Central PTO moves forward with playground equipment

Sunday, February 28, 2016

The Central Elementary PTO is moving forward on plans to install new playground equipment.

Current member and former president Jamie Helton presented the South Putnam Community School Corporation board with the group's progress, saying that the move of former Reelsville students to Central Elementary brought the issue forward.

"When we started this process, we realized we can't just put swings out without addressing the surfacing issue and the playground equipment," she said.

She described the surface tiles as "buckled and unlevel" and mentioned that they're even becoming a haven for bees, leading to an increase in bee-sting incidents. After reviewing several options, the PTO has decided to replace the tiles with special wood chips supposed to reduce splinters and last for a minimum of 12 years without maintenance. The chips are being provided by Snider Recreation at a quoted price of $12,900.

For playground equipment, the PTO examined four venues but again decided on Snider Recreation. The group intends to replace 18 swings, three climbers and two spinners, some of which came from Belle Union and are pre-1985. They had considered moving equipment from Reelsville Elementary, but found it would be expensive to tear it out of its concrete settings.

The PTO put down a deposit on the new equipment last December and expects to have it delivered sometime in May. They hope to have it installed this summer. For $41,000, Snider Recreation will remove the old and install the new, and has also offered to scrap the equipment for Central at an additional cost.

The PTO plans to host fundraisers and apply for grants to fund the project.

In other developments:

-- Technology Directory Steve Ricketts reported that the cost of purchasing 410 laptops and corresponding cases is estimated at a minimum of $172,070. In a special meeting Feb. 17, the board approved a lease to fund the project from Providence Capital at 2.99 percent interest rate.

-- Mikenzie Tincher (Central Elementary, fourth grade); Levi Couch (Fillmore Elementary, kindergarten); Averie Stockwell (Middle School, sixth grade) and Ryan Neumann (sophomore) were named February Students of the Month.

In other business:

-- The board expressed concern about the water bill, which has doubled since last November, during the consideration of claims. The bill has doubled since last year, but the South 43 Water Company has reported no leaks or fault with the meter. But rates have not increased so much as to account for the increasing water bill. During the meeting, Superintendent Bruce Bernhardt said he would look into changing the meter, but leaks were later found on the property and shut off. He hopes this resolves the problem, but "it's going to take some time to know for sure."

-- The board unanimously approved the following personell changes:

-- Resignation: Angela Piersall, part-time food service, middle/high school

-- Resignation: Kristin Hendrich, head volleyball coach, middle/high school

-- Hire: Jeslyn Ronan, part-time food service, middle/high school

-- Hire: Seth Hammond, assistant basketball coach, middle/high school

-- Hire: Matt Thoennes, assistant track coach, middle/high shcool

-- Leave of absence: Shannon Nees, Central Elementary

-- During January's meeting, Superintendent Bernhardt said he would look into a situation where coaches had had to fill school buses on their own funds. He reported after February's meeting that this sort of thing was not "routinely done" but happens when buses are used over the weekends for tournaments and other such events.

The next meeting will be March 28 at 6:30 p.m. in the music room of Central Elementary.

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