Teaching roles discussed

Jay School Board had a lengthy discussion about adjunct faculty and other non-licensed teaching roles as well as where a vocational education role should fall on the wage scale.

Ultimately, all new hires were approved as recommended.

The board approved eight new employees during its meeting Monday, including two on emergency licenses and one adjunct teacher.

It also gave business manager Shannon Current permission to advertise the 2025 budget, selected a new health insurance provider and heard an update on facilities with the new school year set to begin Thursday.

Assistant superintendent Trent Paxson reviewed the licensure status of employees being considered for teaching jobs with Jay Schools following a question from board member Marcie Vormohr about whether all were licensed teachers.

Paxson noted Megan Templeton (junior high English) is licensed in her subject matter; Sophia Fugiett (junior high math) is licensed as a physical education teacher and is on an emergency license for math; Kendyl Mick (East Jay fifth grade) has completed coursework but is still going through the licensing process and Spencer Tonner (biomedical and exercise science) is a “workplace specialist” being hired as an adjunct teacher.

While Vormohr supported hiring Tonner, she said she has a problem with hiring adjunct teachers and that she feels it cheapens the teaching profession. She questioned bringing in such employees at the same pay levels and benefits as licensed teachers.

Board member Chip Phillips expressed similar feelings, specifically repeatedly asking for the logic for placing Tonner on the fourth tier of the pay scale. He expressed concern about it being disrespectful to other employees.

Jay Schools superintendent Jeremy Gulley responded that it has been standard practice to give credit for workforce experience in determining salaries, which is what he did in Tonner’s case.

Phil Ford, a board member, former teacher and former president of Jay Classroom Teachers Association and former Jay County High School principal, noted his experience that taking teaching-specific coursework does not guarantee being a good teacher. There are a variety of determining factors, he said.

Answering a question from Ford, Gulley noted that without a teacher for the biomedical classes that program would be dissolved. He said that would impact 30 high school students who are on the health career and technical education graduation pathway.

Following a nearly 40-minute discussion, Tonner’s hiring as a teacher was approved 5-1 with Ron Laux, Phil Ford, Donna Geesaman, Jason Phillips and Vormohr in favor. Chip Phillips dissented. Vickie Reitz was absent.

The hiring of the other teachers and additional employees was approved 6-0.

The board also voted unanimously to allow Current to advertise the 2025 budget at $41.5 million, an increase of about $760,000 (1.8%) over the current year.

The budget includes $23.5 million in the education fund, $11.6 million in the operation fund, $5.6 million in the debt service fund, $444,475 in the pension debt services fund and $300,000 in the rainy day fund. (Current noted that the pension debt will be paid off in January.)

The capital projects plan that is included in the budget includes $514,587 in roof replacement work in 2025, followed by $457,555 in 2026 and $38,198 in 2027. Other big-ticket items include $185,000 for school security in 2025, $150,000 each for parking lot work and lighting in 2026 and $330,000 for metal siding in 2027.

The bus replacement plan calls for the purchase of four new buses every year through 2029, all of which will be replacing vehicles that are more than a decade old.

The budget will be advertised in the newspaper and online, with a public hearing to follow on Aug. 19 and a vote for approval on Sept. 16.

The school board also quickly approved a change to PHP as the new health insurance provider for the school corporation. Jay Schools had been with IU Health for the last two years.

PHP offered an increase in overall insurance costs of 9.3% with changes to the school corporation’s plan, including an increase in deductibles and out-of-pocket costs for the most popular plan. (That marks the steepest increase in health insurance costs for Jay Schools since a 9.8% hike in 2017.)

IU Health’s best offer was 33.4% for coverage at its facilities only. It would have been a 49% increase to keep the current plan in place.

Other health insurance providers refused to provide a quote to the school corporation. (The school corporation has had several high-cost claims, leading to payouts outpacing premiums. That pattern is expected to continue.)

A survey of school staff regarding the options overwhelmingly favored the change to PHP, with 97.7% of respondents choosing that option.

The corporation’s insurance committee thus recommended the shift to PHP, with the board approving 6-0.

The board also heard from consultant Nick Napier of Brown & Brown Insurance regarding pursuing other options for health insurance. He said he is actively talking with two trusts regarding the possibility of Jay School Corporation becoming a member. (Trusts could offer better options because risk is pooled among a larger group, but Gulley also noted that making such a change would involve less local control.)  That process will continue, with plans to seek board approval to begin the application process in September.

In other business, the board:

•Heard from Gulley that an HVAC project in the northeast wing of West Jay Elementary School and the construction of the new lockerroom, concessions and restroom building at the JCHS football field are nearly complete. He said there may be a need to put some West Jay students in the library or music room for a few days as the work is completed at West Jay, but that he doesn’t expect such circumstances to last long.

•Approved the following: Its regular meeting schedule for 2024, with meetings generally continuing to be held at 5:30 p.m. on the third Monday of each month at the former General Shanks Elementary School; the school corporation’s teacher evaluation policy with no changes from 2023-24; the school corporation’s application for the Teacher Appreciation Grant; and the retirement of Bloomfield Elementary School custodian Dawn Maock effective Sept. 6.

•Heard Gulley congratulate the Marching Patriots (fifth place out of 37) and JCHS cheerleaders (second out of three) for their success in competition Friday and Saturday, respectively, at the Indiana State Fair.

•Accepted several resignations, including Ashley LeCount as a junior high English teacher and Rebecca Hudson as a school nurse, and a contract with One Hundred Percent LLC Career Coaching for job coaching services.

•Heard from Paxson regarding a summer school program for second and third graders who did not pass the iRead3 test. Forty-six students attended summer school classes for a total of eight days in July. Paxson said the program was well-received and plans are to continue to offer it in the future. 

•OK’d the hiring of various employees, including current athletic trainer Spencer Tonner to serve also as a biomedical and exercise science adjunct teacher, Sophia Fugiett as a junior high math teacher, Megan Templeton as a junior high English teacher, Noah Arbuckle as a physical education instructor for Redkey and West Jay elementary schools and Kendyl Mick as a fifth grade teacher at East Jay Elementary School. Also approved extracurricular assignments including Donald Gillespie as boys tennis coach, Eric McLaughlin as junior high softball coach and Dusty Pearson as seventh grade boys basketball coach.