PIERCETON - Whitko School Board heard a presentation Monday night concerning the corporation's Student Assistance Program with Grace College.
Jenny Lovette and Bill Stephen, Bowen Center, who administers the program, gave the board numbers concerning the program.
According to Lovette, 110 students in grades kindergarten to 12th grade used the service for a variety of reasons, ranging from ADHD to depression to substance abuse.
Students are given two free visits to see a counselor for the school year.
Lovette commended Whitko for being the first school corporation to adopt the program.
In total, the 110 students combined for a total of 1,326 visits for the 2009-2010 school year.
The average household income for students who took part in SAP was $28,925, while there are 3.79 people per household.
Bowen Center has more than 500 counselors in 10 different counties but has 63 counselors that serve Kosciusko County.
Whitko Superintendent Steve Clason recapped the referendum that was defeated Nov. 2. by a wide margin.
Clason said that of 14 referendums on ballots throughout the state, just four passed. Of those four, one was for 1 cent while the other was tax neutral.
During school reports, Pierceton Elementary Principal Barb Ihnen said that an appeal by her school to meet Adequate Yearly Progress was turned down.
Clason said that the rules changed for the program, which stems from the No Child Left Behind Act, and that some of the determinations made for AYP were hard to understand.
Ihnen noted that one child in the school was marked as special education even though the student had never been in special education.
"We may just decide to do whatever's best for the student, and if we never make AYP, oh well," said Clason.
South Whitley Elementary Principal Bruce Hansen said that professional cartoonist Duane Abel will be in assemblies at the school Wednesday morning.
Abel created the comic strip "ZED".
Hansen also said that a book fair is ongoing at the school and there will be a student recognition assembly Nov. 24.
Whitko Principal Parrish Kruger said Patricia Weybright was given the YWCA Hope Award for her work with the Students Against Destructive Decisions group.
The school board went over board goals for the school year.
The main goals were to improve the promotion of the school and communication with parents and the community. The other was to improve college and career prep programs.
They also discussed bringing full-day kindergarten to Whitko.
The Whitko School board meets at 7:30 p.m. the third Monday of each month at the administration building in Pierceton.
