East Holmes recognized for state ratings
The East Holmes Board of Education Monday, Oct. 17 recognized outstanding achievement on state report cards that saw excellent or better ratings of all of the district’s schools.
Banners noting Excellent ratings for the 2010-2011 school year at the district’s seven elementary schools and Hiland Middle and High School were presented to the building’s principals by State Board of Education member Rob Hovis. Former superintendent Joe Wengerd also took part in the presentation, who current Superintendent Joe Edinger credited among “those who earned the awards.”
The district had a perfect 26 of 26 score on state indicators, met adequate yearly progress and achieved an Excellent with Distinction rating. Hovis said such achievement is rare, and noted East Holmes got there spending $9,500 per pupil, 10 percent less than the state average of $10,500.
“The owners and the taxpayers of this district are getting (an Excellent with Distinction district) at a 10 percent discount,” Hovis said. “You’ve got it firing on all cylinders here.”
The banners will be displayed at their individual schools.
In other business, the board approved purchase of Versatrans Transportation Routing Program software for $17,074. The software identifies bus routes using GPS and finds ways to make the routes more efficient, Edinger said. Edinger said he is confident the software will result in a substantial savings to the district through more efficient use of transportation resources and could pay for itself within a year.
The purchase is in line with a new approach to capital improvement purchases pursued by Edinger. It is Edinger’s goal that capital improvement expenditures go toward projects that will save money in the long run.
“My feeling is, anything that we can invest in and recoup our investment in a year, we should do it,” Edinger said. “I know people are concerned about spending money at a time like this.”
The board further approved changes in the custodial staff that will eliminate overtime. The changes included shifting a position from Walnut Creek to Hiland and the Perry Reese Center, and leaving an outgoing position vacant.
The next meeting of the East Holmes Board of Education will be held Nov. 21.
Banners noting Excellent ratings for the 2010-2011 school year at the district’s seven elementary schools and Hiland Middle and High School were presented to the building’s principals by State Board of Education member Rob Hovis. Former superintendent Joe Wengerd also took part in the presentation, who current Superintendent Joe Edinger credited among “those who earned the awards.”
The district had a perfect 26 of 26 score on state indicators, met adequate yearly progress and achieved an Excellent with Distinction rating. Hovis said such achievement is rare, and noted East Holmes got there spending $9,500 per pupil, 10 percent less than the state average of $10,500.
“The owners and the taxpayers of this district are getting (an Excellent with Distinction district) at a 10 percent discount,” Hovis said. “You’ve got it firing on all cylinders here.”
The banners will be displayed at their individual schools.
In other business, the board approved purchase of Versatrans Transportation Routing Program software for $17,074. The software identifies bus routes using GPS and finds ways to make the routes more efficient, Edinger said. Edinger said he is confident the software will result in a substantial savings to the district through more efficient use of transportation resources and could pay for itself within a year.
The purchase is in line with a new approach to capital improvement purchases pursued by Edinger. It is Edinger’s goal that capital improvement expenditures go toward projects that will save money in the long run.
“My feeling is, anything that we can invest in and recoup our investment in a year, we should do it,” Edinger said. “I know people are concerned about spending money at a time like this.”
The board further approved changes in the custodial staff that will eliminate overtime. The changes included shifting a position from Walnut Creek to Hiland and the Perry Reese Center, and leaving an outgoing position vacant.
The next meeting of the East Holmes Board of Education will be held Nov. 21.
Published: October 18, 2011
