Tippy Valley Takes Care Of Business
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
• Policy changes address access to school records
BURKET - One new policy and three updates to policies were given their first reading Monday at the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. school board meeting.
The new policy addresses records and access to public disclosure.
Under the policy, the superintendent is the records access officer and must assume responsibility for public records release decisions.
All requests for access to public records must be made in person during regular business hours. Requests must identify the record for which disclosure is sought on forms provided by the corporation. Records may be inspected only at the office or location where they are regularly maintained. Copies may be obtained at the cost established by the superintendent.
With respect to records that are determined to not be available, the records access officer will certify on the request form that the corporation does not possess the record or that it could not be found after searching.
The officer will follow the Indiana Access to Public Records Act and any amendments, state and federal law and board policy.
If a request for disclosure is denied, the person making the request may appeal to the school board.
The corporation will not create or provide lists of names and addresses unless it is required to publish such a list and disseminate them pursuant to statute.
The following records are exempt from public disclosure, under the policy: records declared confidential by state statute or federal law; records containing trade secrets or confidential financial information; investigatory records of law enforcement agencies; work product of corporation attorneys, board members or any employee; test questions, scoring keys and other examination data; records containing intra-agency or interagency advisory or deliberative material that is an expression of opinion or of speculative nature; diaries, journals or other personal notes; administration or technical information that would jeopardize the corporation's record-keeping; computer programs; records prepared for discussion; identity of an anonymous donor; library records; and school safety and security measures.
Also exempt under the policy are personnel files of school employees and files of applicants for employment except for name, compensation, job title, business address and phone number, job description, education and training background, previous work experience, dates of first and last employment; information relating to the status of any formal written complaint or charge made against the employee; or the factual basis for a disciplinary action in which final action has been taken and resulted in the employee being suspended, demoted or discharged.
As for the updates in school corporation policy, under the Equal Employment Opportunity policy, the update includes the addition that the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. supports the principle that all persons regardless of gender and sexual orientation shall have equal employment opportunities. Gender replaces the word sex.
Under health and immunization, the updated policy says that, effective the 2004-05 school year, children entering kindergarten or first grade must be immunized against chicken pox.
And under academic honors, the policy now states that each year as part of the school corporation's state funding distribution, the corporation receives additional funding (replacing the word $800) for each academic honors diploma recipient in the previous school year.
The school board will vote on the new and updated policies at its November meeting.
• Valley parent praises alternative learning center
BURKET - It's only midterm, but at least one Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. parent is pleased with the new alternative learning center at Burket.
Tonda Hinton told the Valley School Board Monday she has children in high school and middle school and she wanted to tell the board how much she really likes the Burket center.
"It's a real opportunity (for kids) that just don't fit into the regular system," she said.
Her son, Zach, didn't fit into a niche at the regular high school - he needed more attention. He had a bad idea about school. By the first semester of his sophomore year, the teachers didn't want him in class.
At first, Hinton said, they discovered the Alternative Instruction Methods School at Warsaw. When she heard about the Burket school, she looked into Zach possibly attending there.
Since he's been at the alternative learning center, Hinton said, she's seen a total turnaround with her son. He went from not passing one class to having a 4.0 grade point average at mid-term.
"He will graduate," she said. "He will get his diploma."
Tippecanoe Valley's employees helped with her son, too, and getting him going at Burket.
In another matter, the board approved an agreement with Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Central Indiana for a school buddies program at Akron Elementary School.
Volunteers from the community are matched to elementary school students. Each "Big" brother or sister spends an hour per week during the school year with a student in a supervised group setting at the school. They eat lunch and have recess together as they interact in a mentoring capacity.
Pike Lumber Co. of Akron has agreed to allow 10 percent of its workforce to be available for one hour once a week to mentor students. Each mentor is screened by Big Brothers Big Sisters.
The school buddies program will take place at Akron Elementary School each Tuesday and Thursday from October through May.
Official enrollment at Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. is up this year by 39 students compared to last year.
Akron Elementary School's count on official count day was 422 students, compared to 423 for the 2002-03 school year.
Mentone's count this year is 488 students, but that includes the Burket students who now go to Mentone since Burket Elementary School was converted to the alternative learning center.
In 2002-03, Burket had 115 students and Mentone had 383, for a total of 498 students.
The middle school 2003-04 count is 570 students, compared to 559 students in 2002-03.
The high school has had the most growth, with a count of 657 for 2003-04 compared to 618 for 2002-03.
Board member Mark Wise said the increase in enrollment this year is a change from what the corporation has had the last three years.
In 1998-99, the official count was 2,236; was 2,279 in 1999-2000; 2,176 in 2000-01; 2,168 in 2001-02; 2,098 in 2002-03; and 2,137 this year.
Also, the school board approved to advertise an additional appropriation of $18,030 from grant monies to be approved at the November meeting; and approved a resolution to allow the mental health therapist position to be covered by Public Employees' Retirement Fund.
The next board meetings are Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m., Mentone, and Dec. 8, 7 p.m., Mentone.
