School board approves personnel changes, calendar
On Oct. 1 and 15, the Brown County School Board of Trustees approved the following:
- Adopting NEOLA policy updates.
- Changing the title of the “library media” job category on the non-certified hourly scale to “assistant librarian” to be paid under the “secretary and health assistant” classification, and changing the job category for Brandi Ireland from “library media” to “assistant librarian” effective Sept. 9. This job category change moves the rate of pay from $13 to $14.25 per hour. This change was due to changes in her job responsibilities. Ireland now works in the libraries at Brown County High School, Brown County Junior High School and Brown County Intermediate School. Previously, she worked at the high school in library media.
- The 2021-2022 school calendar.
- The retirement notice of Helmsburg Elementary School kindergarten teacher Theresa Love, effective Dec. 18.
- Adding the following bus routes to the non-certified hourly rate sheet: Half-day field trip at $36; full-day field trip at $60; and preschool mid-day route at $25.
- Separating BCJHS eighth-grade head basketball coach Amanda Doss, effective Sept. 16. This was not a termination. Kyle McGaha was appointed to replace her, Group 7, $2,234 stipend, effective Sept. 23.
- Appointing BCJHS boys head track coach Dan Lewellen, Group 7, $2,234 stipend, effective Sept. 23. He is a replacement for Tim Hebert.
- Appointing BCJHS boys assistant track coach Tim Hebert, Group 12, $1,241 stipend, effective Sept. 23. He is a replacement for Dan Lewellen.
- Appointing BCJHS sports coaches: Boys head track coach Dan Lewellen; boys assistant track coach Tim Hebert; seventh-grade girls basketball coach Ronna Snyder; eighth-grade girls basketball coach Kyle McGaha; girls head track coach Kevin Roush; girls assistant track coach Emily Lewellen; head wrestling coach Andy Reed; seventh-grade boys head basketball coach Jackson Saylor; eighth-grade boys head basketball coach Heath Bryant.
- Appointing BCIS sixth-grade girls basketball coach Courtney Hitchcock, Group 14, $993 stipend, effective Sept. 30. She is a replacement for Ronna Snyder.
- Appointing BCHS extra-curricular activity treasurer Jaleasa Jenkins, $13.75 per hour, full-time with benefits, 220 days per year, effective Oct. 12. She is a replacement for Nancy Manning.
- Approving Matthew Stark and Christy Wrightsman as the district Title IX coordinators. No additional compensation will be provided.
- Changing Kirk Wrightsman’s ECA position from pathway instructional team leader to instructional technology coach.
- Appointing Brown County Schools Career Resource Center jail instructor Dave Bartlett, part-time with no benefits, $25 per hour, five to 10 hours per week for 50 weeks. This is paid through a jail literacy grant. He is a replacement for Tim Allanson.
- Appointing BCHS special education teacher Lorri French Bender, full-time with benefits, $32,374.35, 135 days, bachelor’s level H with 16 years’ experience. This is to fill a medical leave.
Health insurance not increasing for school employees
For the third year in a row, Brown County Schools employees will not see an increase in their insurance premiums.
Superintendent Laura Hammack announced the news at the Oct. 15 Brown County Schools Board of Trustees meeting.
R.E. Sutton & Associates, the district’s benefit adviser, had told the district that the industry average is a 13-percent increase for premiums. Hammack said she had heard from other districts in the state who had their premiums increase by double digits.
“This is massive that our district is doing as well as it is and also considering where we were,” Hammack said.
When Hammack took over as superintendent in 2016, the district’s health insurance fund was in the negative. By 2019, it was in the black by over $1.2 million. R.E. Sutton & Associates came on board after Hammack took over as superintendent to help change the district’s self-insurance plan.
Part of that plan was to establish a health and wellness clinic at Eagle Park for all school employees to access through their insurance, which cuts down on insurance covering them when they visit outside providers for general medical services.
“I want to take a moment to applaud our employees for using the health and wellness center. That is making a difference. It’s making an impact on the bottom line,” Hammack said.
“Our employees are being smart shoppers when they are not using the clinic. They are making good choices on where accessing services.”
