Bremen School Board members reviewed teacher evaluations when they met Monday night.
Superintendent Dr. Jim White shared that the majority of teachers were ranked as highly-effective, with 87 percent of them receiving that distinction. Continue reading
Bremen School Board members provided their approval for a couple of different projects when they met last Monday. Superintendent Dr. Jim White said board members moved forward with two projects that were discussed during a pre-bid meeting in July.
He explained, “The board went ahead and accepted to move forward with replacement of a chilling tower and [gave the] go ahead to replace our football lights at the end of the season with LED lighting so that will be a big improvement.” Continue reading
Every year, the Indiana Department of Education and state legislature requires schools to adopt a policy about how to distribute teacher appreciation funds supplied by the state.
Bremen Schools Superintendent Dr. Jim White said the school board adopted their policy Monday evening, with legislative suggestions in mind. Continue reading
The job description for the Bremen Schools Athletic Director was amended during Monday night’s school board meeting. Superintendent Dr. Jim White said the changes had to be made because Director Troy Holmes has taken on some additional responsibilities. Continue reading
Bremen Public School officials are working toward becoming making the school an accredited On My Way Pre-K facility. Superintendent Dr. Jim White said he received the “go-ahead” to do some research and explore various options during Monday’s school board meeting
He said, “Marshall County is a part of a pilot program for My Way Pre-K and so we’re going to seek certification as being a licensed daycare center and try to slowly move into that realm to fill those needs.” Continue reading
Bremen Public School officials recently held pre-bid meetings over a couple of proposed projects.
As previously reported, the school was issued a $4 million bond that will be utilized for various renovations and upgrades. While some of the projects are already off the ground, others are still in the preliminary stages. Continue reading
Bremen School Board members approved a position for an outreach coordinator who will assist the school’s English Language Learners when they met on Monday.
Superintendent Dr. Jim White explained what the position was created for, “What that is, is that we are having an existing classified staff member who is going to be paid a stipend to be the outreach coordinator for our English Language Learning (ELL) population.” Continue reading
Bremen School Board members received a brief update about NEOLA policy upgrades at their Monday night meeting.
Superintendent Dr. Jim White previously shared that up until recently, Bremen officials were writing their own policies. In order to avoid being left behind, school board members agreed to enter into a partnership with NEOLA, an organization that will help them incorporate all applicable state laws and regulations into their school policies. Continue reading
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 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.”
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 members received an update about the 2014-2016 audit during their meeting on Monday.
Superintendent Dr. Jim White explained that audits are a pretty standard procedure that all schools must go through on a semi-regular basis. He told board members that the school was found to be in compliance but there were some suggestions that were made about internal controls. The superintendent mentioned that he’s noticed that other schools in the area are commonly cited for the same matter. Continue reading
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 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 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 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
When Bremen School Board members met Monday, Superintendent Dr. Jim White provided an update about the open gym program that has been held at Bremen High School since January.
A unique aspect of Bremen’s open gym program is that community members are asked to bring along a food donation as an “entry fee” Dr. White said that to date, they’ve donated about 263 lbs of food to the local food pantry. Continue reading
The Bremen School Board approved the adoption of the Uncharted Learning Entrepreneurship Program when they met on Monday. Superintendent Jim White said program development is still ongoing. However, they plan to offer it at various different grade levels.
He explained, “That is an entrepreneurial program for what probably is going to be fourth or fifth graders, one of those two and then either seventh or eighth graders and then in our high school.” Continue reading
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
Bremen Superintendent Dr. Jim White held a special work session on Monday to discuss potential building improvements with school board members.
During their January meeting, Dr. White suggested looking into the possibility of taking out a bond in order to make some renovations to the school buildings.
Superintendent White called the work session because he said he wants members to have ample time to consider the option, with some of the proposed projects in mind, before they vote on whether or not to move forward with the bond during their next meeting. Continue reading
