Typically, the Warsaw School Board doesn’t approve any items during its monthly public work session, saving that for its regular monthly meeting the following Monday. But at its work session Tuesday afternoon, the board approved an agreement with the Warsaw Police Department for school resource officers and the hiring of Jeanine Corson as Warsaw Community Schools’ director of human resources. The contract with the WPD also must be approved by the city’s Board of Public Works and Safety this month. The original agreement was dated Aug. 2, 2013. WCS Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert indicated this year’s two-year agreement was the same as the one approved in 2013, except for a lower cost due to the initial expense of equipment for the officers being paid for in previous years. The contract approved Tuesday by the school board indicates WCS shall pay to the city $132,698 for Aug. 1 through July 31 and $136,679 for Aug. 1, 2016, through July 31, 2017. In the 2013 agreement, the sums were $169,903.50 for the first year and $169,903.50 for the second year. WCS will pay the sum in eight equal installments of $33,672, with the first installment due in November. For its obligation, the City of Warsaw will assign four regularly employed police officers to WCS, according to the original agreement. An additional officer for crossing guard duties may be provided at WCS’s request. The original contract also spells out the hours and duties of the officers and states that they are employees of the city and not the school district. With the hiring of Corson as the director of human resources, the school district now has a replacement for Amy Sivley. Sivley was approved in June as the new principal at Lakeview Middle School, replacing Jon Lippe who took a job with Manchester Community Schools. Corson’s duties with WCS begin effective today. “I think she will be fantastic,” Sivley said of her replacement. After Corson’s approval, Sivley reviewed the rest of the personnel report but said there will be some additions by Monday’s regular monthly meeting. “There are a lot of positions we are filling,” she said. Among personnel items are the resignations of Tracy Horrell as assistant principal at Edgewood Middle School and Randy Dahms, principal, at Leesburg Elementary. Dahms was named principal at Mentone Elementary Monday night. As WCS prepares for the upcoming school year with new personnel, Chief Accountability Officer Dani Barkey gave a brief presentation on the new school registration software, InfoSnap. The online registration opened July 6 and Barkey said they’ve been “really pleased” with it. “We were able to do the implementation process in less than six weeks,” she said. Parents and the public were notified of InfoSnap through the corporation’s website, a local and social media blitz and through the district’s Pride magazine. Personal emails also were sent to each email in WCS’s PowerSchool system. Once a person goes to the registration site, Barkey said they can choose between being a return WCS student, new to the district or being an out-of-district transfer student. InfoSnap should take parents less time to register all their students, Barkey said, and it’s designed to adjust the form to respond to data entered. For schools, Barkey said, “We have the ability to notify parents through InfoSnap about their registration.” She said it will streamline the registration process. In the first week, Barkey said over one-fourth of WCS’s students have registered. “We’ve never seen that fast of a response in one week,” she said. Barkey also noted that WCS has had more out-of-district transfers this year than before and a lot of new students. Barkey said there will still be in-building registration prior to the start of the school year. By way of an audio presentation recorded by Chief Academic Officer David Robertson, the board heard about the final textbook rental fees for 2015-16. The board approved the fees for kindergarten to fifth grade in June, but will have to approve the fees for sixth grade and up Monday. Fees for grades seventh through 12th will depend on which courses students enroll in. The fee for sixth grade will be $196.50, which includes $45.25 for a 1:1 device. Robertson indicated the sixth-grade fee was an increase of $41.50 over last school year, but the committee did their best to keep prices down. Fees for the other elementary grades, already approved, include: kindergarten, $129.50; first grade, $167.95; second grade, $159.20; third grade, $153.95; fourth grade, $158.95; and fifth grade, $169.25. In other business, the board: • Heard the only service agreement up for approval Monday is a Microsoft three-year agreement for district wide computer systems with Bell Techlogix for $38,203. Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert said this was one of the district’s annual renewals to keep WCS software going. The price was reduced – by 18 percent – because it’s more cloud-based than before. • Heard they will be asked to approve a resolution to transfer money from debt service to the textbook fund in order to offset the shortfall of state funding for textbook reimbursement. The amount that will be transfered for the 2014-15 school year is $160,205.55 and was included in the approved 2015 budget. • Heard a request from Wendy Long, director of communication and language programs, to take herself and nine others to the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment National Conference in Las Vegas, Nev., from Oct. 15 to 17. Anticipated expenses will be $1,540 per person, including registration, travel, lodging and meals. Expenses will be paid out of various funds including Title I and Title III. Long also reported on the 2015-16 Title I grant application for about $1.09 million, pending final U.S. Department of Education approval. • Considered the reappointment of Catherine Cindrich as a trustee of the Warsaw Community Public Library. Her current term ends Aug. 31. • Reviewed the annual residential placement resolution for 2015-16. It authorizes the superintendent and director of special services to enter into contracts on behalf of WCS for residential student placements. • Reviewed the updated parent-student handbook and various staff handbooks for the 2015-16 school year.
