AV up, tax rate down for GCSC

An increase in assessed valuation in the Greencastle Community School District also means a reduction in the property tax rate for residents of Greencastle and Madison townships.

Supt. Jeff Gibboney told the Greencastle School Board during its December meeting that the district’s 2022 budget order had been reviewed by the Department of Local Government Finance, with all budgets approved as presented, except for the operations fund, which was cut by $30,000.

The big news, though, is that assessed value is up by $29 million in the district, leading to a five-cent decrease per $100,000 of assessed value for the school corporation tax rate.

This comes in spite of an increased levy of $148,222 for the debt service and operations funds combined. (While education funds come from the state, other school funds are still drawn from local property taxes.)

Gibboney noted that one of the selling points earlier this year for a bond sale for the corporation’s current and upcoming building projects was that it would be tax neutral. Taxes have, in fact, gone down slightly in the first year following the bond sale.

In other funding news, Gibboney noted that the school will see an increase of $200,000 in special education funds, but a reduction of $50,000 in career and technical education funding.

“Overall, more funding is headed our way, which is a positive,” Gibboney said.

On the subject of the building project, the superintendent noted that the next phase of the project — upgrades to the Greencastle High School/McAnally Center campus as well as the new baseball and softball diamonds between Tennessee and Martinsville streets — have gone to bid. Plans, documents and specs are available on the Eastern Engineering website.

In other business:

• Assistant Supt. Jennifer French reported that the Department of Education will likely be adding two components to its literacy instructional framework in the 2022-23 school year.

One of these is the addition of literacy coaches. While some school districts will qualify for the state to provide such coaches, French believes Greencastle will not.

However, schools can still opt into the program and ultimately share a coach with another district.

The other component is to begin emphasizing the science of reading, which she said the GCSC elementary schools are already doing.

“At Greencastle right now, I think we’re ahead of the curve,” French said. “At the elementary schools, we’ve been doing science of reading development for the last 12 months at the K-2 level.”

An example of this is no longer doing weekly spelling tests, as studies have shown such memorization does not actually make students better readers.

Instead, students are taught spelling rules, such as the fact that no English word ends with the letter “j,” with such end sounds made by “-dge” or “-ge.”

The children can then apply the rules to their reading and writing.

• The board conducted a hearing on its “Return to In-Person Instruction Plan,” which is required every six months at this time. No one from the public made any comments.

Gibboney reiterated that the plan when school resumes on Thursday, Jan. 6 is for masks to be recommended but no longer required.

If a particular building’s positivity rate rises above five percent, masks will again be required until the rate dips back below four percent.

The superintendent also noted that while the positivity rate in the county has risen, the same had not been true of the schools as of mid-December.

• The corporation has an appointment to make to the City of Greencastle Human Relations Committee, with the current appointee not wishing to serve another term.

Aside from sending an email to all school employees, Gibboney and Board President Mike White are welcoming applications from any residents of the district.

Anyone interested may send a letter of interest to Supt. Jeff Gibboney at GCSC Central Office, 1002 Mill Pond Lane, Greencastle, IN 46135. All letters should be received by Feb. 1.

• The following students were recognized as December Students of the Month for their respective schools: Greencastle High School, Ben Huff; Greencastle Middle School, Bailey Boggess; Tzouanakis Intermediate, Isabel Battin; and Deer Meadow Primary, Quinn Case.

Ridpath Primary will recognize its December Student of the Month in January.

• The board accepted the following donations: $2,100 from Project Lead the Way to GCSC; $1,000 each from the Putnam County Community Foundation for Greencastle High School, Greencastle Middle School and Tzouanakis; and $1,000 from Mary Allison Children’s Trust to Deer Meadow.

• The board approved a number of personnel items.

Resignations: Evan Scott as Deer Meadow custodian, Gerald Krouse as GMS custodian, Chad Rodgers as substitute bus driver, Brooke Lewis as Tzouanakis Math Bowl sponsor.

Termination: Daniel Milner as mechanic at transportation center.

FMLA: Cassidy Holt-Spencer as GHS English teacher effective Jan. 21-March 4; Julie Hartman as Deer Meadow instructional assistant Nov. 24-Jan. 6.

Transfers: Wesley Stone from substitute cafeteria assistant to GMS cafeteria assistant, Linda Floyd from substitute bus driver to full-time bus driver.

New hires: Anna Monnett as GHS study hall instructional assistant, Joy O’Hair as GHS cafeteria assistant; Charlie Menzel and Jack Riggle as 21st Century Community Learning Center lifeguards; Kadence Shaner as 21st Century Community Learning Center instructional assistant.

Substitutes: Katie Rosentreter as long-term substitute teacher at Tzouanakis effective Dec. 6-Feb. 28, Cindy Evens and Isabelle Boles-Wynkoope hired as substitute teachers.

Extracurricular activities: Grace Gibby Tribbett hired as GMS head wrestling coach, Tom Blodgett hired as GMS assistant wrestling coach, Jared Tribbett approved as GMS volunteer assistant wrestling coach, Kaleb Camacho approved as GHS assistant track coach, Julia Stevens approved as Tzouanakis math bowl sponsor.