|
Introductions made at WCCS meeting |
|
|
|
Wednesday, July 16 2008 |
By MARK PARKER
for The Post & Mail
Tuesday night’s Whitley County Consolidated School Board meeting opened on a solemn note with a moment of silence for Columbia City High School maintenance worker John Clifford, who passed away last week in a tragic accident.
Following a lengthy list of consent items, Whitley County Economic Development Corporation president Alan Tio presented the board with what he called a “re-introduction” to the functions of the EDC. Tio explained to board members that the EDC looked to be the “single point of contact” for existing businesses looking to maintain and expand existing operations, and to be “the front door” in attracting new business.
Tio gave the board information that described the economic outlook of Whitley County in positive terms, explaining that cost of living was below the U.S. average, that there was a labor force of 325,000 within 30 miles of Whitley County, and that more than 50 percent of the U.S. industrial base is within a 600-mile radius of Whitley County. Tio concluded that the EDC looks forward to working with WCCS in presenting a positive image of Whitley County to businesses both existing and potential.
Board member Deborah Hiss asked if Tio was seeing an increased interest in Whitley County from businesses. Tio responded that the EDC was working with a number of existing companies looking to expand or retrain their workforce as well as new businesses.
Following the tabling of the Budget Report, Superintendent Dr. Laura Huffman presented a request to the board for feedback on the corporation’s transfer policy and a cut-off date for such requests. Huffman asked the board for more discretion to handle those requests on a case-by-case basis without an arbitrary date being involved.
Huffman also presented an update on WCCS goals, stating that the teachers and administration are looking forward to working with the new Reading Language Arts materials and an increased emphasis on providing more reading time throughout the corporation. Other goals included a facility inspection to help prioritize repairs and maintenance, and communication of what is working in various buildings being shared across the corporation.
In items that required a vote the board approved a request to raise substitute teacher pay to $70 for those holding a substitute license and $75 for licensed teachers. Board member Lynn Workman noted that he would prefer to see the pay raise to be even greater as it had been communicated to him that substitutes were turning down WCCS calls to take the higher paying jobs from Northwest and Southwest Allen county schools. Huffman stated that with the tax money allocation still undetermined, that the increase was all that could be proposed. There was also discussion on whether the qualifications for substitutes should also be increased. Huffman noted that most of the items are already included in the qualifications used by Region Eight which is used by WCCS for its substitutes. The recommendation passed by a 6-1 count with Workman voting against the proposal.
In other business the board voted 7-0 to authorize Huffman to enter into discussions with the property owners of two pieces of land adjacent to Indian Springs Middle School after the board had received appraisals of the two parcels.
In the final piece of business CCHS principal Gregg Goewert reported on a collaboration meeting with secretarial workers and office assistants. Goewert noted that the meeting resulted in clarification of job descriptions and vision statements for those jobs.
|
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, July 17 2008 )
|
