Upgraded aquaculture lab at South Putnam up and running

The South Putnam High School ag department has received some updated equipment and facilities thanks to Falling Waters Farm. “We’re going to be able to do more,” Ag Teacher Amanda King said, “which is important in the ag industry.” The updates include new filtration and air systems, a food safety room, hydroponics and microgreens.

Banner Graphic/CHELSEA MODGLIN

South Putnam ag teachers Amanda King and Cassie Lehman reported on the finished updates to the aquaculture, plant and food safety facilities during the South Putnam School Board’s recent regular meeting.

Aside from receiving a general clean-up, the fish facility now has six nursery tanks with numerous three-inch fish, four research tanks currently housing goldfish and a quarantine tank for show-and-tell fish.

The whole facility is connected by a recirculation aquaculture system (RAS) that moves fish waste to the aquaculture system in the plant facility after being sanitized with UV radiation in a small tube.

Banner Graphic/CHELSEA MODGLIN

These and more updates can be seen at an open house scheduled for Sept. 8 from 5 to 7 p.m. Myers Market, whom the school hopes to partner with in the future, will be serving fish.

The changes were made possible by Abby Thompson and Eric Curran, a South Putnam graduate, of Falling Waters Farm.

“The opportunities that our two teachers here have given our students is remarkable,” Superintendent Bruce Bernhardt said. “And I want to thank Eric again that his leadership and sponsorship of revamping and getting this set up has been worth everything because we could not have done it without his direction. He’s put a lot of hard work in, and all that the hard work that all of you have done is going to provide kids with experiences that other schools don’t have.”

In other developments:

-- Budget: The board approved advertising the proposed 2018 budget, capital projects plan and bus replacement plan.

A hearing for public questions and comments will take place during the board’s next regular meeting Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Central Elementary music room.

-- Claims: The board approved claims at a total of $740,775.13, a decrease from last month of $308,889.85 and of $59,578.22 from the year’s average.

Claims so far this year have totaled $6.4 million. The highest claim was for $1.3 million in January. The average claim is $800,353.35.

-- Corporation improvement project: After a public hearing during which there were no comments from the audience, the board approved three resolutions that will allow the corporation to issue $2 million in bonds for three and a half years to pay for future corporation-wide improvements.

-- Personnel: The board approved the following personnel report:

-- Resignations: Amanda Deakins (Fillmore part-time food service) and Sherry Hanley (MS/HS part-time food service)

-- Maternity: Jennifer Perrin (MS/HS, from Dec. 1 to the end of the school year)

-- Hires: Kerri McConkey (MS/HS language arts teacher), Andrew Smith (computer science), Teena Spencer (part-time food service), Brandy Ames (Fillmore part-time preschool teacher), Ashton Query (preschool instructional assistant) and John Rissler (Central instructional assistant)

Also in personnel, the board approved the hiring of all extracurricular positions. The highest paid positions were varsity football coach, varsity boys’ basketball coach and varsity girls’ basketball coach at $5,000 each, followed by boys’ and girls’ swimming coordinator at $4,800.

-- Policy: The board approved new policy 2017-08-17-1, which states that highly effective teachers (determined by ISTEP+ scores) will receive 25 percent more funds from the Teacher Appreciation Grant than effective teachers with no differences between buildings and in the form of a stipend. The policy change reflects recent changes to state legislature.

The South Putnam School Board’s next regular meeting will be Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Central Elementary music room.