$1 million loan to help fund CJSHS improvement project
By Jennifer Archibald Staff writer

Carroll School Board is in the process of borrowing a million dollars for improvements to Carroll Jr.-Sr. High School.

The improvements include piping, digital temperature controls, an additional small boiler, and heat exchangers. The small boiler will be used to heat the pool and domestic hot water. The heat exchangers are for the conversion from steam heat to hot water heat.

Total cost of the project is $1,498,400, with $498,400 to be funded through the corporation's Capital Projects fund.

Carroll superintendent John Sayers explained that the Capital Projects portion is money already collected.

There is currently no tax rate in the Debt Service Fund, but the board plans to add a tax rate of .2205 cents per $100 assessed valuation in order to pay back the loan. This will affect property taxes in 2008.

Sayers said if the tax rate is approved, the corporation will lower the Capital Projects tax rate in an effort to keep the overall tax rate about the same.

Steps that have been taken so far to carry out the above plans include: Legal notices in the newspaper (informing the public), adoption of three resolutions at board meetings, securing approval to proceed with the project from the state School Property Tax Control Board, and establishing a common construction wage scale. A resolution adopted Nov. 20 calls for an additional appropriation for the loan amount.

Sayers said the next step is to obtain bids from local banks on interest rates for the short-term loan. The board is expecting to open the bids at the second meeting in December.

Sayers said the whole project still needs approval from the Commissioner of Local Government Finance.

Sayers is expecting to get that approval before the end of the year.

"If not, we can't borrow funds," he said.

Grant from NRECA

In other business, at the Nov. 20 board meeting, fourth grade teacher Jenelle Gish told about a grant she wrote and received from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. The $500 grant will fund a study unit and study trip in April for all Carroll Elementary fourth graders.

Gish said the grant money will be used to purchase various size batteries, wire, bolts, and other supplies for use by students in building electromagnets. The students will work in groups of two.
 
"The students will find that they can increase the strength of their electromagnet by increasing the size of battery they are using, increasing the size of bolt, or by increasing the number of coils wrapped around the bolt," Gish said in her grant proposal.

Half of the grant funds will be used to purchase digital cameras to be used by students to record their progress on the project. They will then give a PowerPoint presentation.

Gish said another component of the grant project is for students to tour Oak Dale Dam and find out how the generators are powered and how they produce electricity. Then the students will meet with a speaker from the Carroll County REMC, who will tell students about the electricity in their homes.

"I have found that if I can help students make real life applications from simple concepts such as the electromagnet, to generators, to the electricity used in their homes, the learning becomes much more meaningful," Gish said. "When learning is meaningful, students make connections that can last a lifetime."

She said fourth grade teachers intend to apply for some kind of grant every year.

Other presentations to the board this month have been from FFA members who attended the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, and from FCCLA members who attended the National Cluster meeting in Buffalo, N.Y.

Personnel

On Nov. 6, the board approved the hiring of Steve Keown as varsity football coach for the 2008-2009 school year. Celsie Myers will fill the maternity leave for first grade teacher Megan Coomler, and Tina Miller will serve as fifth grade cheerleading coach. Tamara Stephens resigned as sixth grade cheerleading coach.

Also on Nov. 6, the board approved the purchase of three new doors for the new concession stand at the baseball/softball fields. The doors will be purchased from John Kinzie Construction at a cost of $10,050.

Among recent conference and field trips approved were the Spanish Club trip to the 2007 International Festival at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in November, the FFA Dairy Team to the FFA Dairy Evaluation June 18 to July 1 in Europe, and band members to Cedar Point in May.

Maintenance supervisor Tom Allbaugh said he and the head custodian would attend a MRSA conference. He also reported installing hand sanitizers at the schools.

Fall team GPA honors

Each sports season there is a competition among teams to see who has the highest grade point average. For fall sports, the girls' golf team and the girls' cross country team tied for the honor, each with a GPA of 3.51. For junior high, the honor went to the boys' and girls' cross country team with a GPA of 3.66.

The board appointed Pat Rolfs as the school corporation's representative on the Flora-Monroe Township board of directors.

Sayers announced that the corporation has applied for a Safe and Drug Free Schools grant.

Teacher Melissa Keown reported receiving a recycling grant from the Northwest Indiana Solid Waste District. She also announced that certain AP science classes will receive dual credit with life science courses at Purdue.

The next regular board meeting will be Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the Administration Building.