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The Southern Wells school board Tuesday night set a date for graduation, established parking permits for students driving to school, approved several fundraisers – and approved its 2009 budget.
“It’s what we agreed upon previously and at the public hearing,” Superintendent James Craig told board members Chris Smith, Ben Morton, Rick Mounsey, and Lynn Fiechter about the budget. “I haven’t heard any questions or complaints about it.”
The six funds of the budget were all passed on a 4-0 vote.
The board set Sunday, June 7, as the date for the high school’s graduation. It might have been possible to have held the ceremony on May 31, but Craig noted that school cancellations could create a problem.
“That is later than what you’re used to, but with the snow days you ran into last year, you run the risk of having your seniors come back (to class) after they’ve gone through the ceremony,” he said.
Also, students will now have to purchase a parking permit from the office to be allowed to drive to school. The idea, Craig said, was to connect a car to a student in case there is a problem with the car.
The permit will be a tag that will be transferable from vehicle to vehicle.
Students may begin registering their vehicles Wednesday, Oct. 30. All vehicles must display a tag at all times on the school property.
The policy will go into place on Nov. 10.
The board also allowed the high school’s band and choir to present a Christmas concert on Wednesday evening, Dec. 17. Southern Wells has traditionally shied away from scheduling events on Wednesday nights, but the board agreed to make an exception in this case because there were no other dates that did not conflict with athletic events.
In other business, the school board:
• Approved fundraisers for In Harmony, PIE (Partners in Education), junior high cheerleaders, and FFA.
• Approved adding a student teacher, Dan Vought of Ball State, to the high school staff March 9 through May 8 in health and physical education. The board also approved medical leave for Susan Burgan from Nov. 18 through Jan. 4.
• Approved, on first reading, a policy concerning transfer students who reside outside the district. Students must be accepted by the school corporation and must be enrolled prior to the state’s enrollment counting deadline in the fall. Any students accepted for transfer after that point shall be charged tuition.
• Approved several coaching recommendations for winter sports.
• Allowed the SW Livestock Judging Team to be gone Jan. 6-11 to go to a national competition in Denver, Colo.
• Approved a request from Craig for a silent auction to be held Nov. 4 and 5 to allow the school corporation to sell off some excess items. “There are a number of things in the barn,” Craig said. “We have to run them through the sale. If they don’t sell, then we can discard them.” Any items bid on during the auction must be removed by 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7.