South Ripley recognizes student success
At the February meeting of the South Ripley Board of Trustees Shelby Bastin (senior student) was recognized as South Ripley’s DAR Good Citizen. Principal Joe Ralston said she excels in academics, citizenship and leadership. She was chosen by the staff for this highest honor. Shelby’s parents, Ben and Karen, were at the meeting.
The Boys Bowling team was honored for their success in advancing to the regional. Coach Ron Pollard was in attendance and spoke of the team and the individual success of Eli Liming, who advanced to semi state. Superintendent Rob Moorhead said, “South Ripley is blessed to offer bowling to our students with Hall of Fame Coach Ron Pollard.”
Driver Education will be offered through the Wilson Education Center during the summer of 2023. The cost estimated by Wilson Education Center is $380 per student; $60 of which, is for the online classroom and $320 for the driving portion.
The Preschool program for the 2023-2024 school year was approved. It was noted that South Ripley will be using CARES/ESSER funding to pay the tuition for the students and will cap the enrollment at 20 students on a first come-first served basis for children meeting the readiness guidelines.
Principal Ralston presented high school initiatives. He talked about dual credit and dual enrollment. Counselor Lindsey Seabolt explained the dual credit classes offered along with the dual enrollment classes offered through Ivy Tech which allows students the opportunity to earn the Indiana College Core.
Counselor Gayle Wrightsman talked about how students attending the Career Center can also receive college credits and certifications. It was noted that South Ripley’s dual credit and dual enrollment trends are showing growth over the past several years. “For a 2A school our size, we are offering a lot of college credit opportunities to our students, giving them a huge boost when they start college,” noted Ralston.
Supt. Moorhead praised the Career Center for providing certifications and training for South Ripley students that wish to enter the workforce upon graduation.
Personnel:
Nancy Durham will fill the FMLA leave of Autum Kimla; FMLA request of Lindsay Hafft was approved with Robin Welch filling Haff’s position as a temporary classroom coordinator.
The resignation of Kristen Grider was accepted with Ann Diken and Gracie Simon being hired to fill the vacancy that created.
Bridgette Horan was hired to fill the position of Corporation Nurse. Nurse Marie Menchhofer will remain on staff on a part-time basis from March 1 through May 24, 2023, to assist with the transition.
Myron Stegman was hired as a corporation driver; and the retirement of Jeff Huss (taught 39.5) years along with Lee Ann Huss were both approved. The resignation of Shelby Harris and Ashley Salyer were both approved. The FMLA request of Gloria Borgman was approved.
The Non-FMLA medical leave of Rebecca Westerfield was granted along with FMLA leaves for Joanna Cruser, Sandy Meyer, and Liz Forwalt.
Field Trips Approved: first grade to Cincinnati Zoo and third grade to New Port Aquarium.
The Board approved accepting Tower Pinkster’s Design Services for the chiller replacement proposal for the Jr./Sr. High School. Tower Pinkster will write the specs and prepare the bid documents for the installation of the new chillers according to Supt. Moorhead. The board also approved the same service for the HVAC proposal.
The Board approved
purchasing two Bobcat ZT7000 mowers to replace ones purchased in 2018 that now need $8,000 worth of repair.
Supt. Moorhead recommended approval to render as obsolete three buses and some office chairs. TBG Supervisor Gil Landwehr said the buses will either be sold or scrapped for metal. The old chairs will be offered to South Ripley support staff first with those remaining being donated to local government units.
The March board meeting will take place a week earlier that their usual and will be held on March 13 due to Spring Break.
The February 1 ADM count stands at 1054 officially. This is down one student from the fall 2022 count.
According to Supt. Moorhead the IDOE notified the Junior High School of their perfect score of 75/75 on their STEM Certification application. This qualified them for a site visit on February 27. They will be notified of their Indiana STEM Certified School status.
Supt. Moorhead noted that Thrive Market donated four pallets of facial tissues to the school that were greatly appreciated. He also told that Coach Jim Cole was nominated for IATCCC Coach of the Year. “While he did not win the award, it was an honor to be nominated and South Ripley is proud of Coach Cole,” Moorhead noted.
