By JOHN BADEN
Record Herald Writer
Courtesy of the Record Herald; Printed 12.2.12
TIPP CITY – While its next meeting will be a week earlier than usual due to Christmas, Tipp City’s Board of Education may be meeting even sooner than that for another work session on finances and an upcoming levy for next May.
Since requesting ideas from the public earlier this month, the board had received 70 emails from parents and teachers and expects more after recently sending out a One Call message to the school’s community, encouraging them to voice their ideas on the levy and what should be cut or kept if the school can’t get another levy passed.
Board member Kate Johnsen has been hard at work compiling information from the emails and did not see any overwhelming trends as of yet as to what options would be preferred over others.
Johnsen said that there were a lot of suggestions, including ones they’ve considered and others that wouldn’t work well with the law. Some teachers were against increasing class size. Many parents made comments on the levy itself, ranging from scrapping the levy, cutting it in half, or putting it back on the May ballot as is.
“It is a broad spectrum, and we can’t do everything,” Johnsen said. “We’re going to have to figure out what we think is best, so this is input and information for us.”
For the board, it all starts with the levy — its millage amount and its time frame.
“I think there are places that if we cut, it will change our schools,” Johnsen said.
While board members aren’t against cutting the levy’s millage, members agreed to have Treasurer Joseph Smith work up the numbers on a few instances with a smaller amount to get a picture of where a smaller levy will take the school.
Regardless of what path the board chooses, President Tom Merritt said that the school’s mission must be kept in mind, when deciding on what cuts to make and what millage to put on the ballot.
“The mission of our district is to provide an exemplary education, and that’s what we have to do,” Merritt said.
The board is still accepting email input. Board members’ email addresses are listed atwww.tippcityschools.com/
No date has been set yet for a financial work session.
New and revised policies
Also at Monday’s meeting, board members discussed new and revised statewide school policies that will be accepted at their meeting next month.
One revised policy will allow 1,000-mile field trips for school buses.
According to Superintendent Dr. John Kronour, before this change, school buses could not go more than 250 miles outside of state borders.
Dr. Kronour used the example of the high school’s softball team traveling to Knoxville, showing that the city would not be in reach for the team to go by bus.
“I’m not sure you really want to travel that far by school bus,” Kronour said. “It’s maybe not the most comfortable ride in the world, but again it definitely puts some things within range that may not have been before.
A new policy will require all school districts in the state to hold an educational program on the U.S. Constitution on September 17 of each year, which is the day the Constitution was ratified.
This policy stems from Senate Bill 316, encouraging schools to go back and inform students of the documents that define the United States of America such as the Declaration of Independence and the Article of Confederation.
“I believe it’s something that could be done in each classroom,” Kronour said in clarifying what the education program would look like at their school.
Resignation
L.T. Ball is saying goodbye to one of its fourth grade teachers.
After starting the year off on maternity leave, Meredith Conner has decided she wants to stay at home with her children.
Dr. Kronour said that the school is in the process of interviewing candidates to fill her position and was doing a second round of interviews on Tuesday.
The next board of education meeting is Dec. 17 at 7 p.m.
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