“I was in Lafayette at Home Hospital for about 10 years, and then just south of Indianapolis for almost 10 years,” Barry told the Winamac Town Council. “Most recently I was in a small critical-access hospital in Eldorado, Ill. which makes Pulaski Memorial look like the Taj Mahal.”
Barry added that PMH is a “real gem” and said he’s very impressed with the quality of programs and care offered locally.
The Eastern Pulaski School Board approved an increase in the bus driver electric usage stipend.
Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman explained that every year the bus drivers are required to plug in their buses during the wintertime and it’s been a custom every year to give those drivers a little stipend to offset that cost.
“That change was to include the rental fee which includes the employer share of FICA that will be paid for by the renter,” said Mellon. “We had always paid for that as a corporation, but we’re trying to find different ways to cut back a little bit and save a little money.”
That was one of the first actions to take place in the Monterey Bridge project. LaPorte Construction Company will be constructing a new bridge directly next to the current bridge to allow for safer travel. The next item on the list of pre-construction plans includes an asbestos abatement which will be completed tomorrow.
The council, however, expressed their reservations regarding the hire of another employee, and suggested that Garling look into ways to cut down on the amount of work required in the office. The county will be installing a new time system to clock employees in and out, which would reduce the amount of work done in the auditor’s office. On top of that, the council recommended that Garling cross-train her employees, allowing them to handle multiple tasks within the office.
The Eastern Pulaski School Board members welcomed seven special guests to their meeting on Monday morning. Kindergarten students read a short story to each of the school board members to begin the presentation part of the school board meeting.
Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman emphasized that the students have come a long way from the beginning of the school year in their reading abilities and wanted to share that progress with the board. President Michael Tetzloff commented that the teachers and the kids are doing a great job and it was a highlight of the meeting.
“Betty Sprunger, who has been teaching health and P.E. at West Central for several years, is retiring along with Cheryl Podell who is a first grade teacher,” said Mellon. “Jenni Garten, a third grade teacher and Linda Ferguson, a high school business teacher, are also retiring.”
Shorter said the devices would cost the county $4259 for the purchase of the four iPads, a one-time charge of $199 for two years of protection, and an additional $1404 per year to include the devices on the county’s current shared data plan through Verizon. Shorter said that because the commissioners fund had carried over an amount from last year through various cuts in county expenses by both the commissioners and the county council, she felt that this expense is justified – especially when considering the benefit she claims the iPads would have for the county officials.
“We’re beginning that with the middle school next fall,” explained Mellon. “The ChromeBook is what we will be using and that’s become a very hot item. They’re kind of back logged with orders so we wanted to place an order for 270 ChromeBooks. We wanted to get the paperwork rolling and have those computers here by fall. The board did approve that as well.”
The program will begin with middle school students with the anticipation that it will branch out to more grade levels after the initial rollout.
The Winamac H&R Block office is sponsoring this year’s second Annual Downtown Winamac Block Party, with donations going to support the Pulaski County Food Bank. Event Coordinator Amy Hoover said the event has drawn a lot of attention from local businesses, with a variety of activities offered in exchange for donations of money or canned items to benefit the food pantry.
“Everything that we collect is going to the food pantry – either the canned goods or the money,” said Hoover. “It was just something that I knew that they were in short supply, so we wanted to do what we could to give back to the community by giving to the food pantry.”
The Eastern Pulaski School Board voted 4-3 Monday morning to advertise the superintendent’s contract.
The board met prior to their regular meeting to discuss the contract at length and held only a brief discussion on the issue in the public meeting. The board, by majority vote, agreed to continue in the current contract with Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman.
Per state statute, the contract must be published. After the contract is published, a public meeting will be held where comments will be fielded and then a vote will be taken to ratify the contract.
The feedback will also aid in reviewing the corporation’s emergency plans.
The event was first planned four years ago when choral directors from Rochester, Caston, and Winamac sought to introduce students to guest conductors with an afternoon of singing and educational fellowship. Caston Choral Director Michelle Byrn and Winamac Choral Director Patrick Schuttrow will be back again this year, welcoming Rochester’s new choral director, Autumn Dalton, who will accompany the performance.
“Their day on Wednesday began at 1 a.m. when they started pushing snow around,” said Mellon. “We did have to take the day off on Wednesday due to the county roads, but we were ready to go. I’m sure all of the students and staff appreciated that when they showed up Thursday morning.”
West Central students in grades 8–12 will be given a survey March 20 that is provided by the Indiana Prevention Resource Center.
The survey, entitled “Alcohol and Other Drug Use Survey,” will be given on a confidential basis. The results will be used to measure the prevalence of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use among students and to provide the state of Indiana with similar estimates of prevalence on a statewide basis.
Participation is voluntary and those who partake in the survey are asked to be accurate with answers. The survey will be completed in private without any personally identifiable information that could be traced to an individual student.
