Bremen School Board Approves Teacher Representative for Insurance Trust

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

Bremen Band Director Matthew Sutton was appointed as the teacher representative for the MASE Insurance Trust at this week’s Bremen School Board meeting.

Treasurer Stephanie Pittman explained that Bremen Public School Corporation is a part of the Midwest Area School Employee Insurance Trust which is comprised of approximately 22 different schools that pool together to purchase medical insurance.

Pittman said that the bylaws of the organization require that the school corporation must have a representative and the teacher’s association is permitted to appoint someone as well. Continue reading →

Bremen Public Schools to Explore Development Opportunities for School-Owned Land

Posted on Author Michael Gallenberger

A piece of school-owned property in Bremen is being eyed by economic development officials. “We own a little bit of property that’s one of the last pieces of property that’s in town that’s developable,” explains Bremen School Superintendent Dr. Jim White, “and the city would like to have a conversation, along with the Marshall County Economic [Development] Corporation, to see if it’s possible to get some building started on that property.”

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Bremen School Board Moving Ahead with Financial Arrangements for Renovation Project

Posted on Author Michael Gallenberger

Bremen Public Schools is a step closer to issuing about $4 million in bonds for its upcoming renovation project. To do that, Superintendent Dr. Jim White says the school corporation is amending its existing lease with the building corporation. It’s a legally-separate entity that actually owns the building and borrows the money on behalf of the school corporation. “We had an existing loan out that falls off in 2022,” he explains, “so it was just as easy to amend that lease with the existing building corporation than to try to form something different.”

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Bremen School Board Approves Wage Increases for Classified Staff

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

A raise for classified staff at Bremen Public Schools was approved during the school board meeting last Monday.

Classified employees include any position at the school corporation other than teachers and administration such as cafeteria, transportation, maintenance and custodial staff.

School Board President Brian Teall explained that the increased wages for classified staff were approved in coordination with the raises that were included in the master contract for teachers. Teall said a raise of approximately 2.4 percent was approved for teachers a couple of months ago, but some issues at the state level postponed the payments. Continue reading →

Bremen School Board Adopts Bond Resolution

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

Bremen Public Schools will be undergoing some renovations over the next few years, now that school board members have officially adopted a resolution to have a bond of approximately $4 million issued to pay for the proposed work.

According to School Board President Brian Teall, a 1028 Hearing was held over the bond resolution during their Monday night meeting and it was adopted by a vote of 4-1.

Dr. White said with the board members’ approval, he will now be coordinating with the building corporation about bond issuance procedures over the next few weeks. The superintendent explained that schools are not legally permitted to directly borrow money so they utilize a building corporation as a pass-through entity. Continue reading →

Bremen School Board Approves Bond Pursuance, Addresses Community Safety Concerns

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

Bremen School Board members voted to proceed with securing bonds for facility upgrades at their most recent meeting.

Superintendent Dr. Jim White explained that they are looking to make a few different improvements and school board members took the next big step in the process last Monday by agreeing to obtain the necessary bonds to tackle the proposed projects. Continue reading →

Bremen Superintendent Works with NEOLA to Update School Policies

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

Bremen Superintendent Dr. Jim White alerted school board members last Tuesday that updates to the school corporation’s policies are currently being made.

He explained, “For years and years and years we have written our own policies and the result of that is, over time as the more laws are passed and more complex things are, the further behind we became.” Continue reading →

Bremen Public School Board Approves Amended Maternity Leave Procedure

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

Bremen School Board members made an adjustment to their maternity leave policy when they met last Tuesday.

The policy that was in place at Bremen Public Schools was that teachers would receive 6 weeks of paid time off during their pregnancy. Superintendent Dr. Jim White explained that the policy change came from a teacher who requested using some of her unused sick days from the past to extend her maternity leave. Continue reading →

Bremen School Board Approves 2018-2019 Calendar

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

When Bremen School Board members met on Monday, they approved a calendar for the 2018-2019 school year.

Superintendent Dr. Jim White explained that he provided the members with three options and they selected the option most similar to this year’s school calendar.

Dr. White said they will be starting a little sooner than some other local school corporations and shared some of the factors that influenced the decision to begin earlier. Continue reading →

New Contracts for Coaches and Club Sponsors Approved at Bremen School Board Meeting

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

The Bremen Public School board members established club sponsors and coaches when they met last Monday.

As a part of the personnel portion of their meeting, board members approved new contracts with Jessica Klingerman and Tara Ton, who will serve as National Honor Society Co-Sponsors and Sabrina Wickens, who will be the sponsor of the Robotics Club and Coding Club. Continue reading →

Bremen School Board Reorganizes at First Meeting of 2018

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

Some changes were made to the officer positions of the Bremen School Board during their meeting earlier this week. According to Bremen Superintendent Dr. Jim White, Brian Teall was elected to the president’s position and Suzanne Ginter was elected to serve as vice president.

The secretary position, on the other hand, was unchanged with Jesse Bohannon retaining that spot. Continue reading →

Bremen Superintendent Presents Bond Proposal to School Board for Consideration

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

When the Bremen School Board met for the first time this year, Superintendent Jim White presented members with some information about acquiring a bond in order to make some capital improvements around the building.

During Monday night’s meeting, Dr. White suggested that the school look into utilizing a solar generation system as a way to help defer energy costs over the next 25 to 30 years. Continue reading →

Bremen School Board Reviews New Attendance Policy

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

When Bremen School Board members met last Monday, they reviewed the new attendance policy that was implemented at the start of this school year.

The biggest difference between this year’s policy and the policy of the past is that when parents call to notify the school that their child is staying home, those absences are no longer counted as excused.

Bremen Superintendent Dr. Jim White said the policy also includes specifications about what to do when the school receives no notification whatsoever. Continue reading →

Bremen School Board Passes New Communication Policy

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

When the Bremen School Board met last Monday, members held the second reading over a policy detailing specific guidelines for board member and staff communication.

Superintendent Dr. Jim White said the policy was developed in order for there to be a delineated procedure to follow when board members and staff talk to each other. He said they wanted to clear up any confusion about the expectations of various positions within the school corporation. Continue reading →

Bremen School Board Addresses Substitute Teaching Requirements

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

When the Bremen School Board met Monday, members agreed to change the language in the school corporation’s substitute teacher applications to reflect current standards.

Bremen Superintendent Dr. Jim White explained that some of their documentation reflected an old state policy that required individuals to have at least 60 hours of college credit in order to become a substitute teacher. However, policies have changed and now a high school graduate can apply and receive a substitute teaching license through the state. Continue reading →

Bremen School Board Approves Teachers’ Contract

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

The Bremen School Board held a special session on Monday to approve their master teacher contract prior the November 15th deadline set by the Indiana Education Employment Relation Board.

Superintendent Dr. Jim White stated that the salary of a beginning teacher with no prior experience is set at $34,000 and an experienced teacher can make up to $70,000 depending on certain factors. Continue reading →

Energy Savings Upgrade Ongoing at Bremen Schools

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

The Bremen School Board members are looking to save money in a lighting upgrade project.

Superintendent Dr. Jim White said the project will make quite a difference.

“We are converting to LED lighting which will save us tremendously on energy costs,” said Dr. White. “Given the retrofit cost I’m anticipating saving about $20,000 annually in energy and it will have about a three-and-a-half year payback. The life of the bulbs is anywhere between eight to 12 years. We anticipate having that done by the end of the summer.”