Whitko Props Up Budget By Nixing Summer School
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
PIERCETON -ÊSummer school for Whitko Community School Corp. is canceled this year.
Whitko Director of Curriculum Diana Showalter recommended to the Whitko School Board Monday that summer school be canceled due to the state Legislature's budget cuts.
"The funding is just not there for summer school," she said.
Only driver's education and summer band will be offered. Summer band will still be held because the fall band program is dependent on fielding the band in the summer. Showalter said if the state Legislature gets back on track, she hopes they will be able to offer summer school next year.
Board member Dave Tranter made the motion to approve Showalter's recommendation, saying it was being made with "great sadness" and he hoped not having summer school wasn't permanent.
"We don't want to do this," Tranter said. "We are being forced to do this by the state of Indiana."
Concerned citizens, said board member Hal Trump, need to contact their representatives. The motion was unanimously approved.
After the meeting, Showalter said she believes tutoring and other remediation for students who need it can be done during the school year. "We hope not to penalize any students," she said.
Asked if the budget cuts will force the school corporation to cut back on staffing, Showalter said that is not something they have looked at yet. She said she hopes they won't have to let any people go but that will depend on such figures as projected enrollment for next year, which has not been looked at.
South Whitley Elementary School was looked at last Friday by CBS News from New York. The news organization is doing a program on playground equipment safety, and SWES is one of the schools they investigated.
The program is slated to run April 20 on the CBS "Early Morning Show" sometime between 9 and 11 a.m.
Tranter, who was at the school when CBS News visited, said, "We all held our breath as to how we would do."
The school's playground received an "A." Tranter said they just missed an "A+" because of a "couple inches of pea gravel." Tranter said they were told the elementary school did much better than most brand new schools.
"We got an 'A' ... good for us!"
CBS selected SWES through friends of second-grade teacher Nicole Haynes.
This morning, Haynes said the son of her friends - who is now 13 - was in a playground accident in 1994. Since then, the family, who live in Indianapolis, have become advocates of playground safety.
Haynes' friends put together a safety program for classes and worked with the National Program for Playground Safety. Playground Safety Week is next week and, wanting to do a program on playground safety, CBS contacted NPPS. NPPS put CBS in touch with Haynes' friends and asked them to do a program with a second- or third-grade class on playground safety. Haynes' friends then contacted her about doing the program with her class.
"It was very good," Haynes said of the program.
In other business, the school board:
• Approved the bid from McCready & Keene Inc. for $2,396 to conduct an actuarial study to determine the school corporation's unfunded retirement liability. Other bids were received from The Nyhart Co. for $2,500 and Educational Services Co. for $3,600.
• Approved the textbook adoptions as presented.
• Heard the Whitko High School's prom is May 4 in Warsaw.
• Heard South Whitley Elementary School's carnival is Friday from 5 to 8 p.m.; the book fair is April 22-26; Spirit Day is April 26.
• Heard midterms at the middle school are April 30. The academic awards ceremony for sixth- and seventh-graders will be May 28 at 7 p.m. and the eighth grade recognition is June 3 at 7 p.m.
• Approved the submission of grant applications totaling $6,250 and the receipt of grant monies totaling $8,720.
• Announced a public work session will be May 16 at 7 p.m. in the Whitko Administration Building board room to review the school improvement plans for each school in the district. Each principal will present a summary of the school improvement plan and respond to board questions. The board will take official action on the plans at the May 22 regular meeting.
• Was given a presentation by the Junior Historians of Whitko Middle School. Junior Historians is a nonprofit organization involving students in grades six through eight in local history.
• Approved 25 field trip requests as presented.
Whitko Community Schools Corp. board of school trustees are Larry Long, Hal Trump, Deborah Collier, Dave Tranter and Michael Braddock. Superintendent is Dr. William Worl. They meet at 7:30 p.m. on the third Monday of every month in the administration building, Pierceton. [[In-content Ad]]
PIERCETON -ÊSummer school for Whitko Community School Corp. is canceled this year.
