By Tim Arnett
WABASH,Indiana – The longest Wabash City Schools Board meeting of the year could probably be best described as bittersweet. The school board met in the cafeteria of O.J. Neighbours to hand out this year’s Kathy Swan awards for students K through 4th Grade.
(L to R) Karina Hernandez, Board Member Jordan Tandy, Ariahna Hernandez, Gi’Anna Wright, Board member Mary Anne Tait, Trevor Herron, Board President Kim Pinkerton, Jordan Rider, Olivia Nelson and Board Member Liz Hobbs
Kindergartener Gi’Anna Wright, 1st Grader Olivia Nelson, 2nd Grader Jordan Rider, 3rd Grader Trevor Herron and 4th Graders Karina and Ariahna Hernandez all took home the award. O.J. Neighbours Principal Danielle Miller describes the winners.
The school board then heard a technology update from Justin Vail, Technology Director at Wabash City Schools, about the 1:1 Refresh. The program will replace nearly 700 MacBook Air laptops and iPads for students at a cost of $536,000 to the school system. The board approved a 1:1 lease with Crossroads Bank for the refresh, to which payments will begin in the 2017 school year.
And then $390,000 of budget cuts for the 2016 – 2017 school year were announced by Superintendent Jason Callahan. The cuts follow on the heels of the rejection of the school system’s referendum by voters in the May 3rd primary election. Five teaching positions and two part-time school aids will be eliminated. The school’s Resource Officer will also be eliminated. Two certified teachers will also be replaced with lower-paid paraprofessional instructors in an effort to save money.
In the latter camp, O.J. Neighbours Music Teacher Dr. Pam Haynes is retiring and a paraprofessional will take her place. Also announced at the meeting, Middle School Social Studies Teacher Blake Conllin will resign and be replaced by another paraprofessional.
The current Athletic Director and Chief Academic Officer will further be eliminated. To fill those positions, members of the administration will simply take on their respective role. For example, Chief Financial Officer Matt Stone will once again become the Athletic Director in addition to his current duties, and Superintendent Callahan will also become the Chief Academic Officer for the school district after Dr. Melissa Brisco was let go. Stone said that he tried to keep the cuts from affecting the students as much as possible.
He went on to say that some teachers will have bigger class sizes, but the $390,000 in cuts should get them through the 2017 school year. Callahan also left the door open for another try at a referendum depending on where the school is at this fall. That, he said, ultimately depends on enrollment and how much the school receives from the state via their count of students for the 2016 – 2017 school year.