The Duneland School Board has approved a low bid for the $5,885,000 bond issue for the Liberty Elementary School addition.

At its meeting Monday night, members voted 5-0 to approve the rate of 2.90 percent, the lowest of the five bids submitted and considerably less than the highest of 3.74 percent.

Duneland School Corporation (DSC) Attorney Mike Harris told the board that, over the lifetime of the bond, interest and premiums will total $961,185.36, approximately $250,000 less than they would have under the 3.74-percent rate.

The addition--a 29,050-square foot pod for kindergarten and first-grade classrooms, approved in June by the board--will free space for other grades and for new computer labs and other facilities. The pod will be built around a courtyard to be used for outside learning.

Construction could begin as soon as October, with completion expected in the fall of 2010. Property taxpayers will begin paying off the bond next year as well.

Member Mike Trout took a moment at the end of the meeting to thank the Duneland community for its support for the project. “The community has always supported the school system,” he said.

In related news, the board also voted 5-0 to vacate the plat of the never developed Liberty Manor subdivision on the southern portion of 26 acres now owned by the DSC and slated for the LES addition.

Because the DSC owns the whole of the property--adjacent to the Damon Run Conservancy District--and because the property is located in unincorporated Liberty Township, Indiana Code permits the DSC to vacate the plat of Liberty Manor by a simple vote.

Harris noted that the DSC must still secure from the Porter County Board of Zoning Appeals a number of variances for the addition, including a use variance to permit the construction of a school facility in a residential zone.

In other business, the board voted 5-0 to approve a resolution which permits the DSC to use miscellaneous funds in advance of its receipt, later this month, of $9.6 million in quality school construction bond (QSCB) proceeds, and then to reimburse any expended funds with those proceeds.

The QSCBs are a zero-interest financing mechanism, made available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and supported by tax credits for the bond purchasers, with which the DSC will pursue its guaranteed energy savings program: a construction and retrofitting initiative to make the corporation’s facilities more energy efficient and less costly to operate.

The DSC will save $1 million in interest over the lifetime of the bond and can repay them over 15 years, rather than the normal 10 years.

The board voted 5-0 to approve the following hires:

*Elyce Malek, reading specialist, Brummitt Elementary School. A graduate of Purdue University-West Lafayette and a first-year teacher.

*Elissa Ellis, media specialist, BES. A 1998 graduate of Chesterton High School, a 2002 graduate of Indiana University Northwest, and for the last seven years an elementary education teacher at John Simatovich Elementary School in Union Township.

*Constance Golando, English teacher, CHS. A graduate of St. Mary’s of Notre Dame, with one year of teaching experience in Hawaii and three in Munster.

*Kelly Clark, science teacher, CHS. A graduate of Western Michigan University with two years of experience in North Carolina.

*Sam Marshall, English teacher, CHS. Temporary position while Melissa Jewett is on leave for 2009-10 school year. A graduate of Western Michigan University.

*Geoff Benson, girl’s J.V. soccer coach, CHS.

*Sue Harmison, guidance counselor, Yost Elementary School. A graduate of Penn State University, previously a temporary guidance counselor at Jackson Elementary School and LES and last employed as a special needs teacher at YES.

The board also accepted the resignations of Craig Daniel, math teacher, CHS; Fallon Waluszko, instructional aide, Chesterton Middle School; and Mary Buckman, guidance counselor, YES.

In addition, the board voted 5-0 to renew for another year the contract of Geminus Head Start, which leases a couple of classrooms at Westchester Intermediate School and serves around 20 students per year.

“They’ve been a good tenant,” Superintendent Dirk Baer said.

Posted 8/5/2009