TCSC School Board Meeting

Mr. Wessel has provided a brief summary of transportation and building activities.

Mr. Witherow has submitted a brief report of activities related to technology.

TCSC recently completed its 3rd Annual Back-to-School Summer Academy for teachers with 57 teachers participating.

Ms. Eller has submitted a brief report related to student services.

The Pride of Blue Devils Marching Band - 19th place at Indiana State Fair on Aug 4.  They will also participate in the ISSMA SHowcase in Kokomo on Saturday.

The monthly test of its communication systems - Wednesday, August 15 at 6:00 PM.  Subsequent tests will be conducted on the first Wednesday of each month.

Student enrollment

Student transfers for 2018-2019.  To date, we have approved 42 new transfers for this year. Fifteen students have come from Elwood, nine from Tri-Central and the remainder from other area schools (Hamilton Heights, Kokomo, etc).

School Safety Informational Meeting, September 4.  This will be an informational meeting to help inform the public of some of the safety measures that are used at Tipton schools to keep students and staff safe.  We will be sending out a form prior to the meeting to get any questions the public may have about school safety so that those questions can be addressed.

We will also have the first of three community meetings on Monday, September 24.  These meetings will be facilitated by IUK for the purpose of gathering more input from the community on the status of Tipton schools to help 

The monthly financial report for July is included in the packet. For this month, we maintain a positive cash balance with the revenues exceeding the expenditures by over $128,000.  This month (August ) will have three payrolls and we can expect the overall cash balance to be reduced.  The General Fund expenditure are at 56.8% which is where we would expect them to be, but is slightly higher than in previous years when it was 54-55%.  The projection for the General Fund for the year remains positive with a strong cash balance at the end of the year.

Indiana Code prescribes that school corporation shall designate an individual to serve as the school safety specialist for the school corporation. The school safety specialist shall be chosen by the superintendent of the school corporation with the approval of the governing body (IC 5-2-10.1-9).  It is recommended that Scott Wessel, Director of Operations, be approved as the School Safety Specialist for the corporation. 

Early in the process of the 2017 Bonds, we knew there may be some additional funds from the bonds to help pay for some other projects.  This is a result of various savings or lower than anticipated costs in the original plans. We currently estimate $750,000 is available to spend on these projects, and as indicated, could be done.  It is recommended that the board proceed with the projects listed be funded through the 2017 Bonds.

Recently the WV/WCI Insurance Trust met and approved a 5% increase in medical insurance premiums for the upcoming year.  The board, by previous agreement, will increase the amount of the corporation’s payment to cover this increase.  As we reviewed these changes, we also looked to ensure that we were in compliance with the Affordable Healthcare Act.  Under this federal law, for those employees that are eligible for health insurance, the corporation must offer a single plan that is affordable by federal guidelines. Based on this review, it is recommended that to meet the requirements of the Affordable Healthcare Act, the board contributes $6223 for the Option 7 single plan for non-certified employees.  For all other single plans, the board’s contribution will be $6204 with the new rates, including Option 7 single plan for certified employees.

Taylor Martin, THS Cheerleading Coach, is requesting permission to organize and chaperone a group of cheerleaders to Varsity Spirit Spectacular being held at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, November 28-December 2.   It is recommended that permission be given for them to pursue making plans to offer this trip for interested students as they have proposed. 

Mrs. Kim Warner, THS German Teacher, and Miss Sheila Harrigan, THS French Teacher, are requesting permission to organize and chaperone a group of students to Europe in the spring or early summer of 2019.  It is recommended permission be given for them to pursue making plans to offer this trip as proposed.

A number of policies are being presented for First Reading.  These policy revision are being made to ensure we are in compliance with state and federal laws.  One bylaw change is being recommended that would provide for Consent Agenda items at the board meetings. It is recommended that these policy revisions be approved on First Reading.  Approval for Second Reading will take place next month to put these policies in place.

• Facilities & Technology, August 20
• Personnel, September 17
• Business Affairs, October 15

• August 16 Meet the Teacher, THS, 6:00
• August 23 Meet the Teacher, TMS, 6:00
• September 3 Labor Day – No School
• September 4 School Safety Informational Meeting, 6:00
• September 10-14 Indiana Digital Citizenship Week
• September 11 Board Meeting, 5:30/6:30
• September 14 ADM Count Day
• September 17 eLearning Day/PD
• September 17 Constitution Day
• September 18 Tipton County Career Fair
• September 24 IUK Community Input Meeting, 6:00