The West Central School Board had to reduce the teaching staff by two-and-a-half teachers and three to five instructional assistants were let go. The school lost 54% of its primetime funding, or about $40,000, that provides for the salary of the instructional assistants.
The West Central School Board has voted to move forward with a form of contract with Performance Services for the wind turbine project. The Board also gave authority to Umbaugh and Associates to proceed with issuing the requests for proposals for the bonds for the wind turbine project from underwriter institutions and local banks. That should be done by July 10th and the equipment should be ordered.
The West Central School Board recognized staff members for their many years of service to the School Corporation.
Lisa Marlatt and Cathy Risner were recognized for 15 years; Mike Harter, Pam Ledford and Monica Franscoviak for 20 years; Diana Culp for 25 years; Darla Tanner for 30 years; Susan Gift and Carol Tanner for 35 years; and Jennifer Garten for 40 years. Susan Gift, Keith Schladenhauffen, Susan Overton and Peggy Harris opted to retire after this school year and were also recognized.
The Indiana Department of Education has released a preliminary budget estimate for schools and according to Superintendent, A.J. Gappa, the Knox Community School Corporation looks to be in better shape than its neighboring schools. He said that the School Corporation could see an increase in the next two years.
The West Central School Board has decided to move forward with the wind turbine project.
“In the contract, there will be contingencies as far as whether or not we do proceed, but one of the largest issues had to deal with the insurance and that has been solved at this point in time,” said Superintendent Charles Mellon. “The connection point will be in the contract as a contingency and it is also being worked on at this time. This deals with NIPSCO where we want the connection to be prior to the meter so we can use the electricity ourselves that are generating. We are still waiting on the feed-in tariff regulations to be clarified and approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.”
The West Central School Board approved the Reduction in Force procedures that the Corporation will continue to use this year.
“Often these past few years, we’ve had to go through this process and much of the time we’re hiring much of the same people back that we are putting on the reduction in force list,” said Superintendent Charles Mellon. “In case we don’t get the funding we anticipate, and even more so this year if we get the funding that we are anticipating, which is less, it’s even more critical that we notify our teachers by May 1st that this is a possibility. Because of resignations of a few people and retirements of others, we may be able to eliminate some positions, but not necessarily eliminate teachers.”
The West Central School Board discussed the wind turbine project at its recent meeting. The Board is looking to place a single turbine on the school property in order to save money on energy bills. Superintendent Charles Mellon said there are three issues that have stopped progress on project.
The West Central School Board members discussed the budget at their recent meeting.
“It’s just kind of frustrating when all we’re getting is estimates and we can’t really do a solid projection and yet we should be working on our 2012 budget at this time,” said Superintendent Charles Mellon. “When they talk about flatlining the budget, I think that flatline means that the State may be spending the same amount of money for the next three years in the K-12 education area, but that doesn’t mean that the schools are going to get the same. When I project ours, what we are getting cut this year, $322,000, it almost adds up to $1.3 million over a three year period.”
The West Central High School was recently named a Four Star School by the Indiana Department of Education.
“We’re very happy this accomplishment was made,” said Superintendent Charles Mellon. “It actually reflects back to the 2009-2010 school year. I just sent an email out to the staff congratulating them, as well as the students, for this accomplishment.”
The West Central Technical Review Committee met recently to discuss the wind turbine project.
“At our last meeting, we were actually going over the proposal from Performance Services, Inc.,” said Superintendent Charles Mellon, a Committee participant. “We talked about the identification of the site. It’s actually going to be on the AG plot. Of course there’s different studies including environmental studies that have taken place. We talked about the development plan and there’s still a lot of components yet to put in place. We’re still waiting on NIPSCO to finalize rates. The final meeting will take place February 25th. The earliest our Board would make a final decision would be on March 17th.”
If the project goes as planned, the turbine could be operational in November of this year.
The West Central Technical Review Committee met prior to the School Board’s work session Thursday to review the wind turbine construction proposal, as well as the price proposal presented by Performance Services.
The West Central School Board is looking to erect one wind turbine on the FFA plot on the school grounds. One turbine will power the entire school and there would be some power left over to sell.
No commitment has been make at this time. Further information is needed from Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) before any contractual agreement can be reached. If an affirmative agreement can be reached in March, it is very possible that the wind turbine can be in operation in November of 2011.
The West Central School Board held a work session, Thursday, where the Board decided to focus on repairs and improvements with no new construction in the near future.
