Report after report came before the Warsaw School Board Monday during the 3-1/2-hour meeting.
The reports covered ISTEP, driver's education, school cancellations, finances and building maintenance.
Terry Roe, director of assessment, gave a report on the fall 2008 ISTEP results.
He reported English/language arts are above state average at every grade level. In math, the middle schools are Warsaw Schools' strong point, but grade three has been on the decline the past few years.The breakdown of the percentage of students passing by grade level is, English/language arts: grade 3, 77 percent; grade 4, 79 percent; grade 5, 78 percent; grade 6, 78 percent; grade 7, 85 percent; grade 8, 71 percent; grade 10, 72 percent; and all grade levels, 76 percent. Math: grade 3, 69 percent; grade 4, 76 percent; grade 5, 85 percent; grade 6, 84 percent; grade 7, 85 percent; grade 8, 78 percent; grade 10, 71 percent; and all grade levels, 78 percent.
Roe also reported 18 Warsaw students received perfect scores on ISTEP. Thirteen of those were in English/language arts, and five had perfect scores in math. In addition, 393 students made significant improvements on their scores compared to previous ISTEP scores.
Interim Superintendent Ralph Bailey reported that as of Jan. 20, there are 6,937 students in Warsaw Community Schools. Of the total, 3,817 are in the elementary schools and 3,120 are in the middle and high schools.
Nick Walenga and Betsy Sudhoff, directors of the driver's education program, reported on the program.
Sudhoff said the program can meet the driver's education needs of 240 students throughout the school year. They have summer sessions in June and july.
Walenga said they have four cars on the road all day and drive in three-hour blocks. The program uses a tank and a quarter of gasoline per day, and has to pay car rental fees and insurance.
The state sets the requirements for the program, Walenga said. Students must do 12 hours of observation in a car and must keep a log.
Walenga also expressed his confidence in the instructors. "We do not have an instructor I do not respect," he said. He said they work to keep students alive on the road. "This is a program that works."
The school board the recommended rate of $375 per student for driver's education for the 2009 calendar year. The rate is needed because the program currently is running in the red, a net income loss of $9,251.97 in 2008.
Kay Kelly, executive operations administrator, gave a report on the school delay/cancellation information process.
She said Director of Transportation Della Swain will make a recommendation based upon her evaluative plan to Gensinger. Swain then will report Gensinger's decision to media sources and Kelly. Kelly will be in charge of WCS's correspondence in this matter.
Upon notification from Swain, Kelly will update the WCS's Web site and hotline. This will be posted for public display no later than 6 a.m. Upon completion of the updates, Kelly will notify Gensinger that the information was successfully posted.
Kelly will double check that the media has been contacted. Lori Tilden will double check that the WCS Web site and hotline have been updated.
Chief Financial Officer Kevin Scott reviewed the 2008 year-end finances.
The Department of Local Government Finance historically is supposed to provide schools' budgets in February. In 2008, that didn't come until August.
The 2008 general fund beginning cash balance was slightly more than $6 million. Total receipts were $44,874,000, with total balance and receipts of $50,895,000. Total expenditures were $47,276,000, with an ending cash balance of $3,619,000.
Scott said the transportation budget in 2008 started with a cash balance of $693,000. Total receipts were $3,130,000, with total balance and receipts of $3,823,000. Expenditures for 2008 totaled $3,631,000, leaving a cash balance of $192,000.
Scott said the transportation budget lost a lot of cash in 2008 because of the spike in gas prices. Fuel costs for the year went up about $74,000.
For 2009, Scott said the state will fully fund the general fund as of Jan. 1. That should improve the cash flow for that fund, he said.
In 2010, the budget cycle will change from January to December to July to June to match the state's budget cycle. Details are still undetermined, Scott said.
In conclusion, Scott said, "2008 was a positive year, and 2009 should be challenging but favorable."
Greg Schroeder, director of maintenance, gave a report on buildings and grounds.
In 2008, he said his department responded to 4,495 service requests. The largest percentage of these were repair orders, and the highest demanded repair was for HVAC service. There were 4,356 service requests in 2007.
WCS has 17 buildings open, totaling 1.3 million square feet.
Jamie Lake, of Kovert Hawkins, architectural firm for WCS's elementary school building project, said they are in the midst of receiving and opening bids for the projects. Bids were opened Jan. 20 for the Madison and Leesburg projects. On Feb. 3, the bids for Jefferson will be open, with bids for Claypool open Feb. 19.
Lake said the process was going great and they couldn't ask for anything more out of the bid market.
In other business, the board:
n Recognized Biomet for donating $2,000 for playground equipment at Washington Elementary School. Rich Groninger and G&G Hauling and Excavating were recognized for donating the excavation of two large areas at the school for installation of the playground equipment.
n Recognized Wal-Mart Foundation for awarding a $1,000 grant to Lakeview Middle School for Positive Behavior Intervention System awards and recognition.
n Recognized Dan and Tina Rice for their donation of The Kaufman Speech Praxis Treatment Kit for Children and the Speech Praxis Workout Book.
n Announced Lincoln Elementary School was nominated for a 2009 federal No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools award, as previously reported in the Times-Union.
n Heard a report on the Warsaw Community High School Step 1 U.S. history class trip to the presidential inauguration Jan. 18-21.
"It was an incredible trip," said teacher and trip organizer Dave Hoffert.
Students Tony Climaco, Nick Hill and Matt Voss spoke about the trip, with Voss presenting the school board with a signed group photo of the class taken in Washington, D.C.
Board member Dan Robinson thanked Hoffert and the chaperones for making the trip happen. He said he wished they could make history that exciting for the whole school.
