The Press-Dispatch
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A-2 Front Wednesday, July 26, 2017 The Press-Dispatch FEST Continued from page 1 MEALS Continued from page 1 Spaghetti $ 6.99 Cheesy Mozzarella Toast, Side Salad and Drink.* THUR JULY 27 FRI JULY 28 M-F 8am-5pm SAT 8am-2pm *Your Choice of Regular Coffee, Tea or Coke Product. /CakesAndCoffeeCafe Like us on Facebook! In a Hurry? Call 812-354-2004! dine in or carry out 31 JULY MON 1 TUES AUG Omelette $ 7.99 With Your Choice of Bacon or Sausage, Fruit Cup, Buttered Toast and Drink.* Roast Beef Sandwich $ 7.99 On Toasted Poppy Seed Bun with Swiss Cheese, German Potato Salad, Fruit Cocktail and Drink.* DOUBLE F E AT U R E DOUBLE F E AT U R E DOUBLE F E AT U R E SAT JULY 29 Baby Bleu Salad $ 7.99 Spring Mix Lettuce with Strawberries, Pecans, Bleu Cheese with Raspberry Vinaigrette, Served with Watermelon, Pasta Salad and Drink * WED JULY Chef Salad $ 7.99 With Ham, Turkey and Bacon, Baked Potato, Fruit Cup and Drink * Baked Parmesan Boneless Pork Chop $ 7.99 Baked Potato, Corn, Fruit Cup and Drink * 618 E MAIN, PETERSBURG SPECIALS DAILY LUNCH Cut Out and Place on the Fridge! 11AM 2PM Free WiFi cafe & cakes cof fee cafe DOUBLE F E AT U R E DOUBLE F E AT U R E 26 CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS VEGETABLE BEEF SOUP CHILI HAM & BEANS WITH CORNBREAD CHEESY CHICKEN BROCCOLI Meatloaf $ 7.99 Corn, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Roll and Drink * Turkey Manhattan $ 7.99 Turkey Breast Smothered in Gravy on Mashed Potatoes and Amish Bread with Green Beans and Drink * Roast Beef Manhattan $ 7.99 Roast Beef Smothered in Gravy on Mashed Potatoes and Amish Bread with Green Beans and Drink * Balsamic Salad $ 6.99 Our Own Cucumber-Onion Salad with Balsamic Vinegar Mix on Lettuce Served with Pasta Salad, Watermelon Cup and Drink * Caesar Salad and Soup $ 6.99 A Salad of Romaine Lettuce and Croutons Dressed with Parmesan Cheese tossed with Caesar Salad Dressing Served with a Bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup, a Cup of Watermelon and a Drink * O pe n H ous e Otwell Miller Academy & Lil HOOsiers Preschool/Pre-K Saturday, July 29 6pm to 8pm Jefferson Twp. (Otwell) Community Center • Tours of Otwell Miller Academy School beginning at 6:30 pm. • Meet the new teachers of Otwell Miller Academy School and the new director of Lil HOOsiers. • Hamburgers and hotdogs provided by Friends of Otwell Elementary. Please bring your own drinks (no alcohol) along with a bag of chips, side dish or dessert to share. the student's family is expe- riencing financial hardship, a payment arrangement can be set up by contacting the school corporation's Food Services Director. However, even with the changes, McKinney said that he still did not agree with the proposed policy. "I think there's a lot of things in place that we can do as a school board before any type of an alternative meal needs to take place," McKinney said. McKinney said that he had spoken earlier the same day with two Indiana De- partment of Education staff- ers – School Nutrition Pro- grams Coordinator Sarah Kenworthy and School Nu- trition Field Specialist Jenni- fer Ress-Henry – and asked them if they recommended that the school corporation's meal charging policy include an alternative meal. "Both of them told me they could not do that," McKin- ney said. "All they could say was we needed to follow the USDA guidelines." McKinney noted that a guide published by the US - DA's Food and Nutrition Ser- vice – entitled "Overcoming the Unpaid Meal Challenge: Proven Strategies from Our Nation's Schools" – states that unpaid meal charge policies may allow students with unpaid meal charges to continue to charge all avail- able reimbursable meals to their account. "We can do that," McKin- ney said. "We can keep do- ing exactly what we're doing, without any downfall, with- out any threat of losing fed- eral funding. We can do all that." In addition, McKinney noted, the guide states that school food administrators (SFAs) "are not required to provide alternate meals to children with unpaid meal charges." Instead of serving the al- ternative meal, McKinney said that the school corpora- tion should focus on getting parents to pay their child's unpaid meal charges, even if it means continuing col- lection efforts into the fol- lowing school year. "We can still go after the unpaid debt the following year," McKinney said. "We don't lose it just because we go into another school year." The guide classifies un- paid meal charges as "delin- quent debt" as long as the debt is considered collect- able and efforts are being made to collect it. "A debt owed to the NS - FSA (nonprofit school food service account) is an asset," the guide states. "As such, the debt remains on the ac- counting documents until it is either collected or is de- termined to be uncollectable and written off" as an oper- ating loss. Since the repayment of bad debt resulting from un- paid meal charges is an un- allowable cost, the NSFSA must be restored using non- federal funds, including the school corporation's gener- al fund, special funding from state or local governments, or any other non-Federal sources. "With that, there is abso- lutely zero chance of a loss of funding from the USDA," McKinney said. "Zero." However, McKinney not- ed, the guide does state that the school corporation