NPHS seeks 'feasibility' of further improvements

Thursday, May 19, 2016

BAINBRIDGE -- The recent partnering of North Putnam schools and energy-service company Johnson-Melloh has been beneficial, to say the least.

A solar farm, new-and-improved heating and cooling systems, donated LED-lighting and financial savings highlight some of the boon so far.

But now, with considerable help from the Indianapolis-based firm, more may be in store in the way of renovations for the high school.

Johnson-Melloh Sales and Account Manager Andy Cooper was once again present at the district's monthly board meeting Wednesday, this time sporting a large easel showing exactly what areas of the high school will be targeted for improvements.

"We've been chipping away at the middle school lately with these projects, but thought we'd take a more holistic approach when it comes to the high school -- in a couple of different ways," Cooper said to the board. "We know that we'd like to do the (all-encompassing) project called 'Lead the Way.'

"We know we have problems with locker rooms ... and I think there are certain areas which we could renovate the existing HVAC systems there," Cooper continued, citing several smaller issues in the building's northeast section. "We also would like to change the parking situation."

Superintendent Dan Noel added that, due to a "mess" of a situation between the football field and the school's current locker room entrance, some minor changes to the direction of traffic would indeed help.

"The exit would only be for games and things like that," Noel said. "People park out back where buses park during the day ... and they can do that for games, but teams and everything are crossing into the locker room area and it's unsafe. It's a mess out there.

"Our proposal is to, with all the sports out there, is that people could come in (from the north) one way and exit (to the south) by the baseball field," Noel continued. "The baseball part would be closed off so you could only exit that way, and that allows all the cars and foot-traffic to exit safely."

Board member Travis Lambermont then asked, "What about all of the people walking to the (south) parking lot after a football game?"

"We think there would be enough room between the baseball fence and the building to build a walkway leading away from the football field to the south parking lot," Noel said, stressing that traffic would then be able to safely exit in a direction away from pedestrians.

Cooper went on to say that, after some calculations and planning, Johnson-Melloh architects believe a walkway could be laid in the area without affecting other facilities on the property.

Wanting to seek further investigation, board member Jill Summerlot motioned that any action should be postponed until a feasibility study could be reported.

The seven-member board then unanimously approved the proposal.

In other developments:

* Several students were honored for their recent successes Wednesday in a portion of the meeting dubbed Celebrate Success: Bainbridge Elementary Principal Rodney Simpson and student Jace Flater; Roachdale Elementary Principal Scott Spencer and student Isaac Pickel; North Putnam Middle School Principal Scott Miller and the school's award-winning math, social studies and interdisciplinary academic teams; and North Putnam High School Principal Jason Chew with students Adrianna Millican and Madisyn Smith.

* Superintendent Noel recently approved the following fundraisers: Cougarettes Dance Team, selling PartyLite Candles from May 16-28; girls' varsity golf team, hosting a putt-a-thon from Aug. 1-12; and boys' basketball, hosting a free throw-a-thon from June 1-2.

* Neola Policies and the timeframe in which to approve them were discussed. Each member will look through the policies and their updates ultimately to notify (before June 15) board member Darrell Wiatt of their corrections.

* Student and personnel handbooks were discussed and subsequently approved Wednesday.

* An overnight trip for the school's FFA group to King's Island in Ohio June 1-2 was approved.

* Several resignation, retirements and new hires were approved Wednesday. Resignations included: Chase Hilland, spell bowl sponsor; Lauren Alspaugh, high school guidance counselor; and Katrina Asher, transportation secretary. Transfers included Jarrod Duff, transfer from alternative education teacher to physical education and health.

New employees include: Sarah Chizum, art teacher at NPHS; Tiffany Clark, kindergarten teacher at Bainbridge Elementary; Char Coffman, summer school instructor at Roachdale Elementary; Kristie Rambis, summer school instructor at Roachdale Elementary; Bryce McCoy, sixth-grade social studies teacher at NPMS; Janna Oxford, summer agriculture experience instructor at NPHS; Lana Powell, summer school instructor at Roachdale Elementary; Kate Skirvin, summer agriculture experience instructor at NPHS; Kathy Sykes, summer school instructor at NPMS; Eric VanHaaften, summer school instructor at NPHS; Matt Wargel, summer band instructor at NPHS; Angele Werking, summer school instructor at NPMS; John Baker, assistant football coach at NPMS; Denny Bayne, assistant football and track coach at NPMS; Kyle Black, girls' assistant basketball coach at both NPMS and NPHS; Ciara Boyer, assistant cheerleading coach at NPHS; Dave Catt, volunteer assistant football coach at NPHS; Alyssa Chew, assistant cross country and track coach at NPMS; Katy Copsee, seventh-grade assistant basketball coach at NPMS; Justin Danaher, boys' assistant basketball coach at NPMS; LeeAnn Davis, head volleyball coach at NPHS; Brandy Dickson, volunteer head volleyball coach at NPMS; Travis Franklin, volunteer assistant football coach at NPHS; Chris Geeser, first-assistant basketball coach at NPHS; Ollie Haste, volunteer assistant football coach at NPHS; Laurie Hensley, girls' assistant track coach at NPMS; Jim Hess, volunteer assistant football coach at NPHS; Nancy Holsapple, volunteer assistant cheerleading coach at NPHS; Jenna Holtze, volunteer assistant cheerleading coach at NPHS; Nikki Jackson, volunteer assistant cheerleading coach at NPHS; Bucky Kramer, boys' head track coach at NPMS; Greg Lyons, head basketball coach at NPMS; J.C. Mandaville, assistant football coach at NPMS; Bryce McCoy, head football coach at NPMS; John Runge, volunteer assistant cheerleading coach at NPHS; Brad Szczerbik, assistant girls' basketball coach at NPHS and seventh-grade girls' basketball head coach at NPMS; Chelsey Smith, head golf coach at NPMS; Payne Stewart, volunteer boys' assistant basketball coach at NPHS; Chuck Tilton, volunteer assistant football coach at NPMS; Susan Trent, head cross country coach at NPMS; Shance Vandivier, volunteer assistant football coach at NPHS; and Bethany Wiatt, assistant volleyball coach at NPHS.

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