SPSC anticipating loss of funding after count day

With the school year in full swing, the South Putnam School Board got its first taste of the corporation's first of two official count days during its monthly meeting Monday evening.

The ADM count counts each student that's enrolled as one student. Kindergarten counts as a half student, which is due to the fact that kindergarten students previously went to school for only a half day.

It is this count that determines the amount of funding the corporation receives throughout the year.

"Now that they're going a full day there's a kindergarten grant that pays for that other half of the day. However, the grant is a little less so, technically we do lose a little bit in the process," Superintendent Bruce Bernhardt said.

"Now, we're at a situation where halfway through the year they're taking a second count," Bernhardt added. "We may gain money if we gain students or lose money if we lose students. That's good if you're a growing school corporation. It's not good if you're a declining enrollment school corporation."

It was projected that South Putnam would lose about 30 students this year due to the large graduating class this past year.

"This is preliminary data, but we did end up at about 32 lost," Bernhardt said. "It was pretty close to what we were talking about last summer."

What that means, is there will be a loss in revenue for the corporation. However, it is expected that enrollment will increase again within the next five years.

Previously, the board approved the master contract with the South Putnam Classroom Teachers Association pending any ratification to be made by the association.

Within the newly approved contract, the corporation agreed that if there were to be an increase in insurance for classified employees there would be an 80-20 percent split with the corporation paying 80 percent and teachers picking up the 20 percent on the premium.

Superintendent Bernhardt went before the board to seek approval to enact the same policy for classified employees who don't fall under the $6,000 maximum for the family plan.

"For those that don't fall under that plan, we'd do the 80-20 percent split," he explained. "That keeps us in line with that 80-20 split that the state wants us to have on employer versus employee pickups also."

After little discussion, the board unanimously approved enacting the policy for classified employees.

Like many of the school corporations in Putnam County, the board approved the amended trust agreement with the Wabash Valley/West Central Indiana School Trust, which includes currently includes 22 other school corporations.

"Due to some of the health regulations changing with the new health laws, Jim Hamilton, who is the lawyer for the health trust, rewrote this with some legal definitions and so forth to address the new health laws," Bernhardt said.

The board also reappointed Bernhardt and Carl Coons as the trustees.

In other business:

* Bernhardt also came before the board to ask for approval to purchase a replacement of the second boiler, which tied into the pool heat exchanger for the high school.

The board agreed to approve a quote for $68,557 for the new boiler as well as $3,925 for an energy saving control system.

* The board also approved the following new hires: Carlos Hawkins as a middle school and high school custodian; Andrea Hutcheson as part-time special education instructional assistant; and Renata Hendrickson as the fine arts academic coach.

* The board conducted a public hearing for the proposed 2014 budgets, capital projects plan and school bus replacement plan.