Altamont School Board to Vote on Food Service in July

Altamont school board members plan to vote on food service at their July meeting.

The Board is considering switching from an in-house food service to contracting for food service. Two bids have been received from vendors; Oopah Food Service and Cirrus Food Network.

The plan is to hold a public hearing ahead of the Board's July 13 meeting; the hearing at 6pm, and the Board meeting at 7pm when a decision by the Board is expected.

The Altamont board is also looking for a new member. Ross Cornett has resigned from the Board to go to work for the District as a co-technology co-ordinator. Cornett, who formerly operated Hofnet Communications, will team with district employee Lori Grimsley as co-technology co-ordinators.

As for coming up with a new Board member, Altamont Superintendent Steve Mayerhofer said the Board has 60 days to fill the vacancy. 

The Board hired Amy Ruckman and Bonnie Lester to assist in an expansion of the summertime Blessings in a Backpack program. 20 families have been assisted up until now; Mayerhofer said an additional 20 to 30 families will be served in the expansion, which will make meals available on weekends for the balance of the summer.

Board members also accepted the resignation of Spanish teacher Leslie Woodard, who is taking a position at Indiana Wesleyan University. The Board hired Trenton Deadmond as high school boys and girls cross country coach and approved Joanna Hooks as a volunteer coach for boys and girls cross country. The Board also approved 1.75% increases for exempt employees.

Altamont board members discussed facility improvement projects; a new HVAC unit for the grade school building, new ice breaks and guttering at the grade school building, and a new roof on the junior high gym. Mayerhofer said the HVAC work could be done late this summer or in early fall, the ice breaks and guttering this fall, and the roof work next summer. The District already received a $50,000 state grant to help finance the work.

There was discussion as to whether to continue with a block schedule or switch to a traditional schedule at the high school, and there was discussion about expanding distance learning to make more specialized coursework available. The Board also discussed passage by the General Assembly of a budget guaranteeing flat funding for the coming year, and the designation of November 3, Election Day, as a school holiday and how that will impact the school schedule for the coming year.