A new section of the Churubusco Elementary School playground will be accessible to all children, including those in wheelchairs, with walkers or with physical limitations, CES principal Nicole Singer told school board members Monday night.

Singer said she will apply for grants to cover the cost of the project - $57,150 from Service Supply Inc. - but needed approval before proceeding.

The needed monies will come from the school’s capital projects fund. The project includes new equipment and grounding or surface materials and gravel for drainage.

Amy Pyle and Linda Zurbuch were named Teachers of the Month in October. Both have been instrumental in the training and implementation of the school\'s new assessement tool, Acuity.

Singer also asked board members to approve free state tutoring services for students who need help with ISTEP testing. She said she needed board approval even though the school is mandated by law to offer the tutoring since it fell into the “school-in-improvement” category last year because of failing ISTEP scores. It was the third consecutive year the school fell behind in AYP ratings, Singer said, which caused the school to fall into the school-in-improvement category.

The monies for the tutoring program will come from Title 1 funding. Twenty percent of Title 1 funding must be used for tutoring, Singer said.

She added that the school has enough money for 23 students to be enrolled in the computer-based tutoring program. “I have 22 who have expressed an interest in the classes,” Singer said, “and 125 who are eligible.”

The program is managed by the Indiana Department of Education and no staff member of Smith-Green is allowed to participate in the tutoring program because of the school-in-improvement status, Singer said.

Julia Folland, a fifth grader, was honored in the October Spotlight on Success at a recent school board meeting. Julia is a kind and helpful student with a great attitude, according to her teachers.

Each student will be given a computer to take home during the program - which consists of 25 sessions two or three times per week, Singer said. The family does not have to subscribe to an Internet service, and needs only a land-based phone line to run the computer programs, Singer said. She hopes to start the program by the end of this month, she said.

In other business:

• Two teachers were honored as Teachers of the Month for their work on the school’s new assessment tool, Acuity. The teachers - Amy Pyle and Linda Zurbuch - have been instrumental in in the training and implementation of the new program, Singer said. Zurbuch has been the school psychologist for five years and worked many years as a teacher of students diagnosed with learning and cognitive disabilities. She said she has sincerely enjoyed each of her roles in education and always strives to make a difference in the lives of children. Pyle is a graduate of the University of St. Francis where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in education. She is currently working on obtaining her Master’s degree through Walden University.
• Julia Folland, a fifth grade student and the daughter of Jim and Pam Folland, was honored in the October Spotlight on Success. Her teachers say Julia is a very kind and helpful student with a great attitude. She is a strong academic student and is involved in Turners Jump Rope team, DaVinci’s Art Club and Soundmasters. She is also involved with dance and participates in dance competitions in northeast Indiana.

The board voted 4-1 to bring in an outside consultant - Educational Services Company - to make sure the school corporation is in compliance with federal regulations by January 1, 2009, regarding the teacher’s pension fund. On July 26, 2007, the Internal Revenue Service published final 403(b) regulations providing updated guidance on several administrative requirements. Those include:

• Plan documents—The IRS retained the requirement that all plans, including non-ERISA plans, must have a single plan document that describes the key characteristics of the plan and incorporates other documents as needed. In addition, the IRS will be providing a model plan for public schools prior to the effective date.
• 90-24 Transfers—Revenue Ruling 90-24 is repealed and replaced by the final regulations. The rules are modified to provide plan participants and plan sponsors with more flexibility than the proposed regulations. Detailed requirements will be in regulations to be issued by the IRS prior to the effective date.
• Catch-Up Coordination—Final regulations confirm that plan participants who are eligible for both the lifetime catch-up and the age 50 catch-up in the same tax year must first exhaust the lifetime catch-up before making an age 50 catch-up contribution.
• Plan Terminations—403(b) plans may be amended to add a plan termination clause.
• Universal Availability—The IRS underscored the responsibility of plan sponsor to offer a 403(b) to all employees, with few exceptions.

ESC estimated the cost of the consultation at between $3,000 and $6,000.  Adam Skiles, business and technology director, said ESC will provide guidelines to vendors, evaluate the responses and assist the corporation and the Churubusco Teachers Association in the selection of vendors for the plan.

Board member Cathy Petrie asked Skiles why the board was limited in their decision. “Aren’t there other companies who do this kind of thing?” Petrie asked. “Is this our only choice?”

Skiles said he did not know of any other companies except ESC and that the influx of new laws surrounding 403B regulations would make it a very time consuming job for the administration. “There are also IRS penalties if it is not done correctly,” Skiles said.

“So this is like hiring a clearing house and we’re the middle man?” Amber asked Skiles, who said yes.

“We’ve had this thrown in our lap and told we must decide tonight, which angers me,” Amber said. “I don’t like not having all the information” needed to make a decision.