South Ripley to have cheering at games

Some cheerleaders and their mothers attended the South Ripley School Board of Trustees meeting last week to say how disappointed they were with not being able to cheer at the boy’s basketball games.

In attendance were Bonnie Jeffries and Christy Werner, mothers of senior cheerleaders Kyla Jeffries and Kaylee Werner, who were at the meeting, along with other cheerleaders Emily Campbell and Lydia Koger. Each spoke briefly about their concerns.

Superintendent Rob Moorhead said he understood where they were coming from and assured them that he had fought hard to be able to get the girls times to cheer and opportunities for their families to be able to watch them, including the Cheer Showcase that took place the prior weekend. He told them he knew this wasn’t the same as cheering at a game.

After the meeting Supt. Moorhead reached out to Dr. Welsh with the local health department asking if there was any way the cheerleaders could attend the games and cheer from the bleachers. The superintendent reported that Dr. Welsh had been getting similar calls from other schools. On Wednesday, January 13, the health doctor changed his guidance to begin allowing cheerleaders to attend the games and cheer from the bleachers during the game as long as they can have their separate section of bleachers. “Given the size of our gym, this was easy to accommodate,” noted Supt. Moorhead. He said, “We are grateful that Dr. Welsh has made this change that will hopefully make for a much better experience for our cheerleaders.”

At the first meeting of the new year, the board had election of 2021 officers. Tim Taylor will be president, Carol Holzer, vice-president, Danielle McGee, secretary, and Carol Holzer, legislative representative. The entire board will serve as the Board of Finance for 2021.

Lana Miller will again serve as treasurer with Karen Sieverding being deputy treasurer.

The board unanimously approved keeping the third Monday of each month as their time for regular board meetings at 6:30 p.m.

Jeff Cornett and Carol Holzer were welcomed back as re-elected board members with Amy Miller, also welcomed as a new board member. All were given the oath of office by school attorney Merritt Alcorn. Supt. Moorhead thanked them for their willingness to serve.

The board approved a new Interlocal Agreement for the ROD Special Education Cooperative due to changes in schools participating in the Cooperative.
Under personnel:

FMLA requests were approved for Neal Herzog, Julie Graham, Brad Bryant, and Amy Bryant.

Approval was given for employees to have leave time made available by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which expired in 2020. The leave extension resolution would be under the same guidelines as the original Act, and the days allowable are a continuation from April 1, 2020, with no additional days being given. This would be retroactive to January 4, 2021 and continue through June 30, 2021. It was noted that if any federal mandate or new legislation would be approved after the extension granted by South Ripley, the federal mandate or new legislation would replace this resolution.
Information items:

The 2021 renewal for the district’s property, liability, workers compensation and vehicle insurance was shared with board members. There was an increase over last year due to the liability portion of the coverage.

Supt. Moorhead let the board know that a check in the amount of $15,960 was received for the remarketing of old chrome book and iPad devices in October of last year.

Since the IRS has decreased the mileage rate for business miles driven from 57.5 cents per mile, to 56 cents per mile, the school will follow the IRS decrease. It was also noted that a FY2020 initial payment was received on December 30, 2020, for $67,782.00.

Supt. Moorhead informed the board of two donation checks from the Napoleon State Bank; one for $2,000 for enhancing virtual learning programs and one for $1,500 for the Athletic Department.

The cost of DOT physicals for school has increased to $95.00. These are done at Margaret Mary Occupational Health.