By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

MENTONE — Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. employees are to get some extra help with child care.

At its regular meeting on Monday, Dec. 14, at Mentone Elementary School, the Tippecanoe Valley School Board accepted a $200,000 grant to establish a child care center for children of Valley employees.

The funds were part of the more than $4.3 million the Kosciusko County Community Foundation recently received from Lilly Endowment Inc. They were part of Lilly’s Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT VII) initiative.

Valley jointly applied for the larger grant along with the foundation and Cardinal Services and Kosciusko County LaunchPad. The $200,000 Valley got will pay for minor renovations and equipment for the center and the first-year salaries for a main teacher and instructional assistants for it.

“It will be a great way to attract new employees,” said Valley Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Tania Grimes when presenting on the grant.

The plan, for now, is to have the center at Mentone Elementary in some extra space the corporation has there.

“It’s exciting for Tippecanoe Valley and for the employees to be able to have a resource like that for their families,” said Valley Superintendent Blaine Conley. “We’re looking forward to the planning stages of this grant and getting it implemented.”

Administrative salaries

The board also approved administrative salaries for the upcoming year. They are: Tippecanoe Valley High School Principal Brandon Kresca, $88,150; TVHS Assistant Principal Joel Grindle, $71,750; Tippecanoe Valley Middle School Principal Scott Backus, $85,457; TVMS Assistant Principal Phelix Omondi, $69,700; Mentone Principal Randy Dahms, $85,260; Akron Elementary School Principal Chrissy Mills, $78,310; Grimes, $83,333; Valley Director of Special Services Meagan Wilks, $77,900; and Athletic Director Aaron Butcher, $67,500.

In other business, the board also:

• Approved the hiring of TVSC maintenance specialist Don Ritter and TVMS special needs health aide Breeana Baldini and Vernell Wilson as TVMS seventh grade girls basketball coach.
• Accepted the resignations of TVHS custodian Jacob Manns, TVMS cook Tonya Cook, Akron instructional assistant Mandy Gearhart and Mentone instructional assistant Jen Souza and fifth-grade girls basketball coach Brooke Kresca.
• Approved calendars for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years. Those are on the corporation website for the public to view.
• Heard that Valley’s been named a Red Wagon Corporation by the Riley Children’s Foundation for the 2019-20 school year. That’s due to the corporation giving the equivalent of $1 per student to the foundation.
• Accepted the following grants: a $650 Kosciusko Endowment Youth Services (KEYS) grant for Akron fourth grade teacher Chris Rassi to buy books for his students; a $672 KEYS grant for Mentone special education preschool teacher Jeanna Lidecker to buy wood blocks for her classroom; a $370 KEYS grant for TVHS physical education teacher Mallory Eaton to buy cameras for her classes; a $1,000 KEYS grant for Deb Johnston to buy stress relief tools for her students; a $498.62 DonorsChoose grant for Lidecker to buy an iPad and case for her to keep track of student progress; a $200 Lake Area Autism Network (LAAN) grant for Lidecker to buy sensory and calming equipment for her class; and a $200 LAAN grant for TVMS special education teacher Cathy Olson to buy items for workbox tasks for her life skills students.

The board will have a reorganizational meeting, a Board of Finance meeting and public work session at 6 p.m. Jan. 14 at TVHS. Its next regular meeting is 6 p.m. Jan. 18 at a site to be determined.