By GLEN WERLING
Northern Wells will expand its preschool program for the 2023-24 school year.
Board members Angie Topp, Gene Donaghy, Corey Krug, Chad Kline, and Traci Neuenschwander Tuesday evening unanimously approved expanding the program from two teachers to four teachers and from four sections to eight sections starting next school year. The eight sections will be split evenly between morning and afternoon sections.
While the hours will remain the same, the program for four and five-year-old children will expand from its current Monday, Wednesday, Friday format to a five-day-a-week format. For the three and four-year-old children it will expand from Monday, Wednesday, Friday to Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
Registration fees will stay at $30 per child, but tuition will increase from the current rate of $60 a month to $80 a month for three and four-year-old children and $100 a month for four and five-year-old children. There will still be no tuition charge for special needs children.
Currently the program remains self-funded, but Northern Wells is already exploring the various programs available for tuition assistance.
Transportation will still be provided for special needs children.
The recommendations to make the changes were made by the principals of both Lancaster and Ossian elementary schools, Superintendent Mike Springer explained.
Ultimately the goal is to be able to offer a full-day pre-school option, he added.
The board members also gave unanimous approval to a preschool pre-enrollment information packet, which describes the program and sets the guidelines for parents and guardians enrolling their children in the program.
In other business, the board members:
• Learned from Springer that construction of the new stands at the baseball diamond is underway. He also presented the board members with plans for two new concession stand/restroom/storage buildings. One will be for the baseball diamond and the other for the football stadium. He also presented the board members with a proposed design for a new central administration building.
All of these will be built as funds become available to accomplish them in the school corporation’s capital projects fund.
The board members also:
• Granted leaves of absence to Kelly Putt, middle school teaching assistant; Patti Ruse, custodian; Steve Clark, bus driver; Greg Knuth, middle school social studies teacher; and Hannah Bastain, middle school eighth grade teacher.
• Accepted the resignations of Bruce Imel, high school boys golf coach; Halie Steffen, custodian; and Kristen Ross, high school social studies teacher.
• Hired Josh Gerber as middle school assistant wrestling coach; Andrew Rodgers, middle school head tennis coach; Nicole Burt, Ossian Elementary technology integration team representative; and Daniel Schmidt, high school boys golf head coach.
• Accepted the list of spring sports coaches for the high school.
• Accepted a donation of $503 from Clean Fuels National to retire 2022 student lunch debt.
• Approved the transfer application window and the grade level capacities for 2023 as required by the Indiana Board of Education. The transfer portal is Feb. 14 to Dec. 20, 2023, and the enrollment capacities per grade level are, as of now, unlimited.
Kline observed that he would like to see the grade level enrollments grow to the point where the board has to set limits.
Donaghy recognized the middle school basketball programs and gave a brief accounting of the Junior Achievement class that he led.
The next regular meeting of the board is set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, at Norwell High School. A public strategic planning meeting will follow the regular board meeting.
glenw@news-banner.com
