By VICKI URBANIK

The Duneland School Board, at a brief special meeting Monday, approved the funds needed to purchase 26 acres adjacent to the Liberty Schools.

The school board agreed to acquire the property last month, but at that time did not have the funds immediately available. The purpose of the special meeting Monday was for the board to appropriate the $350,000 from the school corporation’s Rainy Day Fund.

Duneland Assistant Superintendent Dave Pruis said the Rainy Day Fund has roughly $6.5 million accumulated. The money cannot be used for salaries or benefits, but is available for certain expenditures, like land acquisition, that aren’t specified in the budget. He noted that it’s difficult to budget for land acquisition, since no one can forecast when land might become available.

The Liberty Township property might be used for a new school or expansion of the Liberty Schools. No specific building project has been proposed yet, but several school board members and administrators have said that Duneland must begin planning for new school construction due to the increasing school enrollments.

New Teachers

Despite the brevity of Monday’s meeting, the audience turnout was fairly sizable, with a number of teachers and new hires on hand for the meeting. The school board approved the hiring of nine new staff members, as follows:

Cassandra Wallace, a 2000 Chesterton High School graduate, will teach science at CHS. She has taught for the past two years at Portage High School.

Donna Wilk will teach CHS business. She has a master’s in education and 16 years of experience. She previously taught in the Union Township School Corp. and in the Michigan City Schools.

Jason Conway will teach second grade at Liberty Elementary and will also serve as the assistant boys varsity soccer coach. Conway attended Brummitt Elementary, Westchester Middle School and CHS. A Wabash College graduate with a teaching certificate from Calumet College, he has taught fourth grade in Portage for two years. He has also coached youth sports and has been a Duneland YMCA preschool program volunteer.

Julie Detmar will teach first grade at Brummitt Elementary. She is a graduate of CHS and Purdue University. This will be her first teaching assignment.

Erin Maple will teach first grade at Yost Elementary. A graduate of CHS and Johnson Bible College, she has coached basketball and volleyball at CMS.

Amy Chism will teach first grade at Yost under a temporary contract. A Purdue graduate, she student taught at Yost and most recently filled in as a long-term substitute at Yost.

Jade Chavaz will teach second grade at Yost. A graduate of Purdue, she has been working in the Duneland Schools for two years as a long-term substitute and aide.

Cassidy Nay, now a half-time kindergarten teacher, will teach kindergarten at Yost full time.

Heather Lowe will be a media specialist at Liberty Elementary. A Purdue graduate, she student taught and then taught computer skills in Union Township. For the past three years, she has been an elementary teacher at the Charter School of the Dunes.

Several of the new teachers thanked the school board and said they’re excited about their new jobs.

Duneland Superintendent Dirk Baer said Duneland just saw a successful school year come to a close, and that the staff is already “getting psyched” for the next school year. He said he was happy to see the sizable staff turnout at the meeting.

Posted 6/12/2007