Superintendent A.J. Gappa said by law the categorization of the school warranted a hearing for public comment.
Knox School Board Spotlights JAG Organization
Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the Jobs for American Graduates organization at the high school boasts over 40 students and it has seen success in its infancy.
“The instructor, Molly Dollahan, and two of the students came in to give a report,” said Gappa. “This is the first year the program has been implemented in Knox. I believe we have 42 high school students as part of the program. It’s in conjunction with Workforce Development and it really helps students prepare for careers and jobs beyond high school. Recently, some of our JAG students participated in a career development conference and they had some different competitions. Two of the students who were at our board meeting talked about the competitions they participated in and some of the first place awards they received.”
Valuable Instruction Time Lost due to School Delays
There isn’t a limit on how many times a school corporation can call a delay to the start of school due to weather or other necessity, but there could be action on that sometime down the road.
Eastern Pulaski School Superintendent Dan Foster told the school board Wednesday morning that as of Wednesday, there have been 15 school days this school year where instruction started two hours late due to weather. Foster noted that that time adds up – that’s 30 hours of school instructional time lost because of weather. That’s valuable time of instruction, but the state does not require corporation to make up that time.
Safety is Priority When Determining School Status in Inclement Weather
Knox Community School Superintendent A.J. Gappa said safety is the number one priority when making a decision to delay or close school for the day. Continue reading
Knox Community Schools to Hold Balanced Calendar Informational Meeting
Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the corporation’s public meeting is set for March 6.
Knox Community School Board to Discuss Balanced Calendar Meeting
Knox School Board Recognizes Elementary JESSE Class
The Knox Community School Board recognized Mrs. Fletcher’s elementary JESSE class Monday night for a special event held during Christmas.
Superintendent A.J. Gappa said 20 people attended the meeting including students, aides, parents and Mrs. Fletcher.
Knox School Board Approves Secured School Safety Grant Matching Funds
The matching grant was presented by Governor Pence in November and Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the school board is trying to be frugal in making a decision on how to spend that money since half of the money must come from the corporation.
“We’re using our grant money for entryway security and upgrades in video surveillance systems throughout the corporation for those that need it,” explained Gappa. “We’re actually going to spend about $55,000. Our half comes to about $27,500. The board approved taking the necessary money from the Rainy Day fund. When the grant money comes in. we’ll just replace it in that fund.”
Knox Community School Board Appoints New President
Superintendent A.J. Gappa said he’s served many years on the board but has never served as the head of the board.
“The president will be Mr. Kirk Bennett,” announced Gappa. “The new vice president is Gary Dulin and the new secretary will be Mary Lynn Ritchie. This will be Kirk’s first go-around as president. It’s going to be a challenging year and he wanted to challenge everybody to live up to it and accept the challenge. As we move forward, we’ll try and do whatever is best for the school corporation.”
Reality Store Spotlighted at Knox School Board Meeting
Superintendent A.J. Gappa explained that all eighth grade students from Knox, North Judson-San Pierre, Oregon-Davis, and Culver Community students participated in this event. Business leaders and volunteers from organizations from around the area helped the students get a dose of what it is to survive out in the real world.
Knox School Board Spotlights Donation Efforts at the High School
“Mrs. Wood, one of our science club sponsors, has on her property a number of apple trees. Members of the science club went out and picked over 250 pounds of apples and donated those apples to the food pantry for distribution to those in need,” said Gappa.
Knox Community School Board Approves Last QSCB Claim
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.”
Knox School Board Recognizes Students Involved in Manufacturer’s Day
Students from all over the county were present for the opportunity to look at the many displays put out by different manufacturers. This was a chance for the students to see what industry is available for them in the county and to ask questions about what each manufacturer specialized in and about potential employment.
Knox Community School Board Approves Formation of New Group
Knox Community School Board Gets Update on Teacher Evaluation Model
The Knox Community School Board discussed the Standard for Success model used for certified teacher evaluations.
Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the three building principals delivered the report to the board.
“With this modern technology, they can go into a classroom and do a walk-through and highlight things that are going on in a quick fashion – within five minutes or less. They can show how an extended observation can be hooked in with the RISE evaluation tool and objects can be marked as highly effective, effective or needs improvement at that time and then they can go back and critique that,” explained Gappa.
Knox School Board Spotlights Boys Tennis Team
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.
Knox Community School Board Adopts Budget
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.
Knox Community School Board Approves Teacher Agreement
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.
Knox School Board Discusses ISTEP+ Test Results
Superintendent A.J. Gappa said Shidaker highlighted where the students needed work and where the scores stood at the elementary and middle schools.
Knox Community School Board Holds Public Hearing on Budget
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.”
