Projects OK’d

By 2025, junior-senior high baseball and softball athletes will be able to play under the lights.

Jay School Board on Monday approved the installation of lights for the baseball and softball diamonds at Jay County Junior-Senior High School.

It also approved repairs to several awnings at the school, seeking bids for the replacement of two sections of the roof and hiring a new assistant principal.

Previous plans had called for installing baseball lights in 2024 and softball lights later, but Jay Schools superintendent Jeremy Gulley in November suggested doing both projects at the same time. His suggestion stemmed from the fact that Mid-States Construction of Redkey is already on site working on the new locker room, restroom and concession facility for the football field and is available to run the electrical service needed from that area to the baseball and softball fields. He recommended that the board wait until this month to decide after hearing year-end financial numbers. (Those reports provided at the Jan. 8 board meeting showed the operations fund with a year-end balance of $4.68 million.)

Board members Ron Laux, Donna Geesaman, Phil Ford, Vickie Reitz, Jason Phillips, Marcie Vormohr and Chip Phillips unanimously approved the project at a total cost of $836,583 — $795,525 for the installation of lights by Musco Sports Lighting of Oskaloosa, Iowa, and $41,058 for fencing from Gabbard Fence of Winchester. (The baseball field’s outfield fence, which needs to be replaced, will be moved in about 10 feet to reduce the number of lights needed from eight to six.)

The lighting project will be completed prior to the 2025 baseball and softball seasons.

The board also approved advertising for bids for roof replacement at the junior-senior high school. Sections to be replaced include about 37,026 square feet at the east corner of the building over the band and choir rooms, auditorium and adjacent classrooms and 21,879 square feet at the west corner of the building including the vocational and agriculture area.

Bids will be accepted until 10 a.m. Feb. 9, with the board to consider them at their Feb. 12 meeting. (Bids are required because the project is expected to cost more than $150,000.)

Board members approved new roofing and drainage systems for canopies over doors 1 and 2 (the main entrance area) and doors 8, 9, 10 and 11 (the auditorium and gym entrances) to prevent leaks. McGuff Roofing of Muncie will handle the project at a cost of $65,653.

Also approved Monday was the hiring of Cole Leavitt as junior high assistant principal and assistant athletics director. He will begin work with Jay Schools within 30 days.

He replaces Chris Brown, who is leaving the school corporation after about a year and a half to become assistant principal at Maple Ridge Elementary School. Prior to coming to Jay County, Brown had worked at Maple Ridge for 20 years.

Leavitt, a Gas City resident, is currently a junior high teacher at Blackford Junior-Senior High School. He is in the process of working toward receiving his administrator’s license, with completion expected in May. He is being hired with the stipulation that he must become fully licensed before July 1.

Gulley also told The Commercial Review last week that he is temporarily assigning director of e-learning Katie Clark to the junior-senior high school for administrative support.

In addition to the gap between Brown’s departure and Leavitt joining the staff, the junior-senior high is short-staffed with assistant principal/dean Brad Milleman on administrative leave. Milleman was placed on leave last week after the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed lawsuits on behalf of two students alleging invasive searches were violations of their Fourth Amendment rights.

Assistant principal for curriculum and instruction James Myers is handling dean duties on an interim basis.

In other business, the board:

•During the Patriot Pride moment heard a thank you from Allison Keen of Jay County’s Purdue Extension office for the school corporation’s partnership on programs including an after-school cooking club at East Jay Elementary School, an after-school STEM club at Jay County Public Library and a career fair that was held in the fall.

•Congratulated the corporation’s Chartwells cafeteria team on being honored as the company’s Midwest Region 2023 Account of the Year. The school corporation was selected from more than 120 Chartwells schools in the Midwest for the honor.

•Reviewed a proposed “exclusive sports medicine agreement” with IU Health. The agreement would provide a $15,000 sponsorship to the school corporation in exchange for exclusive marketing and advertising rights as the “official sports medicine provider.” The proposal will be considered at a future meeting.

•Approved the following: several hirings, including Ashlynn May as a sixth grade teacher at East Jay Elementary School, Caliandra Elking as a Lifeskills instructional assistant at East Jay and Rodney Reynolds as JCHS boys soccer coach; leaves of absence for teachers Katie Loy, Taylor Schwarck, Kim Hyatt and Angelana Carter; field trip requests for the Business Professionals of America club to the state conference March 10 through 12 in Indianapolis and the PVE club from April 22 through 26 to Myrtle Beach; bus requests from Campus Life/Youth for Christ and Fellowship Baptist Church youth group; year-end transfers that were made to avoid having negative balances in any funds; purchasing two new mini busses from Kerlin Bus Sales and Leasing for $196,399 and selling the current buses via an online auction through Bricker Auction Company of Portland; and an update to the memorandum of understanding for the JROTC program.

•OK’d a resolution to allow using a planned two-hour delay schedule four times a year for staff professional development. The resolution will also need to receive approval from the Indiana State Board of Education.

•Accepted a $20,821.05 Early Literacy Grant.

•Heard a presentation regarding the literacy program at Bloomfield Elementary School.

•Accepted donations of $2,250 to West Jay Elementary School and $1,875 to Redkey Elementary School from Dunkirk Kiwanis.

•Appointed Michael Brewster to Portland Park Board.

•Was presented with policy updates for first reading on topics including mandatory curriculum, adjunct teachers and fees.