2 days ago
Goshen's Alumni Plaza repayment will continue as planned
GOSHEN — There will be no changes to the repayment schedule for the Alumni Plaza.
The Goshen School Board of Trustees made the announcement during its Monday evening meeting.
Board president Bradd Weddell explained during the meeting that he, board member Ryan Glick, Superintendent Jim DuBois and the district's Chief Financial Officer Bob Evans met with the Goshen Community Schools Foundation last month to discuss issues related to the repayment of the Alumni Plaza and a proposal brought to the board at last month's meeting.
'I think there was a lot of misunderstanding of what was maybe presented to us in the initial,' Weddell explained during the board meeting Monday. 'The idea of changing the memorandum was not something that they (the Foundation) brought forward; it was brought forward by the administration — so I at least want to say that.'
At the April 27 meeting, the board was presented with considerations to change the memorandum of understanding regarding repayment for the Goshen High School Alumni Plaza, completed back in October 2023.
At the time, the foundation had agreed to pay $1.8 million of that through pledges promised by the community. As of April 16, the foundation had repaid about $175,000 of those pledges, according to the board. The new memorandum of understanding would require any money received prior to June 30, 2024, to be provided to the district to compensate for the cost of the alumni plaza, but any money received after that point would stay with the foundation, save for a 10% finder's fee increased from the original 5% finders fee. The new agreement would earmark about $72,500 of money with the foundation for the district.
At the April meeting, Weddell said due to the lack of payments already, there were projects that were not completed because of the plaza and paying for it.
At the Monday night meeting, Weddell explained that upon further discussions with the foundation, they learned that in fact, the foundation had been through two cycles of payments and still have three years of those cycles left to complete. He said the foundation and the board have zero intention of changing the memorandum, unless the board feels differently in the future.
'From my perspective as it sits today, what's in place is going to stay in place,' Weddell said. 'A lot of negative things were said about some of these people, which is disappointing, because these are people that we want in our corner.'
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT PROGRAM CHANGING
The board approved a new program to engage children in need of extra emotional supports. The program includes cognitive skills training, sensory integration training and vision training from pre-K through fourth grade.
'I'm really excited about it, I totally believe in it and I know it's going to make a huge difference for our kids,' DuBois said. 'It's going to be transformational for our kids.'
DuBois said 27% of kindergartners in the district are reportedly ready for kindergarten.
'The idea is 'How can we catch them up? What are they missing?' This is a big piece of it,' he said. 'It's an innovation that we think may be a game changer for our kids.'
DuBois said the district has been cited for overidentification of students who are emotionally handicapped. The district will take 13% of the Special Education budget and reallocate it into the program to help reduce the number of students identified as such.
A paraprofessional will be assigned to run an emotional support lab in each of the six elementary schools. During the day, students in the program will attend twice weekly to provide necessary support.
Two paraprofessionals from each school will be specially trained, so that there is a backup.
It's anticipated that there will be 75 students attending the program in each of the elementaries, roughly 600 students in total.
The Community Foundation of Elkhart County, DuBois said, will pay for 50% of the cost.
The initial cost is $138,242. Training for each of the staff is $13,805.
Annual costs will include student materials and the licensing fee, but the number of students in the program should decrease as kids graduate the program which takes about a year to get through.
EVALUATION PLANS
Teachers at Goshen Community Schools will be held to a higher standard of professionalism.
During Monday's board meeting, Assistant Superintendent Alan Metcalfe spoke with the board about the new addition to the teacher evaluations: core professionalism.
The item is designed for teachers who, while they may be good in many other areas of the evaluation, might slip up in their professional decorum, as a repeated pattern of behavior.
'The goal is not to use this as a stick,' Metcalf said. 'Our job is not to be out there to 'catch' teachers or 'get' teachers. Our job is to support them and that support comes from open and honest communication from both sides.'
The rubric evaluation will also require that teachers have repeatedly had the issues discussed with them by administrators before points are taken off.
The item will be brought back along with the rest of the evaluation plan to next month's board meeting.
OTHER BOARD ITEMS
• The board recognized retirees for their many years of service: Chad Collins, media teacher at Goshen Intermediate School, for 30 years; Linda Dickerson, Goshen High School counselor, for 17 years; Tim Bontrager, bus driver, for 23 years; Janet Davidhizar, bus aide, for 16 years; Rebecca Gutierrez, EL paraprofessional, for 21 years; Rebecca Schrock, Chamberlain school nutrition, for 22 years; Linda Wilson, bus driver, for 26 years
• The district will be reinstating the fee schedule for high school rental instruments and possibly some technology equipment. Assistant Superintendent Alan Metcalfe said the fees were dropped due to confusion with legislation which has since been remedied.
• The board approved the purchase of 1310 S. Main St., a property adjacent to the Parkside Elementary School parking lot for $175,000, which is fair market value.
• The board also approved paid holidays for 52-week employees. DuBois explained that the measure is commonplace and normally something that's readily approved.
• The Goshen Community Schools Administrative Offices will be closed from June 29-July 4 and Dec. 24-26 due to lack of staffing and also the holidays.
• The high school's transfer window has been extended. Transfer students between grades 9-12 will have until Oct. 6 for first semester and Feb. 9 for second semester. Metcalfe explained that the administration wanted to extend the window due to changes in offerings at the high school and with the IHSAA.
• Carrie Garber was approved as West Goshen Elementary School principal. (See related story for more information.)
• The district honored Goshen High School Men's Choir for placing fourth in the ISSMA State Finals and for being the top ranked Men's Unvoiced choir in the state.
• Katherine Orellana Pineda was honored for receiving the Aurora DeCastro Scholarship of $40,000 over four years to a first-generation student.
• Kristina Petkova broke her own record in 100 meters (12.34) and 200 meters (24.98) along with making a new record in the 200 meter in the NLC Championships.
