CHURUBUSCO, Ind. – The Smith-Green Schools’ administration presented their proposal to reconfigure the school at the last school board meeting in hopes of moving forward with the plan, but the school board had other plans.
After a Power Point presentation that summed up the proposal, the board voted unanimously to table the decision for a future meeting (date to be determined). Multiple board members thanked the administration for their hard work and praised them on their ability to work together to formulate this plan, but stated that they still had some questions that need to be answered before they make a decision.
“I am supportive of the concept, but still have some questions that I would like to have answered,” board member Rick Trump said. His sentiments were echoed by the other board members; board president Tanya Young said she would like to see three years worth of data from other schools who have implemented this structure to get a general idea of if the system worked for them.
Middle school principal John Davis debated the necessity of these figures stating, “Why do we need to see if someone else was successful at it? Can’t we be progressive and just do it ourselves?” Young replied that it is part of their job as board members to look at that information and take it into consideration.
Board vice president Cathy Petrie was concerned that the current economy would prove difficult to make this plan a reality and felt that it is not a time the school could expect to raise taxes to help cover the costs. The board will meet with the administration in a retreat setting to discuss the proposal and will then vote on it at a meeting in the very near future.
In other board news, Churubusco High School senior Zane Sade was recognized in the Spotlight on Success segment; Sade was chosen because of his high academic performance as well as his numerous involvements in extracurricular activities. He is a senior member of New Era and has held many lead roles in the plays and musicals at CHS including a lead in last year’s production of Les Misérables and this year’s play Fools. He was also recognized as a National Merit Commended Student, placing him in the top 5 percent of students nationally on the PSAT and scored a “5″ on the AP Chemistry Exam – definitely not an easy feat. Sade plans to major in music after high school.
CHS teacher Jim Folland was also recognized as Teacher of the Month due to his endless commitment to his students and his consummate level of professionalism. Folland is often noted as “the hardest teacher in the school” by most students, yet those same students praise him for that same challenge and are thankful for his willingness to assist them. CHS graduate (2008) Jeremy Berry referred to Folland after receiving the Realizing the Dream award, an award given to first generation college students; Berry cited Folland as one of the driving forces that influenced him to pursue a post secondary education.
The board also approved the resignation of science teacher Margaret Borg to be effective December 18, 2009, and approved a sick leave for Borg from Dec.8-18.
The list of winter lay coaches was approved by the school board in a 5-0 vote and the board accepted the Celebrating Diversity Grant and the H.A.N.D.S Grant at the request of Janet Bontrager, the elementary art teacher. A list of new courses, including Medical Intervention and Early Childhood Education was approved for the 2010-2011 school year. The former Construction/Building Trades class will also be returning.
The next regularly scheduled board meeting will take place Monday, Jan. 4, 2010 at 7 p.m. in the CHS/CMS Library.
