Southwest Dubois County School Corp meeting notes for February 20

The Southwest Dubois County School Board met Thursday for the regular on in January.

-Approved Leslie Petry of Holland as a new board member to replace Jerome Buening for the remainder this year. Petry will have to run in the November election to remain on the board in January of 2015. Buening resigned from the board in January. (We incorrectly reported that the board had not named an interim replacement for Buening. Petry was not in attendance last night and has not been sworn in as a board member.)

Petry will serve on the board until January, but she will have to run for re-election in November if she wishes to retain the position past January. She was not present at the meeting and will take the oath of office at a later date.

-Heard from English as a Second Language Director Beth Meece that the corporation did not meet the standards in the most recent ESL student assessment. Meece explained that this could be due to students phasing out of the program and the influx of new students with very little English skills. She told the board that the school had 45 kindergarten students this year that are considered ESL students. Meece explained that the corporation has at least 30 students ranging from 7th grade to kindergarten with no English skills at all. She told the board that the high number of ESL students in the program makes it difficult for her to properly schedule personal instruction time with the students that need more help to improve their English skills with the current staff numbers.

Two years ago the school corporation did not meet the assessment standards but was able to raise the scores last year. If they do not meet the assessment levels two years in a row, the school will have to complete a school improvement plan.

-Approved a joint resolution with the City of Huntingburg opposing the repeal of the business personal property tax. It represents 14 percent of the school corporations assessed valuation and $126,000 of the property tax levy. The bills do not contain any language that replaces the lost income.

-Heard that the corporation has added three days to the end of the school year as make-up snow days. The Southwest School Corporation Commencement is scheduled for May 16, but students will be in school May 19th, 20th, and 21st to make up days missed most recently. Superintendent Mike Eineman stated the corporation has filed for the waivers for the two days missed at the beginning of the year.

-Held over discussion regarding a petition to change the district from Easter Time Zone to Central Time Zone.