Manchester To Advertise 2020 Budget; Tables Use Of Transportation Tower By AT&T
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Maddie Jo Shultz-
NORTH MANCHESTER – Manchester Community Schools Business Manager Jeremy Markham requested permission from the school board to advertise the 2020 budget, which would be posted on the school’s website 10 days prior to the next meeting.
MCS should receive $10,661,824 from the state in 2020, a 2.39 percent (or $218,115) increase from the amount in 2019. The estimated enrollment for 2020 is 1,571 students. Currently, MCS has 1,557 students enrolled. The state will adjust the funding according to loss or gain of students throughout the year, as on average the school loses 13.4 students from fall to spring semester.
The board approved the advertisement of the 2020 budget before the next meeting.
The board also approved Youth Football’s use of school facilities, a mini cheerleading camp for children from kindergarten through sixth grade, and a raise in adult breakfast price at MJSHS only from $1.85 to $1.90.
Introduced by Markham was a possible tower contract with AT&T, which the board discussed at length. AT&T approached MCS with the offer of $850 per month, or $10,200 per year, in exchange for use and improvement of a cell phone tower on school grounds. The tower is currently 100 feet tall and holds the transportation antennae for school buses. AT&T, if the contract is approved, would build an additional 50 feet on the existing tower, reaffixing the transportation antennae while adding their own equipment for improved AT&T cell phone signal in North Manchester.
Board Secretary David Terflinger expressed doubts regarding the safety of MJSHS students and staff should AT&T be permitted to modify the tower, as the current transportation tower is located “three feet from the cafeteria window” and there are “too many unknowns” regarding the health risk of what Terflinger called “RF or microwave radiation.”
With a vote of four to three, the board moved to table the contract until the next meeting.
Changes to the student technology handbook were approved, as well as a field trip for Shelly Leifer and her business students to Sweetwater Sound and Aptera in Fort Wayne.
Administrative updates and reports included a thank-you to teachers and bus drivers from Markham, and a grinning message of excitement from Superintendent Teresa Gremaux.
“I’m so ready for our students,” she said.
Addressing those staff who were present, she said, “Kudos to everybody.”
Gremaux handed out “Be a Champion” plaques to board members and advised them to “Be a champion for students. Focus on what you can control.”
Athletic Director Eric Screeton and track coach Julie Cassel pitched the addition of pole vault to the track and field program. To get the program started would cost up to $30,000, they said, but could ultimately lead to more competitions and maximize student-athlete experience. Student-athletes Sam Reichenbach and A.J. Fortman addressed the board to voice their support of adding the program.
Final comments included positive messages from both Gremaux and Board President Ruth Ayres, who said they are empowered and inspired by the passion of the school’s staff.
The school board will meet for their next regular session at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 10.
