By Amantha Garpiel
For Miami Valley Today
TIPP CITY – The Tipp City Board of Education approved the suspension of 12 contracts; it also heard presentations on the new building bond and the athletic handbook Tuesday evening.
During the board’s June 4 work session, the board unanimously voted to suspend the following 12 contracts due to financial reasons: Christine Baker – guidance, Jennifer Bowsher – science and math teacher, Jonathan Gaul – music teacher, Kim Hale – kindergarten teacher, Candice Jasinski – drama teacher, Kelsey Kirchner – kindergarten teacher, Carly Linkous – ELA teacher, Kylee Mann – ELA teacher, Kristen Owens – English teacher, Austin Reedy – AP/CP biology teacher, Ashley Webb – third grade teacher, Jacob Wheeler – intervention specialist.
Also during the June 4 work session, the board heard a presentation on the new building bond, specifically the financing scenarios for the bond to change with the district moving from the Expedited Local Partnership Program (ELPP) to the Classroom Facilities Assistance Program (CFAP).
With the district’s move to CFAP qualification, the monies expected within seven years are now coming immediately.
This availability has allowed the district to downsize the project and the borrowing capacity, subsequently lowering the amount of debt the district will accrue.
The project was originally estimated to cost $87 million for just phase one. Now the project is estimated at $68.7 million for both phase one and phase two of the project.
The board then heard from Athletic Director Kregg Creamer on proposed amendments to the Athletic Handbook. Last Spring, Creamer formed a committee to discuss and prepare amendments to propose to the board of education. Creamer came prepared with six changes to present to the board.
The first change addresses the duration of the athletic code and its applicability to student athletes. The proposed change states the code will take effect for student athletes at the time of re-registration and will remain in effect for 365 days.
The second change Creamer and the committee recommended is to have the board change its policy regarding participation requirements.
Current board policy states student athletes must maintain a 1.0 GPA to remain eligible. Creamer asked that the board change its policy to align with what has been enforced in the Athletic Code of Conduct, which is maintaining a 1.5 GPA.
The third change affects the weekly checks on eligibility. The current handbook states that weekly checks of student athletes grades and GPAs begin on the third week of each quarter. Creamer and the committee suggest changing that to the beginning of the fourth week of each quarter.
The last three changes all fall under the handbook’s section on substance abuse violations. The first change in this section includes a separation of tobacco violations from alcohol and drug violations.
Along the same lines, the second change to the substance use violations includes the addition of a step before denying a student participation in their sports for the remainder of their high school careers. Currently, students who violate the substance abuse sections of the handbook three times automatically lose the privilege to participate in any sports for the remainder of their high school careers.
With this proposed change, the third tobacco use violation results in denial of participation for one calendar year from the date of offense. The fourth violation would then be total denial of participation for the remainder of their high school careers.
The last change to this section attaches a mandatory assessment for all infractions. With this change, the assessments will be required to be completed at the expense of the student athlete and their family and must be completed before the student can return to participation in their sport.
“I don’t believe we have these policies because we’re in the business to catch kids doing things wrong. We’re here to help kids and if they are abusing a substance, we need to make sure we’re giving them all the help they need,” said Creamer.
Lastly, the board unanimously approved a Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) contract to utilize the Ohio High School Internship and the Miami Valley Internship Academy Grants.
The writer is a regular contributor to Miami Valley Today.
