West Central School Board Approves 2013 Budget

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board approved the 2013 budget during their meeting this week, according to Superintendent Charles Mellon.

“This is the time of year we have to approve the 2013 budget as well as the Capital Projects and Bus Replacement Plan,” stated Mellon. “We also approved our Technology Plan which has to go along with the Capital Projects Plan as far as the state is concerned.”

The board also took another look at the ADM count which showed an enrollment loss and the board looked at the numbers coming in from the wind turbine. The turbine has been in operation for nearly six months and the operation seems to be working to the benefit of the corporation.

Wind Turbine Billing in Question at West Central

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon told the school board last week that he has been in touch with NIPSCO and Performance Services concerning the net metering with the wind turbine. He says the billing just isn’t right.

“There doesn’t seem to be any means of reconciling some of the billings that we’re getting from NIPSCO,” said Mellon. “I think we need to be able to reconcile the number of kilowatts we’re producing with what we’re using and what we need to bring in from the grid and when we’re overproducing. We need to get a standardized process.”

West Central School Improvement Plans Approved

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

Principal Don Street presented the West Central School Board with the middle and high schools’ School Improvement Plan which was approved. Superintendent Charles Mellon said Elementary Principal Dan Zylstra also presented the elementary school’s School Improvement Plan which outlined interventions and curriculum alignment.

“Those plans outline improvements because our performance on the ISTEP is not where we want it, so we’re taking different steps there as required by the state,” said Mellon.

Those plans are for the current school year.

West Central School Board Reaches Agreement with Teacher’s Assoc.

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board came to an agreement with the Teacher’s Association last week. Superintendent Charles Mellon said the board reviewed the contract during their recent meeting.

“It’s the extension of a contract that was set for five years,” said Mellon. “We dealt with some insurance benefit increases as well as paying those teachers a stipend that are at the top of the schedule who would not be receiving an increment, so to speak.”

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West Central School Board Discusses 2013 Budget

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board held a work session Thursday to discuss the 2013 budget and get it ready for advertisement.

Superintendent Charles Mellon said the total budget keeps getting cut by the state.

“Well, we are anticipating losing another $155,000 from the state,” said Mellon. “This is a time where we start getting into our cash balances.”

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West Central Schools Gets a Donated Facelift

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board discussed the many summer projects in progress and Superintendent Charles Mellon said all of the buildings should be ready for the beginning of the school year in August.

He said one of the buildings got a nice facelift from a resident.

“David Zeltwanger operates a brick laying company and out of the kindness of his heart, he has cleaned the front office outside where we have stone,” said Mellon. “It really looks nice. We also appreciate Alliance Bank for purchasing the cleaning solution.”

Mellon commented that what the school can’t afford to do, the community has stepped forward to cover those bases.

New West Central Elementary Principal Hired

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board members hired a new Elementary School Principal at their meeting Thursday night. West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon said he will be a great addition to the staff.

“Daniel Zylstra is our new Elementary Principal. He is coming from the Hammond School Corporation. He was at the meeting to sign his contract so he will be ready to jump in and get things rolling here in the near future,” said Mellon.

Early Transfer Of Funds Approved By West Central School Board

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Corporation approved an early transfer of funds. Superintendent Charles Mellon said the action is just to make sure there is money in the transportation fund until the end of the year.

“If we don’t get our county draw by June 30, then our transportation account would be in the red instead of the black. The auditors don’t like to see that, so we moved money from the Capital Projects Fund to Transportation. We’ll move it back before the end of December,” stated Mellon.

West Central School Board Renews Certified Contracts

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board approved the certified contracts which included Superintendent Charles Mellon, Middle and High School Principal Don Street, Athletic Director and Administrative Assistant Chuck Evans, and Guidance Counselor Marci Kennedy. Those staff members were on 12-month contracts which were renewed.

Mellon was quick to note that there was a change in one staff position.

“We had a change in Mr. Brose’s position,” explained Mellon. “He is now becoming an administrative assistant and we will be interviewing soon for an elementary principal.”

West Central School Board Signs Renewable Energy Contract

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board signed a renewable energy credit contract. Superintendent Charles Mellon explains what that means for the corporation.

