By GLEN WERLING
Enrollment at Northern Wells Schools is up this year.
Superintendent Mike Springer reported to the school board members Tuesday evening that district-wide student enrollment has increased so far by 102 with the high school seeing the greatest increase with 36 additional students beyond the 2021-22 enrollment figures.
The official count, however will not be made until the Indiana Department of Education’s Average Daily Membership Day which is Sept. 16.
Enrollment at Lancaster has also increased by 29 students, by 24 students at Norwell Middle School and 13 new students at Ossian Elementary School.
The numbers include 20 transfer students and/or home-schooled students returning to Northern Wells from the 2021-22 school year.
“This is an early positive trend,” Springer observed.
In other business, the board members set a timeline for discussing and adopting the school corporation budget for 2023.
A budget workshop will be held Sept. 13 to review the budget process as well as the proposed estimates for each fund.
On Sept. 27, the school board will approve advertising Form 3, which is the form within the budget that lays out for the public the school board’s proposed rates and levies.
The board will also be submitting the capital projects fund and school bus replacement plan for advertisement as required by law. The advertisement — which will only be on the Indiana government Gateway website — will include the dates for the public hearings for the 2023 budget, the CPF and the bus replacement plans.
On Oct. 11, the public hearings will be held to allow taxpayers to ask questions or express concerns about the proposed 2023 budget.
Oct. 25, the school board is slated to adopt the 2023 budget as well as the CPF and bus replacement plans.
Oct. 27 the adopted budget will be submitted to Gateway for review and later approval.
The school board also approved a collective bargaining timeline for the 2022-23 school year.
Prior to Sept. 15, the school board will launch informal negotiations with the Norwell Classroom Teachers Association. At the Sept. 13 school board meeting, the board will hold a collective bargaining public hearing to take public testimony regarding teacher compensation. Formal bargaining starts Sept. 15.
The ratified collective bargaining agreement is to be sent to Gateway by Nov. 15.
Board members Corey Krug, Gene Donaghy, Angie Topp, Karen Harris and Chad Kline also learned that the athletic department has purchased a wet bulb globe thermometer.
The thermometer uses ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind and solar radiation to get a measurement that can be used to monitor environmental conditions during exercise.
“We’re keeping records every day and we’re using these records to generate data,” high school athletic director Kelby Weybright said. “We believe this is without a doubt the best for our kids.”
He explained that the wet bulb globe thermometer is considered the most reliable indicator in determining the overall risk of heat illness during athletic participation in periods of elevated heat and humidity.
There are five color levels generated by the thermometer for risk. Green is no risk for heat stress, yellow is slight risk, orange is moderate risk, red is high risk for heat related illnesses and black is you don’t practice or play outside, period.
It’s not a one size fits all as the judgments are also based upon an athlete’s height and weight to measure how the weather conditions will affect them.
“This helps our teams be safer in the heat,” said Emily Hopkins of Fort Wayne’s Optimum Performance Sports. Hopkins and fellow trainer Kayla Rasmussen were at the meeting to explain the features of the thermometer. The two serve as athletic trainers at Norwell.
Hopkins referred to the thermometer as the “gold standard” for being able to determine how the weather conditions and radiant surface heat of playing surfaces will impact the athletes.
Weybright explained that even if a game is scheduled, if the color level is black, that game will be postponed or cancelled.
A number of Indiana schools — including nearby Jay County High School — already use the thermometers to determine if its safe to practice or to play when the temperatures and humidity combine to create high heat indexes. Twelve different state high school athletic associations actually require the use of the thermometers, Weybright said.
He added that the thermometer will also be used to determine the safety of physical education classes being conducted outdoors.
The board members also:
• Reviewed two school calendars for the 2023-24 school year proposed by Springer. Both would make Aug. 9 the first day of school. Both would be very similar to the 2022-23 school calendar but one of the calendars would not include Good Friday as part of spring break. By not including Good Friday, the final school day would be Wednesday, May 22, as opposed to Thursday, May 23. Board member Chad Kline recommended that the calendar be posted for public comment on the school corporation website. Springer said he would.