Board members are David E. O'Brien, Bryan D. Murphy, Rod Eaton, Hal D. Hoffman and Mark Wise. [[In-content Ad]]
• Policy changes address access to school records
BURKET - One new policy and three updates to policies were given their first reading Monday at the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. school board meeting.
The new policy addresses records and access to public disclosure.
Under the policy, the superintendent is the records access officer and must assume responsibility for public records release decisions.
All requests for access to public records must be made in person during regular business hours. Requests must identify the record for which disclosure is sought on forms provided by the corporation. Records may be inspected only at the office or location where they are regularly maintained. Copies may be obtained at the cost established by the superintendent.
With respect to records that are determined to not be available, the records access officer will certify on the request form that the corporation does not possess the record or that it could not be found after searching.
The officer will follow the Indiana Access to Public Records Act and any amendments, state and federal law and board policy.
If a request for disclosure is denied, the person making the request may appeal to the school board.
The corporation will not create or provide lists of names and addresses unless it is required to publish such a list and disseminate them pursuant to statute.
The following records are exempt from public disclosure, under the policy: records declared confidential by state statute or federal law; records containing trade secrets or confidential financial information; investigatory records of law enforcement agencies; work product of corporation attorneys, board members or any employee; test questions, scoring keys and other examination data; records containing intra-agency or interagency advisory or deliberative material that is an expression of opinion or of speculative nature; diaries, journals or other personal notes; administration or technical information that would jeopardize the corporation's record-keeping; computer programs; records prepared for discussion; identity of an anonymous donor; library records; and school safety and security measures.
Also exempt under the policy are personnel files of school employees and files of applicants for employment except for name, compensation, job title, business address and phone number, job description, education and training background, previous work experience, dates of first and last employment; information relating to the status of any formal written complaint or charge made against the employee; or the factual basis for a disciplinary action in which final action has been taken and resulted in the employee being suspended, demoted or discharged.
As for the updates in school corporation policy, under the Equal Employment Opportunity policy, the update includes the addition that the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. supports the principle that all persons regardless of gender and sexual orientation shall have equal employment opportunities. Gender replaces the word sex.
Under health and immunization, the updated policy says that, effective the 2004-05 school year, children entering kindergarten or first grade must be immunized against chicken pox.
And under academic honors, the policy now states that each year as part of the school corporation's state funding distribution, the corporation receives additional funding (replacing the word $800) for each academic honors diploma recipient in the previous school year.
The school board will vote on the new and updated policies at its November meeting.
• Valley parent praises alternative learning center
BURKET - It's only midterm, but at least one Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. parent is pleased with the new alternative learning center at Burket.
Tonda Hinton told the Valley School Board Monday she has children in high school and middle school and she wanted to tell the board how much she really likes the Burket center.
"It's a real opportunity (for kids) that just don't fit into the regular system," she said.
Her son, Zach, didn't fit into a niche at the regular high school - he needed more attention. He had a bad idea about school. By the first semester of his sophomore year, the teachers didn't want him in class.
At first, Hinton said, they discovered the Alternative Instruction Methods School at Warsaw. When she heard about the Burket school, she looked into Zach possibly attending there.
Since he's been at the alternative learning center, Hinton said, she's seen a total turnaround with her son. He went from not passing one class to having a 4.0 grade point average at mid-term.
"He will graduate," she said. "He will get his diploma."
Tippecanoe Valley's employees helped with her son, too, and getting him going at Burket.
In another matter, the board approved an agreement with Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Central Indiana for a school buddies program at Akron Elementary School.
Volunteers from the community are matched to elementary school students. Each "Big" brother or sister spends an hour per week during the school year with a student in a supervised group setting at the school. They eat lunch and have recess together as they interact in a mentoring capacity.
Pike Lumber Co. of Akron has agreed to allow 10 percent of its workforce to be available for one hour once a week to mentor students. Each mentor is screened by Big Brothers Big Sisters.
The school buddies program will take place at Akron Elementary School each Tuesday and Thursday from October through May.
Official enrollment at Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. is up this year by 39 students compared to last year.
Akron Elementary School's count on official count day was 422 students, compared to 423 for the 2002-03 school year.
Mentone's count this year is 488 students, but that includes the Burket students who now go to Mentone since Burket Elementary School was converted to the alternative learning center.
In 2002-03, Burket had 115 students and Mentone had 383, for a total of 498 students.
The middle school 2003-04 count is 570 students, compared to 559 students in 2002-03.
The high school has had the most growth, with a count of 657 for 2003-04 compared to 618 for 2002-03.
Board member Mark Wise said the increase in enrollment this year is a change from what the corporation has had the last three years.
In 1998-99, the official count was 2,236; was 2,279 in 1999-2000; 2,176 in 2000-01; 2,168 in 2001-02; 2,098 in 2002-03; and 2,137 this year.
Also, the school board approved to advertise an additional appropriation of $18,030 from grant monies to be approved at the November meeting; and approved a resolution to allow the mental health therapist position to be covered by Public Employees' Retirement Fund.
The next board meetings are Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m., Mentone, and Dec. 8, 7 p.m., Mentone.
Board members are David E. O'Brien, Bryan D. Murphy, Rod Eaton, Hal D. Hoffman and Mark Wise. [[In-content Ad]]