“Companies buy renewable energy credits – this is in connection with our wind turbine – that way they can say they are part owner of someone who is doing something along the ‘green lines,’ as far as not polluting the air. As a part of that, the corporation was awarded $67,000 for that right to those companies,” Mellon said.

The contract is for an eight-year period and when that time period is up, the board can renegotiate or send it out for bid. The corporation is only responsible for one thing.

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West Central School Board Changes Regular Meetings

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board modified its meeting date schedule, and Superintendent Charles Mellon says the board will now only meet once a month instead of twice a month.

“We’re going to a little different format,” explained Mellon. “We’re going to be meeting the first Thursday of the month. The only time we deviate from that would be the first week in January and the first week in July. This will be something new – we’ve always been a two-meeting-per-month corporation, but we’re going to try something different.”

The first meeting in January and in July in 2013 will be on the second Thursday of the month. If the
board needs to meet more than once a month, special sessions can be called in order to take care of business.

West Central School Board Approves Reduction In Force

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board members did approve a reduction in force proposal at their recent meeting. Superintendent Charles Mellon said there was only one this year.

“That person is going on our recall list,” stated Mellon. “He is currently teaching science in the middle school, but he does have an elementary license so if we had a class size increase – which I hope we do – or someone else from the elementary leaves the school system for whatever reason, he has the opportunity to come back. He will be on the recall list for two years. There is still a possibility for him.”

West Central Schools Lunch Prices To Increase

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board approved cafeteria prices during their meeting last week, and Superintendent Charles Mellon said the lunch prices will be increasing.

“There’s some new guidelines coming down from the state that requires more fresh fruits and vegetables and we’re putting in a fresh fruit and vegetable bar next year,” said Mellon. “I guess the portions greater for high school students as they do for middle school students and the middle school larger than high school so that’s a little bit of a change. We had to increase the lunches ten cents for the elementary and the high school and five cents for the middle school.”

Student Insurance Rates Increase For West Central Schools

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board looked to the future at their meeting this week as they approved the student insurance renewal for the next school year. Superintendent Charles Mellon explained that the cost did increase, but the price is still worth it.

“That has gone up fifteen percent, but I think that’s probably the trend for insurance,” said Mellon. “The good thing is that parents can still have their child covered while at school for $16.00 which is still very worthwhile.”

West Central Approves Textbook Rental Fees, New Course

Posted on Author WKVI

The West Central School Board approved textbook rental fees at their recent meeting and Superintendent Charles Mellon said they also approved textbooks for a new course.

“We did have one new class connected with the wind turbine. It is a renewable energy course that is also articulated with Ivy Tech. That was new course with a textbook that was adopted as well,” stated Mellon.

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West Central School Board Discusses IREAD Results

Posted on Author WKVI

The West Central School Board members discussed the results of the IREAD test at their recent meeting. The IREAD test was administered to the third grade students and if the students did not pass the test then they would need to get additional instruction and retake the test in June. If the students are not successful in their second attempt, they will be required to retake third grade reading next year.

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West Central School Turbine Still Under Work

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board got an update on the wind turbine last week from Superintendent Charles Mellon.

“Well, we are in production,” stated Mellon. “There is a little additional tweaking that will be done. We’re still getting some voltage spikes which all three companies are working on and they think they have a solution and will be correcting that. We have been in production for a while and in the short future we should be able to get a read-out just to see what our production has been — say over the last two week period.”

The wind turbine is not quite in full commission mode yet.

“Until those issues are solved and it’s fully commissioned, it’s not considered ours yet,” Mellon said. “They still have their work to do so we’re still anxiously awaiting, but we are getting credit for the kilowatts that are being produced during this time.”

West Central Wind Turbine in Testing Phase

Posted on Author WKVI

West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon gave the school board members an update on the progress of the wind turbine.

“It is in production,” Mr. Mellon reported. “They’re just fine-tuning some issues that we have as far as how many watts can actually go out to the grid at one time so they’re making some final adjustments on that. We’re still in the middle of the 120-hour commissioning process. We’re in that phase right now and hopefully we’ll be in full compliance here very soon.”

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