Carroll School Corporation is considering a new policy pertaining to transfer students. It is posted on the school website or can be seen at the Administration Office. The public is welcome to comment on it prior to its potential adoption at the next school board meeting.

Copies of the proposed policy were handed out at the May 5 Carroll School Board meeting. It lists criteria for non-resident students to be considered for enrollment in the Carroll schools and lists the bases for acceptance.

In response to a question from the Comet, superintendent John Sayers said later that the policy is being addressed in anticipation of more requests for enrollment by nonresident students. He said because the state is taking over the general fund and the fee charged for transfer students will not have a local property tax component, the fee should be considerably lower that in the past. He said the current transfer tuition for students to go to Carroll is approximately $2,400. Although the cost is expected to be lower, students will have to meet the stated requirements in the adopted policy.

In other business, Sayers recommended non-renewal of two teacher contracts as a reduction-in-force measure, and the board approved. The teachers are Lindsey Martin and Amy Bochenek - both first-year teachers, in kindergarten. Sayers said a fourth section of kindergarten was added this year, but enrollment calls for only three sections next school year. That eliminates one kindergarten teacher position. He said the other teacher was taking the place of a teacher on maternity leave and she is eligible to come back in the fall.

Two resignations were accepted - Stephanie Williams as high school Historian sponsor, and Leslie Eikenberry as in-school suspension supervisor and Sunshine Society sponsor.

Amanda Schneckloth was hired as a summer swim instructor.

Elementary grade-level chairpersons for 2009-2010 were announced. They are: Caren Johnson, kindergarten; Megan Coomler, first grade; Malinda Blocher, second grade; Amy Cottrell, third grade; Jenelle Gish, fourth grade; Mike Hyman, fifth grade; and Jana Conn, sixth grade.

The board approved the social studies textbook adoption for next school year.

Elementary principal Carolyn O'Connell and juniorsenior high school assistant principal Fred Schnarr presented proposed student handbook changes to the board.

At the junior-senior high school, the following addition is being proposed to the list of unexcused absences: "No student will be excused from school the day before or after a scheduled school vacation. (Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break). To be excused, absences on those days require a doctor note stating the student was ill and unable to attend school."

The current policy lists grounds for suspension and expulsion, including circumstances of unlawful activity off school grounds. A proposed addition to the policy lists the following specific circumstance: "This includes, but is not limited to, vandalism of a staff member's personal property."

Handbook changes will be reviewed at a work session following the next board meeting.

O'Connell reported that sixth grade teacher Andrea O'Brien received a letter from a man in Maryland, commending her on her innovative teaching of the Holocaust. Kim Doyle, editorial poet for The Brunswick Citizen, was inspired by O'Brien's teaching and the teaching of the Holocaust in France to write a poem called "Keeping Children Alive." He sent a copy to O'Brien and told her to "keep up the good work." O'Brien leads various projects to help students understand how many children were killed in the Holocaust. The Comet carried a story about one such project, and O'Brien assumes the poet saw it online.

Schnarr reported that junior high students who had no disciplinary lines, or just one, the whole school year would be rewarded with a field trip to an Indianapolis Indians baseball game. (Twenty-one students went on the trip May 7.)

Junior-senior high principal Charles Huckstep announced that the high school awards night will be May 18 at 7:30 p.m., Baccalaureate will be May 17 at 7 p.m. at the school, and graduation will be May 23 at 10 a.m.

O'Connell presented a report on NWEA testing and Lexile levels - a framework for measuring reading comprehension, and in books, measuring text difficulty.

"Our goal is for 100 percent (of a class) to be reading at grade level by sixth grade," Sayers said. "We're making progress. Our teachers do a good job of looking at NWEA scores and other data, and adapting their instruction."

O'Connell said the reports from the latest NWEA testing will go home to parents on May 15.

The next board meeting will be May 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Administration Building.