Key topics include hirings, textbooks, and updates on upgrades
By DAVE SCHULTZ
The board of the Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan School District covered a lot of ground Monday evening despite meeting only a half-hour.
The board heard several reports and filled several vacancies (including one for the first time), and also heard reports on building repairs and upgrades at Bluffton Middle School and Bluffton High School. Board members were told about the shortage of bus drivers and an effort that’s being made to fill them.
Also, should anyone want to take a look at the math textbooks the district plans to use starting with the 2022-23 school year, they’ll be available for review for two weeks.
The textbooks can be found at the school district’s administration building, and will be there through April 29. Assistant Superintendent Julie Meitzler presented the textbooks Monday night, noting that they had been reviewed by a textbook adoption committee and then a parents’ review committee.
The textbook review committee surprised Meitzler in that they all picked the same books. “It was shocking to me,” she said.
The math textbooks for all three grade levels — K-4, 5-8, and 9-12 — will come from the McGraw-Hill Reveal program. The purpose of having the books available is to give members of the general public an opportunity to review them.
The plan is to have the books approved by the school board for use this fall. Meitzler said it had been 12 years since math textbooks had been approved for use in the district.
Meitzler also said that bus drivers are doing double routes because of a lack of drivers. “If you know of anyone who wants to be a bus driver, let me know,” she said. “I say that every time I speak to anyone.”
She also asked the board to provide a stipend of $150 for individuals taking bus driver training in an effort to fill the district’s transportation vacancies. The board members — Julie Thompson, Bruce Holland, Mike Murray, Angie Sheets, and Trent White — all approved the measure.
“I’m very glad they’re doing that,” Holland said.
Superintendent Brad Yates also said the improvement project at the Bluffton Middle School was stalled because all bids received were rejected. The project will be rebid, he said.
“We are still strongly hopeful that we can have the work completed this summer,” Yates added.
Yates also said there was no information regarding the middle school’s roof project or the high school’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning guaranteed energy savings project.
The board also dealt with seven resignations, two of which were teachers, and hired several people.
The teachers that resigned were Chaise Troxel, an eighth-grade language arts teacher, and Eden Noble, the high school’s family and consumer sciences teacher.
Among the hirings, Jessica Bricker will become the school corporation’s communications specialist on July 1 and Anjie Hartman was hired as the school corporation’s treasurer. Bricker’s position is new for the school district although several schools in Indiana have someone in that role, Yates said.
daves@news-banner.com
