The expenditure goals were as follows:

• Student Academic Achievement – Maintain current level of 65.37% of all expenditures and 66.14% of appropriated expenditures.
• Student Instructional Support - Maintain current level of 31.64% of all expenditures and 32% of appropriated expenditures. 
• Operation of Non-Instructional Expenditures - Maintain current level of 1.78% of total expenditures and 1.80% of appropriated expenditures.
• Non-Program Expenditures – Maintain current levels of .04% of total expenditures and .04% of appropriated expenditures

In other business, Supt. CharlesMellon updated the board on the pre-construction meeting for the track project held Jan. 25.  Representatives from Town & Country Paving and Leslie Coating were in attendance. The projected start date is early April and 38 work days to complete the project.

A comparison of the M.A.S.E. Insurance Trust claims history and prescription costs over the last 12 months vs. the previous 12 months was shared with the board. The percent of increase is well below the state and national trend.

The board approved a bus drivers contract for Kelly Kranz. A request from Betty Sprunger was approved.

Conference requests were approved for:

• Kay Beasey to participate in the AdvancEd visit at Fowler.
• Marcia Kennedy to participate in the AdvancEd visit at Trenton, Michigan.
• Darren Rodriguez, Ryan Wolfe, and Cody Hopkins to attend the Frank Glazier Mega Football Clinic in Indianapolis. All expenses will be paid by the athletic department.
• Joanne Stevens, Linda Ferguson and the members of the BPA to attend the BPA State Leadership Conference in Indianapolis.   
• Mark Hamilton & Joey Duell to attend the Hoosier Association of Science Teacher Conference in Indianapolis.

By consensus of the board the Feb. 24board meeting will be moved to Feb. 22 at 4:30 p.m.

Work Session

A work session was held before the regular school board meeting. Items for discussion during the work session included the Capital Projects Plan, district wide technology, the Wind Turbine Proposal, extension of the Early Retirement Addendum and Instructional and Financial Goals.

The Capital Projects Plan is focused on repairs and improvements with no new construction in the near future. Two major projects for 2011 are replacing the ceiling tile and lighting in the high school gymnasium, and adding bleachers to the home side at the football field and eliminating bleachers on the visitors’ side. A major project in 2012 is installing high efficiency lighting in the elementary classrooms and hallways. The gym and cafeteria lighting fixtures were replaced in the elementary in 2010 with high efficiency lighting. The cost of adding automatic handicap entrance will be investigated.  Future projects include the replacement of the high school gym floor, replacement of the interior doors in the high school and placing a generator in the elementary for time when power is lost. Other smaller scale repairs and improvement items appear in the plan.

The Technology Plan focused on purchasing greater bandwidth for the corporation.  This will allow for greater efficiency in the use of current programs and on-line testing.  Document cameras and projectors will be available to present instructional materials.  Emphasis will be placed on web based textbooks and other educational materials. 

The Technical Review Committee met prior to the work session to review the wind turbine construction proposal, as well as the price proposal presented by Performance Services. The information was then shared with the entire board during the work session. No commitment has been make at this time. Further information is needed from Northern Indiana Public Service before any contractual agreement can be reached.  If an affirmative agreement can be reached in March, it is very possible that the wind turbine can be in operation in Nov. of 2011.

During discussion of the extension of the Early Retirement Addendum, it was determined that it was in the best interest of the corporation to extend the addendum one final year. Therefore, “through March 1, 2012 (2011/2012 as last year of service) the maximum five-year benefit will be extended, to conclude no later than when the retiree first becomes eligible for Medicare”. 

Board of Finance Meeting

Gary Gudeman was elected president of the Board of Finance, and Jeff Tanner was elected secretary. Pamela Ledford, school treasurer, was designated as the investing officer.

Lake City Bank, Medaryville branch, and Alliance Bank, Francesville branch, were designated as depositories for the year.

The board approved a motion to declare the listing of outstanding and unpaid checks from West Central School Corporation as presented be cancelled.