plan how to provide help for students in need of extra assistance, review testing data and work on curriculum. The corporation is seeking approval from the state department of education before bringing the policy to the board for a vote.

•Approved the following social studies textbooks for the 2021-22 school year.

•Accepted several resignations, including for Melissa Wolters as agriculture teacher at the junior-senior high.

•Received a copy of recommended yearbook changes for the 2021-22 school year. The board will review the changes with plans to vote on them at its June meeting

•Accepted a $500 grant on behalf of junior-senior high librarian Cathy Fugiett from Jay County Solid Waste Management District.