South Ripley Board approves personnal changes
Member participates via speakerphone
Wanda English Burnett - Editor

Several personnel items were approved at the regular meeting of the South Ripley Community School Corporation Board of Trustees held Monday, February 21, at the administration office in Versailles.

All members were present including Robert Garcia who participated via speakerphone from Indianapolis. All votes on personnel were unanimous.

Personnel items included:

· Medical leave for elementary custodian George Baurley from January 26 until March 7.

· Kindra Moorman approved as substitute teacher for the maternity leave of Sarah Smith from February 21, through the end of the 2004-2005 school year.

· Malena Smith gave her resignation as elementary teacher effective February 15. She had previously been approved for a leave of absence for the 2004-2005 school year.

· Thom Conover was approved to fill the aide position left vacant by Kindra Moorman from February 21, until the end of the present school year.

· Malena Smith was approved to fill the vacancy of Amy Linkel as a 15-hour Enrichment/Remediation assistant from March 14 until the end of the school year.

· Geneva Carr was approved as a 5-hour per day custodian to replace the position of Robert Kieffer who will be retiring effective March 28.

· Approval was given for Lynn Cumberworth, Sara Dennis, Nancy Durham, Sam Durham, Troy Mohr, Donna Perry and Lloyd Strohl, to teach one hour per week in the remediation/tutoring program at the high school. They will be paid at their hourly rate for the hour worked.

· Several coaching resignations were given. They included: Bill Snyder, Girls' Varsity Basketball; David Burress, Boys' Reserve Baseball; Jill Groves, Girls' Varsity Soccer; Steve Snyder, Boy's Eighth Grade Basketball; and Jerilyn Lambert, Girls' Seventh Grade Volleyball.

· Approval for homebound instruction for three students was given. Teachers, Lynn Cumberworth and Jenna Smith will be sharing the duties of four hours per week.

Who is the best speller in the elementary school? Well, for this year it's Braden Gibbs. He was recognized at the meeting as the Annual Spelling Bee Champion and will move on to the next level, traveling to Cincinnati. Board President Jim Miller presented a certificate of recognition and a pen set to Gibbs, with Elementary Principal Mark Collier also congratulating
him.

In other business, the board voted to change the March board meeting to March 28, instead of the third week as usual. This was due to Spring Break conflicts.

The 2005-2006 school calender was approved as presented by Superintendent Ted Ahaus.

The recommendation of golf fees for the 2005 season met with unanimous approval. Ahaus explained that since the school doesn't have a golf course of their own they have been fortunate in the past to get reduced rates for the students at Pine Hills Golf Course, located on US 50 between Versailles and Holton. This is the case for this year as well and an amount of $900 was approved. The school pays up to $55 per student, with a minimum of ten. They pay the full fees for the coach, which is part of their coaching pay.

A change was made in the company providing copy machines for the school. Upon the recommendation of the superintendent, the board approved going from their present carrier, Waltz Business Solutions to IKON Solutions, effective March 1. The board heard about numerous malfunctions with the old equipment and the frustrations of teachers as they tried to make copies for classroom work.

It was agreed that the school would act as the fiscal agent for Ohio Rod Products to channel a grant from the Rising Sun Regional Foundation if they are awarded one. A grant has been applied for to upgrade their recreational facilities, which the school greatly benefits from.

Trip requests were granted for the high school band and choir students to go to Washington DC from March 19-24, and also for the Math Club students to go to the Louisville Slugger Museum in Louisville, KY, on April 15.

Four school buses were approved to be used to transport students to after prom activities this year. The cor

poration provides the buses and fuel, with the after prom committee taking care of the driver's compensation.

Approval was given for Shelby Christian Church and the Versailles Church of Christ to use the South Ripley Elementary School Gym on October 8, for a True Lies "Think Outside the Box" program.

Information items

· Nancy Durham gave a presentation on senior projects.

· Information on the recent signing of the contract with Tyson was given, with the January utilities coming to $5,984.00, according to Supt. Ahaus.

· The board received information from Business Manager Lana Miller about the recent tax draws from the 2004 property taxes.

· Asst. Superintendent, Dennis Stockdale, shared the new high school graduation requirements that will affect students entering high school in the fall of 2006.

· A copy of the 2003-2004 Annual Performance Report was provided. This report was published in the local papers recently.

· Supt. Ahaus noted that the central office will be updating to laser printers soon. Accounting software will also be updated.

A joint work session was held February 16, between South Ripley and Jac-Cen-Del. Outside firms were present to share ideas on educational opportunities for students at both schools. The session was held at the Southeastern Career Center, Versailles.

Members of the South Ripley Board of School Trustees include: Chris Bradford, Keith Mathews, Randy McIntosh, Jim Miller, Ralph Miller, Robert Garcia and Jim Samples. School Attorney Merritt Alcorn was not present at the February meeting.

WANDA ENGLISH BURNETT PHOTO

Jim Miller, left, president of the South Ripley School Board, presented Braden Gibbs with a certificate of recognition and a pen set for being the top speller in the elementary school. Principal Mark Collier, right, was on hand at the school board meeting held January 21, in the administration building, to congratulate Gibbs as well.