The QSCB money was used to renovate the pool at the high school and to work on water lines that were clogged and deteriorating. The money also allowed for the purchase and installation of new lockers at the high school.

Superintendent A.J. Gappa explained that some other projects were completed at the high school within the two year span of the funding.

“We had some monies left over so we’ve been doing some other projects at the high school that were included in the project,” said Gappa. “This was the final claim. We had a deadline coming up where we had to expend all of the money from that project. We were down to the last $7,000 and so the board had approved that last claim for some repair work at the high school.”

Superintendent A.J. Gappa commented that it was the first time in the team’s history the team members were the winners of the Northern State Conference.

“The tennis team was here with their coaches, Mark Krom and Dick Wagner, to be introduced to the board. They not only set a school record for the first conference championship, but they had some individual records. The team had the most wins in history and they had the most consecutive wins. They also won the tournament that Knox hosted for the first time. It was a very good year for the tennis team. It was nice to be able to give them some recognition,” stated Gappa.

Superintendent A.J. Gappa said there had been no questions asked about the proposed 2014 budget.

“At the previous meeting, we held the public hearing for the 2014 budget and there really weren’t any questions asked at that time. The board moved ahead and adopted the budget for the 2014 year,” stated Gappa.

Superintendent A.J. Gappa commented that this was the first time reviewing this contract under the new state law. The old contract had expired June 30 but came to an agreement by the deadline of Sept. 30.

Continue reading →

Superintendent A.J. Gappa said there wasn’t any public comment on the budget.

“Nobody was here to speak up so we will advertise the budget and then have a meeting on Oct. 7 to adopt it,” explained Gappa. “From that point on, it will be sent down to the DLGF in Indianapolis and they will do their magic on the budget. They will then send us a 1782 notice later on to show what it really looks like.”

Superintendent A.J. Gappa said it was great to give those former employees the recognition they deserve.

“We had eight teachers, a food service director, one of our school nurses, one of the teacher’s aides and a parent involvement coordinator that had all retired over the last two years,” explained Gappa. “Seven of those people were able to make the meeting and receive a commemorative clock. The others who weren’t able to be here – we will get the clocks sent to them. We wanted to honor those people for all the years of service and the support that they’ve given to the Knox Community Schools.”

Superintendent A.J. Gappa said a replacement was hired after the retirement was approved.

Continue reading →

Superintendent A.J. Gappa explained that they are in line with the middle school textbook fees.

“Most of those fees involve the computers and they’re right in line with the middle school in laptop computer fees for the one-to-one program. By individual classes at the high school, if certain classes call for extra fees, those will be added on top of the computer fees,” explained Gappa.

The middle school fees in the one-to-one computer initiative are $113.50.

Superintendent A.J. Gappa said things are going smoothly so far.

“School in all three buildings got off to a fairly smooth start,” explained Gappa. “I reported to the board that all of our buses are in good shape and doing well. We’ve added three new buses to the fleet.
Our next bus inspection is due sometime in October.”

Continue reading →

Knox Community School Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the school board has reviewed the prepared budgets.

Continue reading →

The Knox Community School Board heard an update on the progress being made to the start of school.

Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the administrators gave a building update and an update on the registration process.

“The teachers were in for two days of professional development on Tuesday and Wednesday of the current week in anticipation of the upcoming school year,” said Gappa. “Teachers will begin school officially on Monday and the kids will come on Tuesday, Aug. 13.”

Gappa gave an update on the maintenance projects performed at the school during the summer.

“They’ve been cleaning and taking care of all of the buildings. The parking lots were sealed and we did an area of paving between the bus parking lot and the west parking lot at the high school. All of those things that had gone on during the summer in anticipation of the upcoming school year was part of that report to the board.”