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Mineral water can be a great thing. Years ago, towns such as French Lick and West Baden, Ind. were built on the purported healing powers of their mineral water.
But at Southern Wells, they’re pretty tired of it coming out of the school taps.
Tuesday evening, members of the school board voted to hire the Fort Wayne-based architectural firm of Martin-Riley to address the problems.
“I would say that our water problems are the number one issue,” said Supt. Jim Craig. “We have to get some viable options for addressing that issue,” he added.
For $5,250 plus reimbursable costs estimated at $200, Martin Riley will investigate and assess the drinking water problems at Southern Wells.
But for the same bill, the firm will also explore other problem areas identified by the school board, including addressing:
—Lighting problems at the elementary gym and the high school cafeteria.
—Remodeling at the high school, the Raiderdome lobby and the exterior entrance area of the east gym entrance.
—Developing a new main entrance façade.
—Updating security in the main office.
—Remaking the current storage building into a new bus garage.
—Renovating the high school softball and baseball diamonds.
Martin/Riley will put together a study/master plan for review by the board at a future date.
In other business, board members Chris Smith, Lynn Fiechter, Rick Mounsey and Ben Morton approved of a pay increase for classified staff members for 2008-09.
The two percent pay increase mirrors the one granted to teachers and will be for nine-month staff members including the bus drivers, cafeteria staff, aides, secretaries, and nurses, as well as the 12-month staff members including custodians, maintenance supervisor, bus mechanic, corporation treasurer and the corporation secretary.
Bus drivers will be paid $64.73 daily with a $9.49 for extra trips; $8.89 to $10.54 an hour for cafeteria staff, $8.68 to $10.33 an hour for aides, $11.01 to $11.65 an hour for secretaries and a daily rate of $142.35 for nurses.
The custodians will be paid at the rate of $13.35 to $14 an hour, the maintenance supervisor will be paid $17.84 an hour, the bus mechanic will be paid $15.60 an hour, the corporation treasurer will be paid $19.07 an hour and the corporation secretary will be paid $15.20 an hour.
The board members also approved of the following fall coaching roster:
—Football: head coach Mark Lefebvre, varsity coordinator Mike Ripperger, assistant coaches John Fouts, Chad Smekens and Bill Cline, junior varsity/freshman coaches Gary Paxson and Denny Ripple, and junior high coaches, Mike Carter, Caleb Sleppy, Paul Douglass and Nick Miller.
—Volleyball: varsity head coach Sydney Osborn, junior varsity Lindsey Osborn, eighth grade coach, Jim Craig (the superintendent), seventh grade coach, Andi Green, and volunteer coaches Whitney Osborn and Kristin Craig.
—Cross country: varsity boys/girls coach, Phillip Rhodes, junior high boys and girls coach, Bob Pace, and volunteer coaches Jim Thompson and Dale Miller.
—Girls’ golf: Charles Harris.
—Cheerleading: varsity coach Nikki Pease, junior high coach Laci Carroll.
The board members also:
—Learned from Treasurer Vicki Andrews that she took a draw of $200,000 from a second tax anticipation warrant borrowed from the First Bank of Berne. That makes the total amount borrowed $950,000 since the first temporary loan was sought from First Federeal Savings Bank in Decatur. That tax anticipation warrant was for $750,000 and the school corporation used it entirely. The money is to be repaid through property tax funds before the end of the year and does not impact the tax rate or levy. The hope is property tax revenue will start flowing in November allowing both tax anticipation warrants to be repaid before 2009.
—Reviewed a rough draft of the proposed 2009 budget. Craig told the board members he hopes to get copies of the final proposal to the board sometime after Labor Day.
—Approved of a trip by the junior high school show choir, Raider Rythm, to the Kings Island Music Festival Saturday, May 16.
—Approved of a trip by the junior and senior high show choirs to Ford Center Theater in Chicago, Ill., Oct. 1 to attend the musical “Wicked” that they will be performing a medley from later this year. Fifty kids are expected to go on the trip with four chaperones. They’ll be leaving Southern Wells at 8:10 a.m. and returning at 11 p.m.
—Approved of a Reading Recovery workshop request for Jill Markley and Peggy Haigh.
The next regular meeting of the board is set for Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 5 p.m.
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