Construction is wrapping up at Knox High School. Superintendent Dr. William Reichhart told the school board Tuesday that the high school’s new roof is almost complete. “The only thing left is there’s about 5,000 square feet of stone that still needs to go up above the pool area,” he explained. “They delivered stone today, and they hopefully will finish that up this weekend.”
While the Knox Community School Corporation would like to add a school resource officer, funding isn’t available at this point. That’s what School Superintendent Dr. William Reichhart told the school board Tuesday.
The Knox School Board will consider the addition of a school resource officer tonight. Superintendent Dr. William Reichhart and Starke County Sheriff Bill Dulin have been discussing the idea for the past few months. Continue reading
Starke County Sheriff Bill Dulin and Knox Community School Superintendent Dr. William Reichhart recently met to discuss integrating a school resource officer at the Knox Community School Corporation.
The Knox Community School Corporation is looking to partner with Ivy Tech Community College to help students meet the state’s new graduation requirements. During a recent school board meeting, Knox Schools Superintendent Dr. William Reichhart said that he and a couple other school officials met with representatives from Ivy Tech. He said Ivy Tech is willing to form a partnership with Knox Schools based on Indiana’s new Graduation Pathways. “They really want to get involved with Knox Community Schools,” Reichhart told board members. “They made that quite clear to us. And I believe that we want to get involved with them, as well.”
When Knox students return to class Thursday, there will be a few new faces. The school board hired some new teachers during this month’s regular meeting.
Knox middle and high school teachers are gearing up for the introduction of the Apex digital learning system. Training sessions were held last week for sixth through 12th grade teachers, according to High School Principal Dr. Elizabeth Ratliff.
The Knox School Board got an update last week on a pair of state grant programs. Director of Curriculum and Instruction Peggy Shidaker said the $50,000 Secured School Safety Matching Grant the corporation recently got will help pay for a new fire/surveillance system at the high school.
A recent study of the facilities included in the Knox Community School Corporation revealed that some changes will need to be made to the buildings in order to optimize space utilization and site effectiveness.
When Schmidt Associates’ representative Tom Neff discussed the results of the facility assessment with Knox School officials on Monday, he suggested some potential next steps to take.
One thing Neff highlighted was the need to get the most out of an investment. He noted that spending money on outdated components that require continuous maintenance and upkeep wouldn’t be as beneficial as investing in a more permanent fix. Continue reading
The findings from a facility assessment that was recently conducted by the firm Schmidt Associates was presented to Knox school officials during a work session Monday night.
Several representatives from the company were present and Firm Principal Tom Neff provided the assessment recap to the school board members, administrators and other officials in attendance.
Neff explained that their assessments identify the deficiencies in each of the buildings and assigns a value so they can be ranked according to priority. Continue reading
Knox school officials will get some one-on-one training on how to put together next year’s budget. Last week, the school board approved a contract with a company called Administrator Assistance. They will work with Corporation Treasurer Dawn Bailey between now and October for just over $6,200.
Knox School Board members will hold a public work session this evening at 5:30 p.m.
School officials are meeting to review and discuss results from the facilities study conducted by Schmidt Associates. Continue reading
The Knox Community School Corporation is making progress with its facility upgrades. Continue reading
Last week’s Starke County Fair turned out to be a successful recruitment event for local schools. Area school corporations set up booths, to try to attract some out-of-district students.
The Knox Community School Corporation is overhauling the handbook for classified staff. The updated handbooks were approved by the school board Tuesday, at the recommendation of Superintendent Dr. William Reichhart.
Knox Elementary and Middle School students will soon be able to get increased mental health care, thanks to a new agreement with Porter-Starke Services. Porter-Starke President and CEO Matthew Burden discussed the new program with the Knox School Board Tuesday.
The Knox School Board approved several administrators’ contracts Tuesday. “The administrators who are not changing positions will be on, like, status quo contracts until we figure out if we’re going to be able to give salary increases for this year,” Superintendent Dr. William Reichhart explained. “So for those, they will make the same salary as what they made previously, until we settle the teachers’ contract, and then we’ll be able to go back and look at other administrators.”
The Knox School Board will consider contracts during tonight’s meeting. Administrator contracts will be up for approval, along with an administrative assistant contract.
Policies regarding suicide prevention, school attendance, and the distribution of Teacher Appreciation Grants were among those updated by the Knox School Board last week. Superintendent Dr. William Reichhart explained last month that the student suicide awareness and prevention policy seeks to raise awareness among teachers and students.
The Knox Community School Corporation anticipates a boost in Title I funding for the upcoming school year. The federal program provides resources to schools with high percentages of students from low-income families.
