By JONATHAN SNYDER
Construction upgrades to Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan School District’s middle and high schools are on schedule, Superintendent Brad Yates reported.
The district has a full slate of projects for the summer and looking toward the fall, which all came with updates during Monday’s board meeting.
Already this summer, turf has been replaced at Bluffton High School’s football stadium has been finished. The track around the field has also been re-asphalted, and crews are now waiting for the asphalt to cure, a 30-day process, before they put the new track surface on top. Yates reported that the asphalt on the south end between the concession stand and locker rooms was re-sealed. The turf area beyond the south endzone was also striped with lines as a practice area for the football teams.
“They moved fast on that,” board member Mike Murray commented.
Yates announced that the roof access improvement and science room renovations for the middle school are expected to be completed before Aug. 1. Canopy improvements have also begun for the high school roof replacement. Yates said that the upper roof portion above the gym has been replaced, and crews are now moving to the longer piece of the roof next to the gym. Window replacements are scheduled for July.
Yates stated that the district is sending designs for bathroom modifications at the middle school to the state for approval. The bathroom renovations were taken off of the initial renovations scheduled in 2022 due to cost concerns at the time. There is no current timeline for the bathroom improvements but is expected to be completed during a fall or winter break.
The district has also received responses for the groundwork project for the Our Town Safety Village project. Yates said a contractor would be selected by the end of next week.
Later during the meeting, the board approved changes to its classified handbook. Some highlights include the addition of flexible workweek schedules during the summer months for all-year personnel, the addition of remote working provisions, a change from daily to hourly increments for paid time off, the paid holiday on President’s Day moving to Independence Day, and a 2% increase to wages.
The board also approved a change to paid time off accrual from a 12-month waiting period to a 90-day waiting period. In response to the new change, a one-time stipend of $500 will be awarded to every employee hired under the old PTO accrual system to compensate them.
In his report, Yates notified the board that budget preparation for the 2025 year will begin in July. Yates also announced that the district is looking at creating a part-time position for a clerical support role for special education students. Yates stated that a “considerable” amount of teachers’ time is spent communicating with parents to schedule progress meetings. The new position will help coordinate conferences between parents and teachers for those meetings.
“Instead of having a teacher go back and forth (with parents) … to try and find the best date and time, or reschedule, it would go through one party,” Yates said.
The board also approved the following personnel recommendations:
• Teaching staff: Grace Dunmoyer as a third grade teacher, Amy Shane as speech-language pathology assistant, Kim Gerber as childcare supervisor, Lydia McConnell as substitute teacher, Mitchel Bertsch as substitute teacher, Tiffany Winebrenner as full-time Pre-K instructional assistant, Rachel Kinsey as high school special education instructional assistant, Jolleen Turner as high school library instructional assistant and ISS supervisor, and Sue Elzey as middle school special education instructional assistant.
• Coaching staff: Brent Kunkel as high school head football coach with Todd Morgan, Bryan Bowman, Casey Kolkman, Adam King, Tim Millspaugh Alex Schantz and Bryce Bonewit as assistant coaches; Jeramy Fendel, Jacob Summers, Ty Kinsey, Brandon Lockwood and Scott Ribich as middle school football coaches; Robert Vanderkolk as high school boys’ head tennis coach with Hunter Cunningham, Spencer Schwartz, Jared Grandlienard and Ashlee Xayyachack as assistant coaches; Adam Atkins as high school boys’ golf head coach with Steve Abbett as assistant coach; Brent Kunkel as high school boys’ track head coach and Michael Vanderkolk as assistant coach; Tara Cocanower as high school Girls’ golf head coach and Jody Ault and Krista Baxter as assistant coaches; Caylee Pyle as high school volleyball head coach; Erica Bluhm as high school cheerleading head coach with Sara Runyon as assistant coach; Abigail Fillers and Michaela Rinehart as high school and middle school cheerleading assistant coaches; Cheyanne Penrod as middle school cheerleading coach with Emily Burchett as assistant coach; Tyler Sonnigsen as high school softball head coach with Lauren Brinneman, Karley Nash, Luke Petty and Jeff Olson as assistant coaches; Sebastian Baxter as high school boys’ track head coach with Bob Dahl and Tara Cocanower as assistant coaches; Robert Vanderkolk as assistant athletic director; Michael Vanderkolk as high school cross country coach with Bob Dahl as assistant coach; and Bethany Clem as middle school cross country assistant coach.
• Summer employment: Darcy Isch for summer work hours; Annette Clark, Karen Kelly, Nikki Nash and Paris Davis as BHES summer camp instructional assistants; Brent Kunkel as summer high school head football coach; and Doug Curtis as high school girls’ summer basketball head coach.
• Resignations for Jason Pierce, fourth grade teacher and head baseball coach; Kierra Kinsey, middle school intense intervention instructional assistant; and Laken Etzler, middle school digital citizenship teacher.
jonathan@news-banner.com
