The Switzerland County School Board went through the yearly ritual of approving bids for services that will be used by the school board for the upcoming school year.
The school board approved bids for the following services:
— IBC was the only bidder for the bread bid, and it was approved by the board.
— Rumpke was the only bidder for trash removal, and it was approved.
— Laughery Valley Ag Co-Op was the only bidder to provide gasoline, biodiesel, and oil for the corporation; and those bids were accepted.
— There were no bidders for the snow removal business.
— For the milk bid, Prairie Farms and Trauth Dairy both submitted bids, and although Prairie Farms was the low bidder, there was some discussion about the quality of the product in the past in terms of feedback from students concerning taste. Trauth Dairy was the winning bidder last year, and officials reported that students preferred the taste of that milk.
Director of Food Services Gayla Bullock told the board that she has been very satisfied with the service that the school received from both companies during the years that each had the school contract.
After some discussion, the school board tabled the awarding the milk contract until its meeting this Monday night, July 24th.
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The school board also welcomed new teachers to the corporation for the upcoming year.
— Travis Martin will teach business technology at Switzerland County High School; while his wife, Tammy Martin, will teach social studies at Switzerland County High School.
— Jessica Rene Craig, who formerly taught at the middle school before leaving for a job in Trimble County; will return to teach math at the high school this fall.
— Switzerland County graduate Casie Campbell will return to her alma mater this fall to teach special education at Switzerland County High School. Connie Hite was also employed by the school corporation as a permanent substitute bus driver.
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The school board also discussed the qualifications for the upcoming school board election.
This year will be the first year that school board candidates will be elected as a part of the general election in November rather than during the primary election.
According to state law, to run for school board a person must be at least 21 years of age; must not be an employee of the corporation; must be a registered voter in Switzerland County by August 25th, 2006; must not be a felon; must by a resident of the district represented for one year prior to the election; and must file State Form 47008 by August 25th, 2006.
As a part of that form, candidates are required to obtain the signatures of 10 registered voters from the county.
The school board enhanced those state laws with a policy setting its own requirements which was readopted by the board in August of 2004.
Under the Switzerland County School Corporation policy, a person may run for school board if they are at least 18 years of age (state law is 21); must be a legal and qualified voter in the corporation boundaries and in the Resident District which he/she represents; and must by a resident of the district represented for at least two years immediately prior to the election (state law is one year).
All other state requirements remain as adopted by the state.
The school corporation policy also allows for a board member to serve more than two successive terms; and says that when a board member moves from one resident district to another within the school corporation; he/she shall be disqualified to continue as a member of the board and a vacancy will be created.
Board members are also disqualified if they move out of the school corporation.
A complete set of both state and local school corporation qualifications is available in the Switzerland County Clerk’s office and the Switzerland County School Corporation Administration office.