The Board of Trustees of the Oak Hill United School Corporation met in the Administration Office on Tuesday, February 14, 2006.  All Board Members were present.  Also present were Superintendent James W. Smith, Business Manager Jill Morphew, Recording Secretary Norma Sweeten, Terry Renbarger, Bill Bishop, Joel Martin, Greg Perkins, Patti Lehman, Ruth Davies, and Mike Keaffaber.  Representing the news media were Donna Burchick of the Oak Hill Times and Casey Mellady of the Peru Tribune.

1.         CALL TO ORDER

Mr. Toby Middlesworth, President, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m..

2.         MOMENT OF REFLECTION

           

            Mr. Brian Middlesworth opened the meeting with reflection and prayer.

 

3.         PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

            Mr. Middlesworth led the Pledge of Allegiance.

4.          MINUTES APPROVED

            The minutes of the regular meeting and the Executive Session of January 24, 2006, were approved as submitted.

5.         PERSONNEL

            Mr. Smith made the following personnel recommendations for Board consideration:

NAME	BUILDING	POSITION	ACTION
Brad Shouse	High School	Varsity Softball Coach	Appointment

            Brian Middlesworth moved to approve the personnel recommendation as presented.  Kevin Pearson seconded the motion, and it carried 7 ayes and 0 nays.                  

 6.         CONTINUING BUSINESS

            There was no continuing business.

7.         NEW BUSINESS

            A.  Consideration of Permission to Advertise Bus Bids

            Mrs. Morphew asked the Board for permission to advertise for bids for three buses, two regular buses and one special use bus.  Dennis Messersmith made a motion to advertise for bids, and Dana Biggs seconded the motion.  It carried 7 ayes to 0 nays.

            B.  Election of Board of Finance

            Mrs. Morphew asked the Board to reform a Board of Finance from the existing School Board to review school investments.  President Toby Middlesworth and Secretary Mark Johnson will serve as those officers, respectfully, on the Board of Finance.  Dennis Messersmith made a motion to permit this reformation.  Brian Middlesworth seconded the motion which passed 7 ayes to 0 nays.

            C.  Consideration of Permission to Place Statue           

            Mr. Smith explained that the Swayzee Lions Club and the Town of Swayzee were asking permission to place a statue of Garfield in front of Swayzee Elementary School.   Garfield would be dressed in a Number 9 basketball uniform.  Kevin Pearson made a motion to permit the statue on school property.  Dana Biggs seconded the motion.  It passed 7 ayes to 0 nays.

            D.  Consideration of Acceptance of Donations

            Mr. Smith noted that two donations of technology were made to Oak Hill.  Ceres Midland of Sims donated seven monitors, and an anonymous donor gave two monitors and seven printers.  Dana Biggs moved to accept these donations, Scott Dubois seconded the motion which carried 7 ayes to 0 nays.

             E.   Consideration of Out-of-State/Overnight Field Trips

            Mr. Smith announced that there were four field trip requests.  The first was from the Junior High to take the 8^th grade Algebra class to a Math/Science Day at King’s Island in May.  The second was for an out-of-state trip for the FFA to attend the national Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, KY, on February 16^th.  Another request was from the High School Spanish department to sponsor a trip to Costa Rica during the 2007 spring break.  The last request was for the Speech Team to stay in a hotel on two Friday nights before two meets on early Saturday mornings.  Mark Johnson moved to accept all the field trip requests.  Dana Biggs seconded the motion.  It carried 7 ayes to 0 nays. 

            F.  Consideration of Appointment to Library Board

            Mr. Smith said that the Swayzee Library Board wanted to re-appoint John Key.  Dana Biggs moved to accept this re-appointment, Scott Dubois seconded the motion, and it passed 7 ayes to 0 nays.

8.         CLAIMS

            Dennis Messersmith moved to accept regular claims # 1157 through # 1327, lunch and textbook claims # 711 through # 738, and lunch payroll checks #6465 through # 6517.  Brian Middlesworth seconded the motion.  It passed 7 ayes to 0 nays.

9.         ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REPORTS

            Mr. Smith announced that the building project is on schedule.

10.       CELEBRATIONS

Oak Hill High School Joel Martin, Principal	·        Praised Ana Baracaldo for being selected as Indiana’s top high school volunteer of the year.  She received a $1,000 award, a silver medallion, and a trip to Washington, D.C.
Special Services Bill Bishop, Director	·        Praised the social workers and counselors for the in-service they attended in Indianapolis. ·        Praised the preschool teachers, Sharon Reiff, Denise Horner, Cynthia Catt and Melinda Conway on the work they perform.

 

Building/Administrator	Event
Swayzee Elementary School Terry Renbarger, Principal	·        Praised Maria Huntley for her work in getting students Kayla Gunsalus, Kritin Peer, Stephanie Maggard, Brandon Pace and Allie Conway’s art work displayed at the State House. ·        Praised Kathy Nall for keeping the front bulletin board neat and current and for monitoring the Accelerated Reader contest.  She reported that grade 5 had taken 1,820 quizzes and grade 6 had taken 679 quizzes. ·        Praised Caroline Wickes, Brittany Southworth, Halley Andrews, Alexa Adamson and Hannah Brown for running the Jar Wars competition which raised $1,055 for the Humane Society.
Sweetser Elementary School Mike Keaffaber, Principal	·        Praised the Sweetser students for creating Valentines for veterans. ·        Praised the Symphony In Color representatives:  Hannah McDivitt, Riley Jones, Madisyn Mooneyhen, Nicholas Horsley, Marina Allen, and Tristen Wilcox. ·        Praised students Derrick Randell, Philip Aken, Gabe Hyman, Ayden Collier, and Braelyn Martin who will have their art work displayed at the State House for Youth Art month in March. ·        Thanked art teacher, Maria Huntley, for her work with these excelling students. ·        Thanked our spouses and significant others for being understanding concerning our attendance at the board meeting on Valentine’s Day.
Junior High School Greg Perkins, Principal	·        Praised all orchestra students who competed in the ISSMA contest.  Gold medal winners were Levi Lehman, Layla Dresher, Tabitha Flaugh, Chelsea Reynolds, Tyler Keith, Trent Schearer, Chelsea Dumpert, Art Harper, Katie Schutt, Kaitlyn Sharp and Alex Small. ·        Praised Amanda Lehman who earned a spot at the State ISSMA Contest in Indianapolis. ·        Praised the 8th grade girls’ basketball team for winning the GBAA conference tournament for the second year.  They are undefeated.
School Board Member Dennis Messersmith	·        Praised Joel Martin and Todd Law for the excellent freshmen orientation and explaining the new core courses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11.       ADJOURNMENT      

            The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 p.m..

 

12.       EXECUTIVE SESSION

           

            Following the regular meeting, the Board met in Executive Session according to I.C. 5-14-1.5-6.1 (b) (9).