The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1323379
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, December 30, 2020 A-3 LOCAL Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg NEWS BRIEFS Pike County Library hosts winter reading challenge From January 1-31, Pike County Public Library will participate in Beanstack's Fourth annual Win- ter Reading Challenge, "Books Like Us," sponsored by Simon and Schuster. The challenge is to read at least 15 books during the month of January and keep track of the reading on the Beanstack site at pikeco.beanstack.org. Thousands of libraries across the nation will encourage their communi- ties to read a target number of 15 books. Prizes will include book collections and virtual author visits. Ten winning libraries will each get a collection of fifty books from the "Books Like Us" collection. Patoka Lake virtual eagle watch Jan. 2 Patoka Lake will host its 33rd annual Eagle Watch as a Facebook live event on its page on Sat- urday, Jan. 2, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Join the pro- gram from the comfort of your couch as staff lead viewers around the property. There will be a short program offered every hour. Topics include Indiana's bald eagle reintro- duction program, Patoka Lake eagle facts, bald ea- gle trivia, eagles then and now, and the story of how bald eagles prevented a theme park on Tillery Hill. United Way of Pike County campaign is underway The Pike County United Way is having their 2020 campaign fundraiser. To donate, visit their web- site at www.uwpike.org or send check to: United Way of Pike County P.O. Box 321, Petersburg, IN 47567. For more informaton, call 812-582-9781 or email unitedwaypike@frontier.com. 905 Vincennes Ave., Petersburg Call Today and $ave! HVAC manufacturers have announced a price increase in equipment beginning Feb. 1, 2021. WHATEVER IT TAKES. If you're thinking of replacing your system, give us a call now and beat the increase. Get a complete high-efficiency hea ng and air condi oning system, including digital thermostat and high-efficiency air filter, for under $150/month. * Ask us for details on available financing op ons. *with approved credit MARRIAGE LICENSES Ian James Allen, 19, of 4611 N. Alford Locust St., Petersburg, son of John and Christy Allen, to Madison Paige Sisk, 20, of 10505 E. CR 200 N., Otwell, daughter of Joshua M. Sisk and Heather M. McCord. By Andy Heuring Parents again argued for Pike County Schools to return to in-person learning instead of the hybrid schedule and full vir- tual schedules they have been on for several weeks. Parents sent letters to the school board at their December 15 meeting, which was a virtual meeting conducted over Zoom. School board president Steve Potter read the letters. The following letter is from Andrew Houchins. "I spoke with all of you at the November school board meet- ing and advocated for return- ing to full-time in classroom ed- ucation. My argument was sim- ple.....We are closing school out of fear of exposure to a virus that has virtually no mortality to children, but not actual cases of COVID-19 among our students. I backed this up with multiple CDC studies and Mayo Clinic studies. This is not just my opin- ion, it has been echoed by ma- ny health officials at the CDC, WHO, Dr. A zar (HHS direc- tor) and Dr. Fauci of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. I further argue that the negative impacts on our children's edu- cation, mental health and safe- ty is more dangerous than the disease itself. There is mounting data to support this as well, as stated by U.S. Secretary of Ed- ucation, Betsy DeVos. "Thus far, I have not seen the change I was hoping for, as we have remained on a hybrid school schedule. Following the November School Board meet- ing, I was contacted by Head School Nurse Vicki Oxby to ad- dress my concerns. She defend- ed the current quarantine ac- tions of her staff and hybrid edu- cational model. I issued a simple challenge.....let your data speak for itself. Enough children have been quarantined due to sus- pected exposure to COVID-19 that follow-up data should be available to show that what has been done is working. I also of- fered another suggestion, create a Pike County Coronavirus Task Force comprised of local medi- cal providers and the Pike Coun- ty Health Department to formal- ly weigh in on the efficacy of cur- rent policy. So far there has been no response. "I stayed silent on this issue until it was apparent that the cur- rent hybrid educational mod- el was negatively affecting my children. I made the decision to move my kindergartener to the Otwell Miller Academy. Ironical- ly, days after moving her to a dif- ferent school district, I received a letter noting concern that she showed signs of dyslexia. I'm happy to report that after one month of full-time, in-person education at OMA, she is able to read, which had not been ac- complished with three months of hybrid education at PES, but I'm sad I had to move my child to a different school district to accomplish this. "To draw a parallel, think of driving a car, which is also not without risk. There has been a push for safety since the 1980s to improve automobile safe- ty. What if instead of changing speed limits, requiring seat- belts, holding auto makers ac- countable and adding airbags to improve safety, the officials had decided to limit driving to two days a week instead of five. This would definitely cut down on motor vehicle accidents, but think of the disruption in nor- mal society, productivity, work- place efficiency and personal freedoms. This idea would have been rejected by society, but it's exactly what we have allowed in this situation. "In closing, I don't want to judge how others feel. All par- ents of PCSC children have al- ready been provided the option to have their children attend vir- tual education if they choose to. I'm not asking the board to take risks I'm unwilling to take as a parent or a medical provider. The data supports keeping kids in school and notes minimal risk to children. I want to be a pro- ductive to advocate for our chil- dren's education and for their future, but I cannot stand by silently watching our children fall behind academically while neighboring school districts in Dubois and Daviess county, where there are significantly higher numbers of COVID-19 cases, have managed to main- tain or return to full-time in classroom education while min- imizing risk to their students." Jessica Houchins and Denise Harris also submitted similar letters. The board made no comment on the letters and took no action. In other business, the school board voted 5 -0 to approve a change in the scope of the wa- ter storage tank project at Pike Central. A fter an in-depth in- spection of the tank, it was de- cided it was in worse shape than anticipated and Midwestern En- gineers needed to change the scope of the project. They deleted developing spec- ifications for rehabilitation of the tank; assisting with the bidding process; and providing on-site representation and inspection services throughout the rehab project. They replaced that scope with: providing consulting and preliminary engineering ser- vices for rehabilitation, replace- ment and or removal alterna- tives, including hydraulics, and final design services/ bidding assistance for a back-up connec- tion to Pike County water. Esti- mated fees will be $ 35,000 plus a per diem. They will be looking at re- moving the current water tow- er, which is from the mid-70s, and connecting elsewhere with a water provider. They approved the school year calendar for 2021-22 school year. It will start for students on August 10. Days off will in- clude: Sept. 6 for Labor Day, Parent-teacher conferences Oct. 13, Fall vacation Oct. 18 - 22, Thanksgiving vacation Nov. 25 -27, Christmas vacation Dec. 22 to January 4; President's Day Feb. 21, Spring Break March 21- 25 and Good Friday April 15. Flex days will be Sept. 24, Nov. 12, January 17 and April 18. The last day of school is set for Wednesday, May 25. In personnel matters: Mary Ann Wilson was offi- cially terminated. A letter to the board from Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Blake stated Wilson had an attendance rate of 50 per- cent since she was hired in July 2020. She did not return to work on Nov. 17 or 18 and turned her keys into another employee, but did not submit a letter of resig- nation. The board voted to ter- minate her employment. Ronelle Linneweber resigned as Special Education teacher at Petersburg Elementary School effective January 3. Madison Harmon was hired to replace Linneweber for the rest of the school year. The board also vot- ed to hire Erica Kueber to fill the Special Education aide position at PES. Marie Miller resigned her position from the Pike Central cafeteria and Brittney Tyring re- signed from her Winslow cafete- ria position. Taylor Small was hired to fill a maternity leave at Peters- burg Elementary School for the months of December, January and February. The next meeting is sched- uled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Janu- ary 12. School board hears plea for in-school learning