Warsaw Community School Corp. is off to a good start, according to Superintendent Dr. Craig Hintz at Monday night’s school board meeting. Enrollment at all Warsaw schools for the start of this school year totals 7,282 students, an increase over last year. Enrollment at the August 2012 meeting was reported as 7,116 students. Elementary, half-day kindergarten and preschool students total 3,933. The district average class size for grades first through sixth range from 20.2 in third grade, to 24.8 students in sixth grade. The smallest grade size is fifth grade with 494 students, with the largest elementary grade being 568 students in second grade. At the two middle schools and high school, there are 3,349 students. The freshman class is the smallest with 520 students, while the senior class is the largest with 616 students. Warsaw also has 224 transfers from other school districts. A total of 74 transferred from Tippecanoe Valley to Warsaw, 40 from Wawasee, 64 from Whitko and 46 from other districts. Before the start of the board meeting Monday night, the school board held a reception for new teachers, catered by WCS Food Services. Warsaw has 63 new teachers this year. Each was recognized and given a tile memento with the corporation’s logo and mission on it. Hintz reported recently received ACT results reflect an increase in the number of students taking the examination. WCHS students scores exceed state averages. A complete report will be presented by Chief Accountability Officer Amy Sivley at a future school board meeting. Spring 2013 ISTEP+ results are expected from the Indiana Department of Education by the end of this month, he said. “The board’s facility committee continues to review and discuss the facilities feasibility study conducted by Kovert Hawkins architect Jamie Lake,” Hintz stated. “Specifically, the committee is looking at possible improvements to Lincoln and Washington Elementary Schools, Edgewood Middle School, Warsaw Community High School and the Warsaw Area Career Center.” In 2012, as part of the facilities assessment the Warsaw School Board tasked Kovert Hawkins Architects with, Kovert came up with a “vision” of what Warsaw needs to do and could do with its facilities to improve them. If all the suggestions were approved, the price tag would be approximately $110,565,000 for construction and soft costs of 30 percent, according to Kovert. The renovations at the transportation facility are moving forward with an anticipated completion date in October. The department is in the final stages of installing GPS systems in all WCS buses. The Tiger Cross Boys and Girls Country Invitational will be Sept. 3 at the new cross country course. “The track worked out really well,” Hintz said. In other business, the school board: • Approved a $3,000 donation to the Gateway Education Center library from an anonymous donor. The funds are to be used for books and to purchase library furnishings in order to make a relaxing reading area for students. • Approved a $5,000 donation to the Warsaw Boomerang Backpack program from the Riley Children’s Foundation. • Approved a $24,000 Dekko Art Partnership Grant. All eight WCS elementary schools have each been awarded $3,000. Each building will utilize the funds to contract unique and enriching art experiences for students in third through sixth grade. • Heard a report about the 2013 WCS Summer School program. Forty-eight students attended Kindergarten Countdown, which gets students ready for kindergarten who did not attend any preschool. Thirty-four students attended the Reading Readiness program, while 260 students in first through third grade participated in the IREAD program. The Literacy Program for fourth- through seventh-graders had 148 students attend, with some students not being WCS students. In session one of the high school summer school program, 571 students took credit classes, 75 took drivers training, 117 were in middle school summer band, 89 in the high school summer band, 65 credits were earned by students who needed to make them up and 77 took the summer orchestra. Session two had 388 students in credit classes and 50 credits were recovered. The Summer Enrichment Camps were held in July and WCS partnered with Martin’s Supermarket and Science Central. Edgewood Middle School Principal and Summer School Coordinator JoElla Smyth said, “Warsaw doesn’t go to sleep in the summer. It doesn’t take a vacation. It keeps learning.” • The board approved the Fiscal year 2014 Part B School Age ($1,417,189), Part B Preschool ($40,626) and Part B Technical Assistance ($32,899) applications totaling $1,490,714. The purpose of the grants are to support services to students with disabilities and ensure full implementation of a free and appropriate education. • Approved the Notice to Taxpayers of the 2014 WCS budget. The proposed budget is $71,022,013, with the public hearing set for noon Sept. 6. The notice will be published in the Times-Union today and Sept. 3. The budget adoption will be during the Sept. 30 board meeting. • Heard the September and October meeting dates have changed. The board work sessions will be Sept. 24 and Oct. 15 at 4 p.m., and the regular board meetings will be Sept. 30 and Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.
