MENTONE - Some discrepancies are harder to miss than others.
One of those involves the electricity bills at Akron and Mentone elementary schools for Tippecanoe Valley School Corp.
For a 32-day period from June to July at Mentone Elementary, 32,256 kilowatts were used. The bill from NIPSCO totaled $3,633.16, including a $1,587.53 demand charge.
For a 31-day period from June to July at Akron Elementary, 32,480 kw were consumed. Duke Energy billed Tippecanoe Valley $2,344.05, with no demand charge.
At Monday's Tippecanoe Valley School Board meeting, Board President Mark Wise said after reviewing the monthly claims, he asked Superintendent Dr. Daniel Kramer to look into the charges. The demand charge from NIPSCO was a third of their bill. Kramer presented the numbers for the June-July billing cycle of each school to the board, saying the two schools had essentially the same kilowatts of usage.
"What's the benefit of being on demand?" Rod Eaton, school board member, asked.
"There is no benefit," responded Hal Hoffman, board vice president.
Board member Bryan Murphy said it seems silly to have "demand" at Mentone in the summer.
"Once you're on it," Hoffman said, "you're on it."
Kramer said the electricity bills will continued to be monitored and he will keep the school board informed.
Area parents who expressed their concerns about fourth-grade class sizes for the 2007-08 school year at the July meeting returned to the meeting Monday to further discuss the issue.
Chris Morehouse said the parents appreciated the school board listening to them at the July meeting. She also talked with Kramer Monday and he assured her the fourth-grade classes would get instructional assistance.
However, with the classroom space available, Morehouse said she still didn't see why Mentone couldn't have another teacher for the fourth grade. She researched class sizes and found information that shows academic achievement increases when classroom sizes are about 20 students. Also, she said the Indiana State Department of Health requires 30 square feet per child.
"I don't know how we get around that," she said.
Wise said they don't have to get around anything. Classrooms are 900 square feet, which is big enough for 30 students.
At this time, Kramer said 526 students are enrolled at Mentone. Fourth-grade class sizes will be 27, 27 and one at 28. Last year, Mentone's enrollment was 569 students, which means the school's enrollment dropped by 43 students to date. Official enrollment will be taken in September.
Wise said even though Mentone may have extra space, filling it would mean another $50,000 for another teacher, including salary and benefits.
Tippecanoe Valley Schools still isn't sure what revenue they have for 2007, Kramer said, as the state still hasn't approved the corporation's 2007 budget. Given that, Kramer said he wasn't ready to recommend hiring another certified personnel.
If Valley hires an additional teacher, Wise said they won't get additional money from the state. Money from the state is based on the number of students, not number of teachers.
In other business, the school board:
n Announced upcoming school board meeting dates, all at Mentone Elementary School at 7:30 p.m., of Aug. 27, budget public hearing; Sept. 10, regular meeting; Oct. 8, regular meeting.
n Approved hiring: Kyleigh Gast, grade 1 teacher, Akron; Inga Vandermark Omondi, grade 4 teacher, Akron; Bodie Bender, physical education teacher, Tippecanoe Valley Middle School; Marsha King, math teacher, TVMS; Rachel Parker, half-time kindergarten, temporary contract, Mentone; Deborah Fisher, speech language therapist.
Omondi also was approved to serve as the Tippecanoe Valley High School assistant volleyball coach.
n Accepted the retirement of Bernadean Howard, Akron teacher.
n Accepted the resignations of Nathan Speitel, teacher, TVMS; and Matt Richie, teacher and junior varsity boys basketball coach.
n Approved summer school contracts for 2007; and Getting Ready for Kindergarten contracts for Ashley DuBois, Sandy Moriarty and Rachel Parker, Mentone; Kathy Good, Deb Lee and Deb Tillman, Akron.
n Approved the teaching staff and extracurricular activities assignments for the 2007-08 school year.
n Appointed Cindy Border to the Indiana Cooperative Library Services Authority board.
n Approved the sports medicine services and athletic training agreement with Kosciusko Community Hospital. The agreement provides for a certified athletic trainer and/or physical therapist to provide sports medicine services to the high school at all home sporting events. Cost is $10,000.
School board members are Wise, Hoffman, Eaton, Bryan Murphy and Dave O'Brien.
