Click here for digital edition

St. Ignace School To Replace 4 Teachers

Betsy Wheeler is the employee of the year at St. Ignace Area Schools. Mrs. Wheeler is the Middle School librarian, a teacher's aide, the yearbook advisor for LaSalle High School, and she has worked at the school for 17 years, although most people recognize her as the woman behind the camera. Mrs. Wheeler, who photographs school events, games, and activities for the yearbook, said she is enjoying the unexpected honor. Before school starts this fall, three teaching positions need to be filled at the St. Ignace elementary and middle schools and a social studies teacher is being sought for two daily classes at LaSalle High School. The school board decision to post the positions follows the fourth teacher retirement announcement this spring.

First grade teacher Kathy Everson submitted her retirement notice at the board meeting Monday, May 12. She has been teaching at the school for 35 years.

Retirements already have been announced by elementary and middle school principal Bonnie Ledy and second grade teachers Carol Miller and Mary Pope. High school secretary Lorraine Graham also is retiring, although her position may be filled internally through reassignments.

Betsy Wheeler, who has been working in the district since 1991, was named Monday as the employee of the year. She is in charge of the Middle School Library and is producing the yearbook this year. Without a class scheduled for the project and with students too busy with other projects to help, said Principal Mike Springsteen, much of the work has fallen to Mrs. Wheeler.

"She's a giving, caring person, he said, "who goes out of her way to help kids."

In a move that will save the district about $23,000, the district will transfer the special education bussing program over to the Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District (ISD). The board began considering the move in April.

Student services, said Mr. Springsteen, will not be impacted by the change, and bus routes will not be affected.

The ISD, he said, likely will purchase one of St. Ignace's busses, which would be kept at the school.

The 2008/2009 final budget will be presented at the June meeting, said business manager Kathy McLeod, who also updated the board on the current budget year.

Food services are expected to lose about $20,000 by the end of this year, Ms. McLeod said, while the athletic budget will end the year approximately $17,000 in the black, although with the change in sport seasons, she estimates revenues will drop about $14,000 from the year before.

Insurance for teaching staff will increase 8.79% next year. MESSA, the administrator of the Blue Cross Insurance Plan is basing rates on regions. St. Ignace is in the region that will be receiving the second highest in the state. Smaller schools with fewer staff cost more to administer, according to Mr. Springsteen.

Employees who travel in their own vehicles on district business will receive 50.5¢ a mile, which meets the federally recommended rate. The board approved the new rate, up from 37.5¢.

The board is expecting a presentation from a group of parents who want to construct a building to house a weight room and a wrestling practice area. The 120- foot by 60-foot stand-alone structure would have two rooms and a toilet and is estimated to cost more than $100,000.

"With the change by the MHSAA [Michigan High School Athletic Association] to play boys basketball, girls basketball, and wrestling all in the same season," said Mr. Springsteen, "wrestlers always have had a difficult time trying to find a place to wrestle. Now it is even worse than it was before."

For a weight room, wrestlers have been using a basement area built in the 1960s as a nuclear fallout shelter. Board members agreed the team needs a suitable location, although funding is an issue. The team continues to struggle to find a place at the school to practice and they spend half of their practice time unrolling and rolling mats.

The board expects next month to adopt a new policy allowing school board members to be volunteer coaches or supervisors of extra curricular activities. The option previously was against state law, but board members can assume such roles as long as no other qualified applicant is available. Board members would not be compensated, would have to abstain from voting on issues that affect the activity, and would be required to pass background checks, just as other district staff.

For the second month in a row, the board went into closed session to discuss upcoming teacher negotiations.

The next regular school board meeting is Monday, June 9, at 7 p.m. in the middle school library.