Whitko Director of Curriculum Diana Showalter recommended to the Whitko School Board Monday that summer school be canceled due to the state Legislature's budget cuts.
"The funding is just not there for summer school," she said.
Only driver's education and summer band will be offered. Summer band will still be held because the fall band program is dependent on fielding the band in the summer. Showalter said if the state Legislature gets back on track, she hopes they will be able to offer summer school next year.
Board member Dave Tranter made the motion to approve Showalter's recommendation, saying it was being made with "great sadness" and he hoped not having summer school wasn't permanent.
"We don't want to do this," Tranter said. "We are being forced to do this by the state of Indiana."
Concerned citizens, said board member Hal Trump, need to contact their representatives. The motion was unanimously approved.
After the meeting, Showalter said she believes tutoring and other remediation for students who need it can be done during the school year. "We hope not to penalize any students," she said.
Asked if the budget cuts will force the school corporation to cut back on staffing, Showalter said that is not something they have looked at yet. She said she hopes they won't have to let any people go but that will depend on such figures as projected enrollment for next year, which has not been looked at.
South Whitley Elementary School was looked at last Friday by CBS News from New York. The news organization is doing a program on playground equipment safety, and SWES is one of the schools they investigated.
The program is slated to run April 20 on the CBS "Early Morning Show" sometime between 9 and 11 a.m.
Tranter, who was at the school when CBS News visited, said, "We all held our breath as to how we would do."
The school's playground received an "A." Tranter said they just missed an "A+" because of a "couple inches of pea gravel." Tranter said they were told the elementary school did much better than most brand new schools.
"We got an 'A' ... good for us!"
CBS selected SWES through friends of second-grade teacher Nicole Haynes.
This morning, Haynes said the son of her friends - who is now 13 - was in a playground accident in 1994. Since then, the family, who live in Indianapolis, have become advocates of playground safety.
Haynes' friends put together a safety program for classes and worked with the National Program for Playground Safety. Playground Safety Week is next week and, wanting to do a program on playground safety, CBS contacted NPPS. NPPS put CBS in touch with Haynes' friends and asked them to do a program with a second- or third-grade class on playground safety. Haynes' friends then contacted her about doing the program with her class.
"It was very good," Haynes said of the program.
In other business, the school board:
• Approved the bid from McCready & Keene Inc. for $2,396 to conduct an actuarial study to determine the school corporation's unfunded retirement liability. Other bids were received from The Nyhart Co. for $2,500 and Educational Services Co. for $3,600.
• Approved the textbook adoptions as presented.
• Heard the Whitko High School's prom is May 4 in Warsaw.
• Heard South Whitley Elementary School's carnival is Friday from 5 to 8 p.m.; the book fair is April 22-26; Spirit Day is April 26.
• Heard midterms at the middle school are April 30. The academic awards ceremony for sixth- and seventh-graders will be May 28 at 7 p.m. and the eighth grade recognition is June 3 at 7 p.m.
• Approved the submission of grant applications totaling $6,250 and the receipt of grant monies totaling $8,720.
• Announced a public work session will be May 16 at 7 p.m. in the Whitko Administration Building board room to review the school improvement plans for each school in the district. Each principal will present a summary of the school improvement plan and respond to board questions. The board will take official action on the plans at the May 22 regular meeting.
• Was given a presentation by the Junior Historians of Whitko Middle School. Junior Historians is a nonprofit organization involving students in grades six through eight in local history.
• Approved 25 field trip requests as presented.
Whitko Community Schools Corp. board of school trustees are Larry Long, Hal Trump, Deborah Collier, Dave Tranter and Michael Braddock. Superintendent is Dr. William Worl. They meet at 7:30 p.m. on the third Monday of every month in the administration building, Pierceton. [[In-content Ad]]