is re- quired to have a meal charg- ing policy. "We have to have this poli- cy in place," McKinney said. "But it doesn't say that the state or the USDA is man- dating any type of alterna- tive meal." McKinney suggested that the school board consider adopting a meal charging policy that did not include an option to serve an alter- native meal to students who have reached their limit. McKinney subsequently directed a question to G.E. Tree Service owner Mark Goodpasture, who had ad- dressed the school board earlier in the meeting about a budding community-wide effort to cover all unpaid meal charges so that no stu- dent would ever be served an alternative meal. "If this board was to adopt a policy tonight that did not have any type of alternative meal ... that said, for one year, we're going to have this meal plan, and we're going to take parents to col- lections, do you think there would be enough community involvement that said, 'Hey, we're going to pick up this charge'? " McKinney asked. "If we see it's astronomical, then we would have to go a different route. But, for one year, the public would be able to pick that up? In your opinion? " "If everybody would hold to what they've told me, I don't think it would be a problem," Goodpasture re- plied. McKinney said that he was strongly opposed to a meal charging policy that included the possibility that a student would be served an alternative meal. "This is not about our school lunch ladies," McKin- ney said. "I know they don't want to give anybody an al- ternative meal. Steve Potter doesn't want to give an al- ternative meal. Ron Sharp doesn't want to give an al- ternative meal. You (Blake) don't. I don't. So why would this board adopt a policy to give an alternative meal? We've proposed a policy that says we may give a kid a (al- ternative) meal. We have the right to do this policy howev- er we want." "I'd like to see it changed to where we go one year, on a trial basis, without any type of alternative meal," McKin- ney added. "Let's see where we got our funding. Let's see what kind of community in- volvement we have, and what kind of support we have for our kids." Blake said that the meal charging policy proposed by McKinney was the same policy that the school corpo- ration currently has, which resulted in approximately $7,500 of unpaid meal charg- es in the 2015 -16 school year and almost $ 6,000 in unpaid meal charges during the 2016 -17 school year. McKinney noted that ef- forts to collect the unpaid meal charges from the 2016 - 17 school year had reduced the amount of the debt to less than $ 3,000. "Even if we couldn't get the community to cover all $ 3,000, we have spent more out of general fund since I've been on the board on prob- ably mileage, consultants, legal fees, new hires that we haven't had in the past," McKinney said. "We're talk- ing about less than $ 3,000 that we're going to be giving a child an alternative meal." "At the risk of losing $400,000," Sharp, who chaired the meeting. "No," McKinney fired back. "No risk whatsoev- er. As long as that is paid. If we wrote $ 3,000 off to- day, say it's uncollectable, we wouldn't lose $400,000 unless we didn't pay that $ 3,000." McKinney directed Pot- ter and Sharp to consider the school board's policy manu- al, which states that they must make decisions "think- ing always in the terms of children first." "Not the USDA," McK- inney said. "Not IDOE. Yes, we've got guidelines and we can't afford to lose $400,000. But I'm telling you that the information I'm get- ting, we're not going to lose $400,000, and this is directly from our field service agent (Ress-Henry) and (Kenwor- thy) at the IDOE. Prior to the meeting, Blake provided the school board members with an outline of area school dis- tricts' meal charging poli- cies revealing that at least 10 – Barr-Reeve, East Gib- son, Loogootee, North Da- viess, Northeast Dubois, Shoals, Southwest Dubois, Vincennes, Warrick County and Washington – include an alternative meal. The Southeast Dubois School Corporation does not offer an alternative meal. In- stead, students must bring their food from home until the debt is paid. Sharp described some of the other school districts' meal charging policies as "pretty harsh." "We all agree we don't want to punish the child for the parents' poor decision, but it's almost like that's the only sentence in here that will get their attention," Blake said. "It's not a threat," McK- inney replied. "It's a child's livelihood." "Putting this in a policy, it would not be on Deloris or (deputy treasurer) Lorice (Chamberlain) or anybody out at the schools ... if an al- ternative meal was served," McKinney added. "It would be on this board. It would be our fault, and if one child is affected negatively for that, then shame on everyone sit- ting here." Potter said that he would like to see written confirma- tion to back up McKinney's contention that the school corporation would not be in danger of losing federal fund- ing. "Having the whole board hear it and see it in writing ... I would feel better about it," Potter said. Sharp noted that the edit- ed version of the Pike Coun- ty School Corporation's pro- posed meal charging policy had changed the wording so that an alternative meal "may" be served, rather than "will" be served. "Knowing Deloris, know- ing the many ladies that are out there at the different