• Agreed to reimburse Northern Wells employees at the current IRS mileage rate. For 2022, the rate from the IRS is 62.5 cents per mile. Currently Northern Wells is reimbursing employee mileage at 30 cents per mile. Springer observed that 30 cents a mile was “absurd” and recommended to the board members that if it appears a trip by an employee is going to cost the school corporation too much for the benefit received that the trip simply not be approved.
• For the consideration of $1, granted an old private sanitary 8-inch sewer line from the site of the former Lancaster Elementary school to the connection with Bluffton’s public sewage line to the City of Bluffton.
• In approving the sewage line transfer, the school board also approved of a resolution transferring the 18-acre former Lancaster school property to Bluffton to be used for a public park for outdoor recreation in perpetuity. Kline said that the plans Bluffton has for the park are impressive. “It’s been a longtime coming,” Kline said, adding, “It’s great to see that park get developed.”
• Approved of contracting with Eventlink of Lafayette to provide high school and middle school sports management software upgrades at a cost of $850 for the middle school and $875 for the high school.
• Approved of a leave of absence for Lancaster Elementary teacher Jennifer Fruchte.
• Accepted the following resignations from: Herb Bergman as the high school head softball coach; Abby Meyer as the middle school tennis coach; Kelly Tucker as high school technology committee; Erin Blair from food service.
• Hired: Emma Gaier as high school student council representative; Michael Fenters as high school technology committee member; Courtney Springer as central office human resources secretary; Amberle Baker as Lancaster special education teacher; Ashton Yager as a high school food service employee; and Amy Waldman as a school bus assistant.
• Approved of contracting Bayada Pediatrics of Fort Wayne to provide additional school nursing services for the school corporation for students who have special medical needs (in particular two students who have feeding tubes). The nurses will be under the direct supervision of the Northern Wells school nurses.
• Approved contracting Schmidt Associates to design a combination concession stand, restroom and storage facility for the baseball diamond and a new central office. The contract is based on a fee schedule that will be based upon the size of the potential project.
• Approved of contracting Schmidt Associates to perform a study of Ossian and Lancaster schools determine if the space within the schools could possibly be used more efficiently. Ossian is slated for cabinet and casework replacement as a Capital Projects Fund project. “Can we get a little more creative with that space and maximize the use of that space before we invest in casework?” Springer asked. Schmidt will charge the school corporation $18,000 for the studies.
• Accepted the following donations: $500 to the Ossian Elementary Field Trip Fund from Ossian United Methodist Church; $200 for OES student assistance from Six Mile Church Missions; $350 for LES student assistance from Six Mile Church Missions; $100 to NHS student activities from Six Mile Church Missions; $250 to the NHS volleyball program; $100 for NMS students needing supplies from Six Mile Missions; $145 to LES as a thank you gift from The Nutrition Loft of Bluffton; and a large box of flower seed packets for LES student use from Markle Do-It-Best Hardware.
• Granted the following overnight field trip requests: NHS volleyball Oct. 21-22 to Taylor University/Indiana Wesleyan; NHS boys basketball tournament Dec. 27-28 at Noblesville High School and for the NHS cross country teams for a meet in Indianapolis Sept. 16 and 17.
• Approved disposing of the following surplus and/or obsolete equipment: two mechanical robots, two control stations for the robots, a 1997 Dodge 15-passenger van, a 2001 Ford Windstar van, an NXR810K repeater, a duplexer and power supply and 12 NX840 bus radios.
• Learned from Springer there are two new athletic websites: https://nhs-knights.com/ and https://nms-knights.com/
The board next meets at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 13 at the central office, 312 N. Jefferson St., Ossian.
glenw@news-banner.com
