Reports were the featured agenda items at the Delphi Community School Corporation Board of School Trustees Monday night meeting. School administrators provided information about a therapy dog in the elementary school, conferences, technology acquisitions/goals and corporation ISTEP-statewide rating. The financial report provided by superintendent Ralph Walker struck a welcomed positive chord with board members. Walker reported that although the corporation experienced an overall shortfall of $128,367.76 from 2008 property taxes, the corporation purchased land and paid down a debt from textbook rentals, ending 2008 with a surplus of $2.2 million cash balance.

"It's about what I expected," Walker said.

He explained surplus appropriations in restricted funds were encumbered, but those balances were not included in the cash balance figure. He also said all bills were paid by the end of the year.

"This gives us a little breathing room," said board member Jerry Sparks.

Walker reported the corporation received the first funding payment from the state in January.

"That was a little more than I expected," he said.

Walker was granted permission to secure a $2 million tax anticipation warrant for 2008 on March 1 from Regions Bank. The funds will be invested and the dividends are expected to pay the interest on the loan. The money was designated to be used for funding shortfalls throughout the year.

Technology

Technology director Scott Gear said the corporation owns 750 computers with 14 servers. However, 125 laptops were purchased for all second graders and 120 more are planned for the high school. He said there would be approximately 900 computers in the corporation by the end of the year.

Gear said there was a concern about the amount of power available that could be problematic as well as limited bandwidth. He said replacing the tape back-up system was a goal for 2009.

Board members directed Walker to explore how the corporation could install wireless Internet service for all buildings.

FETC Conference

Four administrators and Walker attended the Florida Education Technology Conference, which featured roughly 4,000 technology booths.

"This is the best conference I've ever been to," high school business teacher Laurie Kinzie said. "And I go to conferences all the time."

"We're on the right track as far as technology, but we've got a way to go," she added. "Education as we know it is changing."

Kinzie said the group learned about hundreds of free software programs for teachers which are available on the Internet.

Walker reported the corporation received a letter from the Indiana Department of Education which advised the corporation to move away from relying on traditional textbooks. The letter suggested visiting online sites for reference material. Successful practices conference

High school principal Barry Stone said the successful practices conference featured measures designed to bring relevance to classrooms. He said administrators who attended benefited not only from workshops but also time spent problem-solving with comrades.

ISTEP

Early Childhood Center Principal Carol Coons reported the corporation ranked #181 out of 293 schools in the state in 2007 in overall ISTEP passing scores. She reported the corporation's rank rose to #148 in 2008.

DCES therapy dog

Elementary school counselor Natalie Batt was granted permission to pursue procurement of an $18,000 trained canine for use with students who need rehabilitation. Batt said it was "another way" to work with the children in need of services.

Batt said dog training and placement would take up to two years, however the animal is guaranteed to perform as expected. The cost of the dog would be paid by the Assistance Dogs of America group in Ohio.

Other news

After reviewing a range of bids for lawn care service, from a high bid of $110,400 to the lowest bid of $15,470, board members decided it would be less expensive to continue to provide lawn care in-house.

Personnel:

The resignation as a ninemonth custodian from Cheryl Adams was accepted.

The retirement from Charles Wilson as a middle school teacher, effective Aug. 14, was accepted.

Lisa Hollingsworth was approved as high school Spanish Club sponsor, Norma Carpenter as high school freshman class sponsor and Mike Hughes and Larry Mote as volunteer middle school wrestling coaches.

The board will meet in special session Feb. 25 at 6:30 p.m. followed by an executive session. The next board meeting will be March 9 at 7 p.m.