LUNCHES
The Vincennes Community School Board unanimously approved the increase of lunch prices at all VCSC schools for the 2017-2018 school year.
An increase of five cents per meal will be put in place at all elementary schools, bringing the price to two dollars and fifty cents. An increase of ten cents is coming for grades six through 12, settling the price at two dollars and sixty five cents per meal.
VCSC Superintendent Greg Parsley noted that the prices come as a recommendation of an equity tool used to gage the financial needs of the system, and that the Board wasn’t just choosing a price on their own.
GRANT
The VCSC School Board agreed to continue in the pursuit of a grant that could make a major change within the school system.
Director of Assessment and Grants for the VCSC Dave Hill appeared before the board with what he called good news, announcing that the VCSC had been awarded a planning grant from the Lilly Foundation. The $30,000 grant will allow a 12-person VCSC committee to collect data and study the needs of every VCSC school. It’s just the first step in qualifying for a presumably larger five year Lilly Counselor Implementation Grant that would allow the school system to hire guidance counselors for all four VCSC elementary schools. Currently, none of the four schools has one.
Hill noted that the second phase of the grant process would be the hardest, as the school system will be competing with other schools across the state for a share of the remaining $21 million left to be awarded. With the grant awarding the winning schools with $100 per students, Hill noted that the money won’t last long. However, he feels that adding the extra man power into each school could be a game changer for students, and is very much worth pursuing.
The School Board unanimously approved accepting the $30,000 grant and the continued pursuit of the Counselor Implementation Grant.
HOSPITAL MOU
The Vincennes Community School Board heard a request from Superintendent Greg Parsley to sign a pair of M-O-U’s, or memorandums of understanding, between the VCSC and Good Samaritan Hospital at their meeting last night.
The memorandums state that, in the event of a catastrophic event occurring in the Vincennes or Knox County area that would deem the hospital unsafe or not usable, Good Samaritan may use VCSC facilities as alternative care sites if need be. The signed memorandums also allow GSH to use Vincennes Community owned school buses as alternate modes of transportation if desired or needed. The agreement is similar to ones made by GSH and the VCSC in the past.
The Board unanimously voted to sign both memorandums.
ELEMENTARY PROJECT
Bids for the upcoming Tecumseh-Harrison Elementary Renovation project are expected to open this Thursday, March 2nd.
Appearing before the Vincennes Community School Board last night, Rochelle Gardner revealed that five bidding packages will be open for the project, in the areas of general trade, a school elevator, fire protection, HVAC & plumbing, and electrical and communications. Gardner noted that each one of the five projects will had at least three bidders for the work.
The VCSC School Board is expected to award bids at their next meeting, scheduled for Monday, March 13th. That meeting will be held at Vigo Elementary School.
In other elementary school renovation news, nearly all roof work is completed for the four elementary schools. The final touches, which require a crane to be brought in to both Franklin and Vigo schools, will be done over the VCSC Spring Break, while students and staff are away. Metal work continues at Franklin, and the final “punch list’ items continue to near completion at Riley Elementary.