The West Central School Board approved the hire of a new high school assistant principal who will also claim the position of athletic director.
Superintendent Don Street said the new employee is returning to the corporation as a former student.
West Central School Superintendent Settling into New Office
West Central School Superintendent Don Street has been in that position for a little over two weeks now and he seems to be fitting into the corporate office quite well since Charles Mellon’s retirement on June 30.
Longtime West Central Superintendent Retires
A local school corporation will have a new superintendent when classes start in the fall. This is Charles Mellon’s last day at West Central. He’s retiring after 34 years with the corporation. Mellon started there as an assistant principal in 1980 and worked his way into the front office.
“It is a great place to raise a family. Most things are centered around school and church in this community. That’s what we enjoyed. A lot of our staff that come in new stay. That’s a good sign that’s a good place to live and a good, strong school corporation,” Mellon told WKVI News. Continue reading
West Central Still Waiting on Grant Money
One of the projects that the staff at the West Central School Corporation hopes to accomplish this summer is the improvements to security at the school.
Superintendent Charles Mellon said the project has been delayed due in part in not being able to retrieve the Secured School Safety Grant money to finish the project.
Retirement Open House Planned for West Central Superintendent
In honor of the upcoming retirement of West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon, an open house is planned for next week.
Help the West Central School Corporation staff and students celebrate his career as an educator on Tuesday, June 17 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET at the West Central School Corporation Office at 117 E. Montgomery Street in Francesville.
Mellon will leave as the superintendent of West Central Schools on Monday, June 30. High School Principal Don Street will be taking over in that position on July 1. Patrick Culp, a 1995 graduate of West Central High School, will fill Street’s position as high school principal.
Plenty of Summer Projects Planned at West Central School Corporation
The maintenance staff at the West Central School Corporation will have their hands full with several projects this summer.
Superintendent Charles Mellon said a new telephone system is one of the larger, more expensive projects this summer. The old system is too antiquated to gather parts to fix so a new system will be installed. He added that the last phase of the football field lighting system will be complete this summer. Other smaller projects are also planned.
West Central Wind Turbine Working Well for Corporation
The board is ready to renew the insurance policy so that was discussed. Superintendent Charles Mellon gave the board an update on the turbine’s production in the month of February.
“Once again we were fortunate to only have to pay a twenty dollar service fee for our electric utility,” said Mellon. “We have over about 240,000 kilowatts stored at this time. That will help us get through the summer and I believe we still have our three windy months coming up here in the spring so that was good news for us as well.”
West Central School Board Approves Technology Plan
Superintendent Charles Mellon said the plan is usually simply updated, but this year’s plan included another focus.
“One of the major goals in that plan has been to implement the one-to-one technology where every student would have their laptop or some device and we are on target with that,” said Mellon. “By the beginning of the fall of next year, every student will have a device.”
The one-to-one computer initiative was done in the middle school for this school year, and different devices have been handed to the students at the elementary school this year. With this plan, the corporation is on track to have full implementation of the computer initiative, including high school students, by August.
West Central School Board Hires Superintendent
Superintendent Charles Mellon said the board decided to hire West Central High School Principal Don Street to take his place.
West Cental Enrollment Decreases in Second ADM Count
Superintendent Charles Mellon said the student count was a little less this time around.
West Central School Board Discusses Missed Days
Superintendent Charles Mellon explained that six days have been missed due to weather. Two of those days will be waived by the State, two days will need to be made up by using built-in snow days within the calendar and two will need to be added to the end of the school year. Mellon said that other options have also been presented.
Missed School Days May Affect School Calendars
When school officials generate a school calendar for the year, several days are built into the calendar to be used as school make-up days. These are days in which students may have off if weather-related school closures are not needed.
Power Restored at West Central Schools
West Central School Board Receives Positive Update on Wind Turbine Use
“It produced enough in the month of December that once again we just had our $20 service fee to NIPSCO. That’s all we had to pay for our electricity. That is a good thing through the winter months. We normally accumulate credits that we can use through the summer when the air conditioners are running and we’re using more electricity. It was good to be able to present that information to the board,” stated Mellon.
West Central School Board Discusses New Nutrition Policy
Superintendent Charles Mellon said the policy controls the nutrition value of the food and beverages that are sold to students at school.
West Central Superintendent Submits Retirement Letter to School Board
The West Central School Board members received Superintendent Charles Mellon’s letter last week during their regular meeting.
West Central School Board Discusses Budget
Superintendent Charles Mellon said the corporation received the 1792 notice and the board reviewed the notice.
“I went through that with the board and explained the rationale behind some of the budget cuts with the main reason being the reduction in revenue coming in,” said Mellon.
West Central School Board Approves Boiler Purchase
Superintendent Charles Mellon said the board discussed purchasing either a high efficiency boiler or an 85 percent efficiency boiler.
“We approved going with the 85 percent efficiency boiler rather than the more expensive high efficiency boiler,” said Mellon. “Since there are three boilers tied together, tying one high efficiency boiler in with two that are not we weren’t gaining that much. We didn’t want to replace all three at this time.”
The board hopes that the purchase can be made soon so the boiler can be replaced.
West Central School Board Approves School Improvement Plans
Superintendent Charles Mellon said these plans are required by the state. The principals gave a comprehensive report which the board approved.
“This is a little bit later this year,” said Mellon. “Normally that is to be done in September, but with the scoring errors and the lateness in getting the I-STEP results back to us, they extended that to January. The board approved the school improvement plans for each of the buildings.”
West Central School Board Approves Bus Bids
Superintendent Charles Mellon stated that the school traded in two buses for $14,500 to get two buses for the model year 2014.
“We purchased two 72-passenger Thomas buses for delivery in the spring,” stated Mellon. That was about $151,000 for the two buses.”
The board approved the purchase with a unanimous vote.