schools, they're all moms, some of them are grand- mothers," Sharp said. "I just feel really confident that if there's food that's getting ready to be scraped out and thrown in the trash, that child's going to get that long before they ever get any kind of a sandwich or an alterna- tive meal. A mother's love and common sense are go- ing to kick in before this pol- icy ever does." "But that's still granting someone the authority to give a child an alternative meal," McKinney said. "That's where you go back to that common sense call," Sharp replied. "But why adopt a policy if we're not going to follow it? " McKinney asked. "It's still a policy. The first aspect and the last aspect of every deci- sion we make should be with the thought of the children first – not the parents, not the IDOE." McKinney subsequently made a motion to table the second reading of the pro- posed meal charging poli- cy "until we get the informa- tion back from the IDOE on whether or not we're going to lose the federal funding." Potter seconded McKin- ney's motion. "In my heart of hearts, I don't want to do the alter- nate meal," Potter said. "In a perfect world, we wouldn't. But we don't live in a perfect world. And for Deloris and her team and for everybody else that's doing this, the 'may receive an alternative meal' is a tool. We have to trust these folks to do their job, to have the compas- sion that they've showed in the past to the point where they've paid out of their own pocket." "I understand," McKinney said. "I know many of them have." "I'm not trying to kick this can down the road," Potter continued. "I just want to make sure we get it right, and I know that's going to create an inconvenience for some and a nightmare for others. I apologize." A fter the board voted unanimously to table the pro- posed meal charging policy a second time, Blake encour- aged members of the school board who had not yet spo- ken with Henson about it to do so. "I think you need to under- stand where she's at in her position," Blake said. "I don't want to tie her hands up," Potter replied. "We need to trust her and her team to do their job. But if there's a chance that we could alleviate part of this, I think we need to." "We worry about the bully- ing with the kids and every- thing else," Potter added. "If we do something that's going to put a target on their back, I think we've made a mistake. So, if we can make this work without doing the alternative meal, I would sleep better at night." In other action, the school board accepted the resigna- tion of PCSC bus mechanic Jason Edrington, effective Friday, Aug. 4. "So that's our bus mechan- ic, and our other bus me- chanic had bypass surgery, is that correct? " Sharp asked. "He's in the hospital," Blake replied. "So we have no bus me- chanics, and we're getting ready to get back to school," Sharp said. "More good news! " The Stationary Parade is set for 1 p.m., with the kids' games (sack races, balloon toss, egg toss, three-legged races) starting at 2 p.m. A kids' pedal tractor pull is set for 4 p.m., with the hu- la hoop contest at 5 p.m. A Gospel Sing, featuring Judith Montgomery and family, from Shoals, and Nailprint, of Newburgh, be- gins at 6:30 p.m. Bridge 147 opens County Bridge 147, also known as the Old Depot Bridge on CR 350 E. over the Patoka River, just south of Winslow, opened to traffic Friday. It was closed in April of 2009. The new concrete beam bridge has been under construction since early last year. It replaces a 112 foot steel truss wooden floor bridge that was originally built in 1915 and then reconditioned in 1995. In 2009, the bridge was closed and eventually placed in the federal aid process. This program pays 80 percent of the cost of construction, which was more than $1 million. During that process, the bridge ran into problems with subsoil because there was a vein of coal. So it had to be designed with deeper pilings. Engineers also decided to straighten its alignment, which caused them to have to purchase more property and there were battles for right-of-way. Above, Assistant Highway Superintendent Josh Byrd, Commissioner Jeff Nelson, Commissioner Ry- an Coleman and Highway Superintendent Roger Ham had an informal bridge opening ceremony Fri- day afternoon. Cazares-Herrera arrested for drunken driving Thursday By Andy Heuring A Petersburg man was ar- rested for drunken driving after police stopped him for driving 73 mph in a 30 zone on Main St., Petersburg, last Thursday evening. Rodrigo Cazares-Herre- ra, 36, of 211 W. Main St., Petersburg, was arrested at 6:49 p.m. by Sgt. Chad Mc- Clellan. Sgt. McClellan said he received a report of a reck- less driver headed south on Highway 57 into Peters- burg. McClellan said he was on the Walker Motors park- ing lot and soon after saw a car matching that descrip- tion drive by at 73 mph. He said when Cazares-Herre- ra saw him, he slammed on his brakes and went in- to the northbound lane. He turned onto 17th St. before McClellan was able to pull him over. Sgt. McClellan said when he talked with Cazares-Her- rera, he noticed the odor of alcohol. Cazares-Herrera said he didn't have a driv- er's license. He failed field sobriety tests and was taken to the Pike County Jail, where he tested 0.14 percent for blood alcohol content. He was preliminarily charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated.