The Press-Dispatch
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A-4 Local Wednesday, July 20, 2016 The Press-Dispatch $ 229 $ 199 Queen Pillowtop Mattress Twin Mattress Starting at Starting at Starting at Large Selection of Bunk Beds, Day Beds & Iron Beds $ 99 Perdue Furniture Chest of Drawers WWW.ENGLERTSHOMECOMFORTCENTER.COM HOME COMFORT CENTER CASH gary west F o r T h e Lo ve O f e authentic tribute to Johnny Cash and the legends of country music! Prides Creek Park JULY 23 7PM(EDT) FREE CONCERT $ 2 Park Gate Admission Fee Freewill donation to benefit St. Jude. 1045 East County Road 400 North, Petersburg, IN Papa Johns pizza and Coke For Sale to the public 2016 Teen Miss Pike County Elizabeth Jadyn Ashby is flanked to her right by Aspen Wynn, first runner-up, and Abigail Sutt, second runner-up. James Capozella photo The 2016 Miss Pike County and her court are, left to right: Miss Indiana State Tate Fritchley, first runner-up Samantha Halbrader, Cheyanna Padgett, 2016 Miss Pike County Kaylee Gray, Whitney Hartke, second runner-up Kimberly McCammon and Ivy Sullivan. James Capozella photo More financial hits coming for Pike County Schools By Ed Cahill The financial hits just keep on coming for the Pike County School Corporation. During its regular month- ly meeting on Monday, July 18, the corporation's board of trustees learned that the amount of Title I fund- ing it receives is expected to be cut by approximate- ly 10 percent in the 2016 -17 school year. "This year has been a difficult year because we keep getting updated mem- os where it's changed, and it keeps getting cut," Pike County Schools Superin- tendent Suzanne Blake said. "Apparently, the federal gov- ernment – the federal (De- partment of Education) – has come in to do an audit ... and they determined that the formula that the state has been using for the past five years was inaccurate. So that is the primary rea- son why we keep getting re- ductions." Title I provides schools with supplemental feder- al funding and academic opportunities for students most at-risk for not meeting state and local standards. Funds can be used for pro- fessional development, be- fore/after school tutoring, specialized teachers (i.e., Reading Recovery), instruc- tional coaches, intervention- ists, preschool, extended time opportunities, student supplies, literacy materials, equipment and technology, and home school liaisons. Blake noted that the school corporation was told to plan on receiving $293,554.48 for the 2015 -16 school year, but that amount was subsequently amended to $277,551.33 in March and to $249,022.39 earlier this month. "We get a pre-planning amount," Blake said. "We build our Title I budget based on that amount and then they usually come back and modify it a bit and we al- ways hope that if they cut, it doesn't go too much." Recently, Blake said the school corporation was told to expect to receive $224,120.67 for the 2016 -17 school year. "We're going to be strug- gling to cover the Title I program as it currently is," Blake said. "The state does not believe this will happen again, to this extent, that it was a unique situation. How- ever, we don't know." "They told us twice in the conversation that the $224,000 we have been told to plan for in 2017, it will not go lower than that," Blake added. Blake said she had talked with superintendents of ar- ea school districts and the smallest reduction amount she had heard was $ 6,400. "Vincennes was about like us, and had in the 20s," Blake said. "Most of the other districts had around $11,000. So we're not the on- ly one that was cut, but ours was deep." Blake said the reduction in Title I funding is the re- sult of hold-harmless legisla- tion adopted by the Indiana General Assembly. "In the five-year lookback, identifying that there were schools that were not get- ting a proper amount of Ti- tle I allocation, that included charter schools," Blake said. "So some of the money we all lost was redistributed to other districts and charter schools." Blake noted the school corporation received $ 320,256.55 in Title I fund- ing in the 2008 -09 school year before declining to $244,542.74 in 2011-12, then rose to $ 312,011.94 in 2012- 13. "Now we're on the de- cline again," Blake said. "So, again, it's going to hit our el- ementaries and some of the extra support we get in the classroom." In other action, the school board approved a request by director of support ser- vices Todd Harker to raise the hourly pay rate for sub- stitute bus drivers, cafete- ria workers and custodians to $10. "Currently, they make $7.25, so that would be an increase," Blake said. "We have difficulty in find- ing subs and we believe, in part, that's because of the low rate." In a letter dated July 14, Harker noted that since the corporation had hired all of the contract bus drivers and given them nine per- sonal days, along with sick days, more substitute driv- ers would be needed. "I feel that by increas- ing the substitute wages it would help attract more peo- ple to drive buses to cover routes when our drivers take off, and when we need driv- ers for ECA trips," Harker wrote. "I think this will help fill some of the subs needed in the custodial and kitchen areas as well." Harker told the school board that he had conduct- ed an in-service meeting for bus drivers the previous week. "I laid out all the sched- ules on the table, and asked route drivers who were in- terested in driving for each sport or band or whatever the event might be," Harker said. "And out of probably 24 people that were here, five names were put on the list, to drive extra. So that tells you the interest in driving these extra events. I think that $10 an hour will help boost that a little bit." The school board also ap- proved a request by Harker to offer a reimbursement of up to $ 300 to substitute bus drivers who meet the follow- ing requirements: • Pass and provide a val- id medical examination re- port. • Complete and pass a Bureau of Motor Vehicles' knowledge test, which earns a learner's permit. • Pass a CDL skills test at an Indiana Bureau of Mo- tor Vehicles approved test- ing site. • Sign a contract stating they will drive a school bus as a substitute for the Pike County School Corporation for a period of two years. The reimbursement would be paid at the end of the first year, Harker noted. "When they do their walk- around test, if they miss one thing, they flunk them, and each time they take that test it costs them $100," Harker said. "I know some people have taken it three or four times. I think if they knew they were getting a little bit of their money back, that would help." "A lot of corporations are doing this, too, just because everybody's struggling for drivers," board member Chris Satterfield said. "We struggled bad last year," said board vice-presi- dent Chris McKinney. PressDispatch.net/ Subscribe net edition • Exclusive Video • All color photos • Search current and back issues with Add NETedtion to your paper subscription for just $5 She was sponsored by El- mer Buchta Trucking. Whitney Hartke, daugh- ter of Ryan Hartke and Wendy Thompson, won Miss Congeniality and the Fan Favorite Award. She was sponsored by Midwest 4x4. Pageant director Ab- igail Vinnedge said Whit- ney was raising money for Lea Heaton, the director of the Winslow Elementa- ry cafeteria, who is suffer- ing from breast cancer. Kaylee said, "I am ex- tremely excited to be a spokesperson for Pike County and for Pike Coun- ty 4-H. Winning this title means even more to me be- cause I am a 10 -year mem- ber of 4-H. I plan on tak- ing advantage of every op- portunity I am given this year to expand my hori- zons and to meet new peo- ple. I would like to thank everyone who has support- ed me and who have made this possible! " CONTEST JUDGING The contestants were judged during a seven- minute interview and then in active wear, profession- al wear, evening gown and a stage question. Escorts on stage with the girls included Noah Croak, Ryan Hartke, Riv- er Padgett, Denver Hal- lett, Kevin Abell and Gage Latham. The pre-pageant inter- view was worth up to 150 points, while the profes- sional wear, evening wear and on-stage question parts were worth 40 points each. The active wear ses- sion was the first on-stage glimpse of the contestants and it contained a 30 -point total. Ashli Riley, Miss Pike County 2013, was the mas- ter of ceremonies, and Abi- gail Vinnedge and Tia Rog- ers were the pageant direc- tors. The interview portion of the contest judged person- ality, poise and overall im- pression. The on-stage ac- tive wear scored originali- ty and overall impression, while the professional wear judged posture and poise, stage presence and over- all impression. In the final part of the competition, the girls were shown in eve- ning gowns and judged on posture and poise, stage presence and overall im- pression prior to respond- ing to a unique question while on stage. Abigail Vinnedge said, "I am very proud of the six contestants. I'm always glad to see girls step out- side their comfort zones and participate in Miss Pike County because they realize the pageant isn't just about being pretty. It's a lot of hard work and prep- aration all summer, and re- quires dedication, intelli- gence and a strong work ethic." This is Vinnedge's 19th year to have a hand in the pageant and 10th year to di- rect. Vinnedge said, "It's very dear to me and I'm glad everyone enjoyed it! " There was special thanks to individuals, including: Tia Rogers, Danielle Houtsch, Jenny Ridao, Kelly Cook, Ashli Riley, Crystal Starks, Keeley Schell, Chloe Wil- lis, Tessa Vinnedge and Dustin Arnold. Groups in- volved deserving special thanks include: First Bap- tist Church of Petersburg, United Methodist Church of Petersburg, Andy Heuring and The Press-Dispatch, and 4-H Council and Extension Office. More than 75 area businesses and individuals contributed gifts and helped sponsor the pageant and the contestants. 2016 TEEN MISS PIKE COUNTY Elizabeth Jadyn Ashby, daughter of Jonathan and Kimberly Ashby, of Peters- burg, won 2016 Teen Miss Pike County in front of a huge cheering crowd last Tuesday night just prior to the Miss Pike County Con- test. Aspen Wynn, daugh- ter of Somer and Nick Wal- lace, of Winslow, and Denver Wynn, was named first run- ner-up. Abigail Sutt, daugh- ter of Summer Sorgius, of Otwell, and Jason Sutt, was second runner-up. Abigail was also named Miss con- geniality. Elizabeth was named pho- togenic, and both Elizabeth and Aspen won Director awards. Sophia Ann Wood- all, 2015 Teen Miss Pike County, along with Kelly Cook, Summer Sorguis, Li- sa Clark, Calla Wininger, Dustin Arnold, Alivia Cum- mings and Emma Crow had a big hand in volunteering to help put on the Teen Miss Pike County Pageant. Jenny Ridao was Pageant Direc- tor and was assisted by Li- sa Clark and Calla Wininger. Several area businesses and individuals donating to the pageant including: D- Patrick Nissan, Go! Calen- ders, Games and Toys, Fan- tastic Sams, Big Dipper, Family Video, Fashion Re- wind, Petersburg Subway, Kim Ashby and Samantha Halbrader. PAGEANT Continued from page 1