North Putnam keeping lawn care in house

BAINBRIDGE -- After a two-hour meeting Thursday evening and some rigorous discussions in the past few months, The North Putnam School Board will look to keep the care of school grounds local despite relative understaffing.

In a key action item on the agenda, school officials considered the option of either sourcing mowing and lawn duties to an outside landscaping service or hiring another grounds employee.

Superintendent Nicole Singer presented estimates in a spreadsheet which detail costs associated with field maintenance as well as pest control in all of the buildings. For lawn care in 2018, costs totaled more than $46,000. This excepted Younts Landscaping, a company which has been employed by North Putnam, not mowing any fields.

Younts was one of three companies which were considered for outside services. Blanton Landscaping, as well as Sutherlan, were also considered. The spreadsheet divvied costs for non-field mowing into 17 and 33 mowings. Blanton offered the lowest cost throughout with a cap of a little over $36,000. Sutherlan and Younts were similar in price with a cap of $43,000. These mowings would take place during the non-winter months.

In 2019 with field mowings, Blanton and Sutherlan were within two thousand dollars of each other with the a price at $61,000. Younts would demand the highest price at over $65,500. These would include pest and weed control.

With in-house estimates, start-up costs would total to $45,000, though an estimate for chemicals has yet to be determined. The annual cost for licensing and insurance was estimated to not exceed $243. This did not include the employee’s salary, overtime or benefits.

While the overall cost consideration was spelled out, board members Travis Lambermont and Dustin Osborn expressed concern as to keeping up with mowing within the corporation. Osborn in particular provided that grounds staff at North Putnam is stretched, as there are currently only two employees working on landscaping.

Board members, perhaps most strongly, also considered the quality of the work done in-house. Pride in this work was a factor that resonated, as Singer opined that the work would have more attention from a worker who lived in the community.

Singer made the recommendation that an in-house employee needed to be sought, as it was possible that the hire could be a greater asset if he could perform other duties such as bus maintenance. Another point made by Director of Operations Terry Tippin was that the employee could be more flexible on a changing schedule, instead of work being set for particular dates by an outside company.

After a motion was made by Osborn in favor of Singer’s recommendation, the board approved the in-house plan with an opposing vote from Lambermont.

In another crucial item on the agenda, the board also determined the design-builder for the upcoming renovation project at all of the schools in the corporation. After interviews were held and qualitative proposals were scored through a review committee on Monday, the board approved Shambaugh & Son as the firm which will complete the improvements.

The school board also approved for the creation of a plan to take students and parents to Italy through EF Educational Tours during spring break in 2021.

The board also approved a plan to jumpstart a soccer initiative. North Putnam Middle School Assistant Principal Bucky Kramer pitched that a key part of the program was to support the Putnam County Youth Soccer Association gain more people interested in the sport. Kramer also provided that the program would be on a volunteer basis starting out, and that he had received positive feedback from students who are not involved in other sports.

School officials also approved plans for summer school students from both Roachdale and Bainbridge Elementary as well as North Putnam Middle School. It will be held from Memorial Day until June 7 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., and will address students who have not passed the iRead tests.

Board members also recognized second-grade Roachdale Elementary teacher Cathy Proctor as the Teacher of the Month. They also recognized Megan Earley for recently earning a National Gold Key for artwork submitted to the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Earley will have this artwork displayed in an exhibition at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

The board also approved the following personnel report:

New hires: Corinne Callan, high school Learning Lab/health teacher; Stephanie Christopher, high school English/language arts teacher; MaryAnn Pollock, middle school cafeteria aide; Wendall Barrett, middle school custodian; Chase Hiland, interim high school head softball coach; Kenneth Weber, high school assistant football coach; Kyler Jeter, high school assistant baseball coach; George Selmeister, middle school assistant track coach; J.C. Mandeville, middle school assistant track coach; Kayla Wiatt, head cheerleading coach; and Bethany Gyer, assistant cheerleading coach;

Leaves: Cameron Brothers, high school teacher; and Jim Hess, high school teacher;

Resignations: Kayla Mahoy, high school cafeteria aide; and Collin McCartt, high school boys’ varsity head basketball coach;

Retirement: Pat Schreiber, Bainbridge Elementary teacher;

Termination: Matt Blackmore, bus driver; and

Transfer: Scott McLaughlin, transfer from route driver to substitute bus driver.

The next regular board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 18 at 7 p.m. in the Administration Office in Bainbridge.