Cloverdale High School installs JAG program

The Cloverdale Community School Corporation School board voted unanimously on Monday to install the Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG) program at Cloverdale High School, at the request of Principal Sonny Stoltz.

The purpose of the JAG program is to prevent at-risk students from dropping out of high school by providing them with a mentor and job coach. Principal Stoltz said that a representative from the program contacted the school and proposed the installation.

"Grants go away; sustainability is important," Principal Stoltz said. "They're going to hire an individual paid on salary with benefits, and house them at Cloverdale High School. This individual will teach several periods a day, as sort of like a job coach; follow those kids, make home visits, go to their job, give them career opportunities. There's no one this small in the area that has this. We're very fortunate they sought us out."

He said the school is currently interviewing three candidates for the job, and emphasized that the position will not increase costs. The person is supposed to work with 30 to 45 juniors and seniors selected by the school.

"The sooner the individual gets on the job and gets to know these kids, the more they'll have that mentor-type opportunity with them," Principal Stoltz said. "We had targeted 22 students (in the class of 2016), and we got it down to two kids we really couldn't get through graduation day. Now, those two kids did graduate this week. Having this extra person is going to be big for us. I think it's a win-win for us. Aside from turning the lights on, I don't think it's going to cost us anything."

Secretary Vivian Whitaker commented that she had encountered the JAG program in Pike County schools.

"The number of kids that they were able to place, after they graduate to go straight into a job, was quite amazing," Whitaker said. "It's a win-win in my opinion."

She made the motion to approve the program's installation, received an excited second from Vice President Donna Fidler and the board unanimously approved the motion. Principal Stoltz isn't sure yet where exactly the individual will be housed, but thinks it may be in the night school room or any of the empty classrooms.

For more information, visit www.jag.org.

In other developments:

-- Superintendent Greg Linton said that run-off water on the football field was coming from the transportation parking lot rather than the baseball field, as Dan Sulkoske of Kramer Corp. had believed during the board's May meeting.

Curry & Associates of Danville is set to propose a solution at the board's July meeting. Superintendent Linton speculated that the solution would include installing a drainage curb on the parking lot's south side and the football field's east side.

"I'm hoping they take another look at that drain," Superintendent Linton said. "Whether or not it's working has been a big issue."

-- Cloverdale Middle School Vice Principal Cathy Ames reported that the devices approved during the board's April meeting -- iPads for the kindergarten, one cart of Lenovo Google Chromebooks for each grade 1 - 8 and one cart of Chromebooks for the high school math department -- have been purchased and are being prepared for student use.

She also said that teachers have been given devices to practice with over the summer, and that a recently discovered grant will be used to purchase more Chromebooks for the high school.

-- The board approved creating a curriculum director/technology integrator position. The position will be filled by an existing administrator, whose job will be to oversee 1:1 technology integration throughout the school corporation.

The board also approved creating an administrative assistant position at Cloverdale Middle School, which will be filled with existing personnel.

-- The board approved track resurfacing, which is to include removal, replacement and relining, by Tennis Technology at a cost of $76,985.

-- The board approved an increase in high school textbook rental fees with the purchase of new math textbooks.

"We've gone two cycles and have not adopted new textbooks," Principal Stoltz said. "It'll be a change because parents are used to having a fee on a book that's 12 years old. So it's going to go up, but we try to keep it as low as we possibly can."

Superintendent Greg Linton commented, "We did go through K-12 fees this year and compared them to other school corporations, and in most cases ours are still lower than surrounding school corporations. This school corporation has done a very good job of each year weeding out fees that aren't necessary."

-- The board approved the resignations of Dianna Whitlock (elementary interventionist) and Ann Pruitt (elementary music teacher, middle school choir director).

"We appreciate all the time (Whitlock) gave to the school corporation," Principal Stoltz said.

Superintendent Linton commented, "Ann Pruit has done a fabulous job at our elementary and middle schools with the choir program. We wish her the very best at South Put. We appreciate (Whitlock's) time, professionalism and dedication to the corporation."

In other business:

-- Rob Schroer was absent.

-- Total claims for June were approved at $840,365.70, an increase of $193,888.84 from the May claims. Superintendent Greg Linton explained this via two payrolls, a transportation fund reimbursment, two monthly payments made this month to Old National Trails and a purchase of software for remote controlling the air conditioning in the school buildings.

The next CCSC board meeting will be July 11 at 7 p.m. in the administration building.