WCS To List Silver Lake School On eBay
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
At the Warsaw School Board meeting Monday, Superintendent Dr. Robert Haworth said since October 2005, the school board has sought out purposes and potential buyers for the Silver Lake School building. No buyer has been found.[[In-content Ad]]Haworth said he will authorize Chief Financial Officer Kevin Scott and school corporation's business department to post the building on eBay.
"This is an option we haven't tried," Haworth said. "This is the next step."
Ron Yeiter, school board president, said putting the building on eBay doesn't necessarily put the building into an auction. It was more like a classified advertisement.
The heating and air conditioning for the building, said Haworth, is prohibitive for buyers.
At the end of the 2003-04 school year, the school board decided to close three elementary schools - Silver Lake, Claypool and Atwood - which contributed to the overcrowding problem the school corporation currently faces. Claypool is being reopened and remodeled as part of the school corporation's new building project, and Atwood was sold at auction.
At the December meeting, the school board voted for WCHS to return to a seven-period schedule. However, the school board asked WCHS administrators to find out if teachers preferred a traditional seven-period schedule or a modified seven-period schedule.
Troy Akers, senior class WCHS principal, presented the results to the school board Monday.
In a traditional seven-period schedule, there are seven periods, each 50 minutes long. In a modified seven-period schedule, Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays have seven periods, each 50 minutes long. However, on Wednesdays, periods 2, 4 and 6 meet at 78 minutes long, and there are also periods of sustained silent reading, lab time and teacher collaboration time. On Thursdays, periods 1, 3, 5 and 7 meet for 78 minutes each, with also a silent sustained reading time.
After presenting the pro's and con's of both types of seven-period schedules, Akers said of the 122 ballots by teachers, 114 were actually cast. Of the 114, 73 teachers voted for traditional and 41 voted for modified.
Forty random students also were asked to vote for the type of schedule they would prefer. Of the 40, 28 were in favor of modified and 12 were for traditional.
Dr. Jennifer Lucht, WCHS principal, said from the results, there is a recommendation from both groups. If a committee was formed, she said they could find a way to have the traditional schedule with some classes being blocked schedule. Akers said the school board asked them to get more information, but he wasn't sure they had enough information. When asked to vote, Akers said teachers wanted to see a physical copy of what the schedules would look like.
One of the concerns with scheduling is the 30-33 minute lunch period to feed about 1,750 students. The cafeteria capacity is about 600 students, but the problem is lunch line. Akers said they will have to come up with creative ways to have lunch.
Haworth said under the current teachers contract, there may be some issue with the modified schedule.
When the teachers voted on the type of seven-period schedule, Akers said they were not told their vote may result in the board taking an action on the schedule. School board member Deb Wiggins said she was uncomfortable with them not being told their decision "will cause another decision to be made."
After hearing some additional comments, the school board voted unanimously to go with the traditional seven-period schedule. Wiggins also made a motion, which was approved, for a committee to be formed through Haworth to study any issues brought about from the traditional seven-period schedule.
The traditional schedule starts with the 2008-09 school year.
WCHS's cross-country team appeared at Monday's meeting, but didn't need to speak up in favor of keeping their coach, Jim Mills.
Haworth said, "At this time, I see no reason why Mills can not continue as the cross country coach."
At the December meeting, cross country runners and their parents spoke out in favor of Mills staying on as coach. Mills was not at the sectional cross country meet because he went to Spain with his wife. However, he told the team ahead of the meet that he would not be there, but the assistant coaches would be. He also called the runners the day of the meet.
A recommendation was forwarded to Haworth for Mills' termination.
After Haworth reported Mills will be keeping his job, teacher and cross country parent Mary Haeck said that she appreciated the thought that went into the decision. Mills has been good for the runners, and she has seen a lot of growth in her son because of him.
"I thank you for that," Haeck said.
At the Warsaw School Board meeting Monday, Superintendent Dr. Robert Haworth said since October 2005, the school board has sought out purposes and potential buyers for the Silver Lake School building. No buyer has been found.[[In-content Ad]]Haworth said he will authorize Chief Financial Officer Kevin Scott and school corporation's business department to post the building on eBay.
"This is an option we haven't tried," Haworth said. "This is the next step."
Ron Yeiter, school board president, said putting the building on eBay doesn't necessarily put the building into an auction. It was more like a classified advertisement.
The heating and air conditioning for the building, said Haworth, is prohibitive for buyers.
At the end of the 2003-04 school year, the school board decided to close three elementary schools - Silver Lake, Claypool and Atwood - which contributed to the overcrowding problem the school corporation currently faces. Claypool is being reopened and remodeled as part of the school corporation's new building project, and Atwood was sold at auction.
At the December meeting, the school board voted for WCHS to return to a seven-period schedule. However, the school board asked WCHS administrators to find out if teachers preferred a traditional seven-period schedule or a modified seven-period schedule.
Troy Akers, senior class WCHS principal, presented the results to the school board Monday.
In a traditional seven-period schedule, there are seven periods, each 50 minutes long. In a modified seven-period schedule, Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays have seven periods, each 50 minutes long. However, on Wednesdays, periods 2, 4 and 6 meet at 78 minutes long, and there are also periods of sustained silent reading, lab time and teacher collaboration time. On Thursdays, periods 1, 3, 5 and 7 meet for 78 minutes each, with also a silent sustained reading time.
After presenting the pro's and con's of both types of seven-period schedules, Akers said of the 122 ballots by teachers, 114 were actually cast. Of the 114, 73 teachers voted for traditional and 41 voted for modified.
Forty random students also were asked to vote for the type of schedule they would prefer. Of the 40, 28 were in favor of modified and 12 were for traditional.
Dr. Jennifer Lucht, WCHS principal, said from the results, there is a recommendation from both groups. If a committee was formed, she said they could find a way to have the traditional schedule with some classes being blocked schedule. Akers said the school board asked them to get more information, but he wasn't sure they had enough information. When asked to vote, Akers said teachers wanted to see a physical copy of what the schedules would look like.
One of the concerns with scheduling is the 30-33 minute lunch period to feed about 1,750 students. The cafeteria capacity is about 600 students, but the problem is lunch line. Akers said they will have to come up with creative ways to have lunch.
Haworth said under the current teachers contract, there may be some issue with the modified schedule.
When the teachers voted on the type of seven-period schedule, Akers said they were not told their vote may result in the board taking an action on the schedule. School board member Deb Wiggins said she was uncomfortable with them not being told their decision "will cause another decision to be made."
After hearing some additional comments, the school board voted unanimously to go with the traditional seven-period schedule. Wiggins also made a motion, which was approved, for a committee to be formed through Haworth to study any issues brought about from the traditional seven-period schedule.
The traditional schedule starts with the 2008-09 school year.
WCHS's cross-country team appeared at Monday's meeting, but didn't need to speak up in favor of keeping their coach, Jim Mills.
Haworth said, "At this time, I see no reason why Mills can not continue as the cross country coach."
At the December meeting, cross country runners and their parents spoke out in favor of Mills staying on as coach. Mills was not at the sectional cross country meet because he went to Spain with his wife. However, he told the team ahead of the meet that he would not be there, but the assistant coaches would be. He also called the runners the day of the meet.
A recommendation was forwarded to Haworth for Mills' termination.
After Haworth reported Mills will be keeping his job, teacher and cross country parent Mary Haeck said that she appreciated the thought that went into the decision. Mills has been good for the runners, and she has seen a lot of growth in her son because of him.
"I thank you for that," Haeck said.
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