The board members will be discussing off-campus cooperative programs including Auto Tech I and II, Construction, Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Education, Graphic Imaging, and Health and Science Education. The School-to-School and School-to-Work Programs will also be presented for discussion.
Superintendent Dr. Steve Disney noted that the current system is 11 years old and with the growing age of technology and the need to provide the best security available for the staff and students, the board will be upgrading its system. Quotes will be received and the system will be installed once a bid is accepted.
Each of the teachers have more than 30 years of experience and have spent most, if not all in some cases, of their teaching career at the Oregon-Davis School Corporation.
The Oregon-Davis School Board has approved the NEOLA School Board Policy Manual.
Superintendent Dr. Steve Disney said the public should have access to that manual soon.
A committee will be formed to help in the search and the process should be getting underway in March.
The Oregon-Davis School Board met in special session Monday night to install new board members. Superintendent Dr. Steve Disney said the two newly elected members, Kurt Hayes and Lee Nagai, were sworn into office and then the board reorganized for the year.
The Oregon-Davis School Board entered into a fleet management agreement with Wiers International in Plymouth. Superintendent Dr. Steve Disney said he believes that the corporation will be able to reduce cost on the mechanical work on the school buses with this partnership.
“Wiers currently has a facility down in Lafayette and manages the entire fleet for the Lafayette School Corporation which is probably over one-hundred school buses,” said Dr. Disney. “This year, up in Plymouth, they are managing the Plymouth fleet and they are also looking at an expansion toward Indianapolis. We felt it was a great opportunity, a good partnership and a cost savings measure for us.”
The agreement was approved during this month’s school board meeting.
The Oregon-Davis School Board adopted the 2013 budget at their meeting earlier this month, which Superintendent Dr. Steve Disney says is healthy.
“Nothing changed based upon the budget hearing,” said Disney. “At this point in time, we will work with the Department of Local Government Finance which will review the budget. We would hope to find out about our adopted budget sometime late December, early January.”
Several school board races have surfaced since the Friday filing deadline in the Starke County Clerk’s Office.
For Knox Community Schools, voters will select three members from a ballot of eight candidates for Center Township Seats 2, 3, and 4. Those candidates include incumbent members William Kirk Bennett, Gerald (Jerry) Fletcher and Harold A. Welter, and candidates Dawn M. Bailey, Jeffrey B. Fosler, Wendy McIntire, Larry D. Sennert and Valarie Williams. Incumbent Nathan Marcum and challenger Kurt A. Kemble have filed for the California-Washington Township seat.
Oregon-Davis taxpayers will be noticing a reduction in their future bills because of action taken by the school board Monday.
“We approved the resolution to finalize the refinancing of our existing debt,” explained Superintendent Dr. Steve Disney. “What that means is that the previous debt from 2002 was at 5%, and with refinancing that goes down to 2.3%. We’ve been working on this for about nine months and this will mean a one million dollar savings to the taxpayers. It will knock about four cents off the property tax rate in 2013.”
The Oregon-Davis School Board meeting will be held today. This is a unique board meeting as it will be held at 1:00 p.m with senior class members present.
The Oregon-Davis School Board heard a presentation of a request for the purchase of some school property at its most recent meeting.
“We heard a presentation by the Township Trustee with the investigation to build and go after property for a new fire station in Hamlet and they’re looking at the property where the old school used to sit,” said Superintendent Dr. Steve Disney.
The Oregon-Davis School Board had a special celebration this week to honor just retired school Treasurer, Susan Rowles.
“We had a reception prior to our meeting where many former School Board members and Superintendents come back as well as Susan’s family and staff,” said Superintendent, Dr. Steve Disney. “It was a terrific tribute to Mrs. Rowles. Following the reception, we had a special board meeting in which we publicly and officially honored her years of service by dedicating and naming our Board room and Administration room the Mrs. Susan G. Rowles Board Meeting Room.”
