The Duneland School Board on Monday filled a number of staff vacancies, one of which was for the new assistant principal at Chesterton Middle School.

Anthony Bartolomeo will fill the CMS administrative post vacated after Craig Stafford was named CMS principal. Bartolomeo comes to Duneland from Munster High School, where he has been a science and health teacher and football coach. He has also taught and coached at Merrillville and Crown Point high schools. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s from Ball State University.

Bartolomeo, who was accompanied at the school board meeting by his family members, said he looks forward to making a positive change at Duneland. “I’m happy to be here.”

With more than 30 veteran teachers and administrators who retired this school year, the school board has a large number of vacancies. Duneland will realize cost savings by hiring new teachers or those with fewer years of experience and lower on the salary schedule than the most recent retirees. Other positions filled Monday included the following:

Kara Hipskind will be the Westchester and Liberty Intermediate guidance counselor. Hipskind has her bachelor’s from Indiana University-Bloomington and her master’s from IUPUI. She taught for one year in South Korea.

Janna Carney was hired as a Chesterton High School media specialist. She has been the media specialist for three years at Crown Point High School. She received her bachelor’s from Purdue University and a master’s from IU. She has also taught English at Plymouth High School.

Kathryn Evans, a teacher at Willowcreek Middle School in Portage, was appointed as a Family and Consumer Science teacher at CMS. She is a graduate of Western Michigan University.

Julie Flowers was hired as a music teacher at Liberty Intermediate who will also work with the WIS band. She has taught at Fegely Middle School in Portage. She holds a bachelor’s from Valparaiso University.

Also appointed Monday were the following: Teri Perkins, Title I aide at Liberty Elementary; Rich Gross, CMS athletic director; and Adrienne Sharpe, CMS P.E. Department.

Appointed to the following CHS coaching positions were: David Galloway, girls varsity soccer; Jennifer Ooms, girls JV soccer; Kelly Gaston, varsity assistant volleyball; and Elizabeth Levrio, freshman girls volleyball.

Three staff resignations were accepted. They were: James Moore, Liberty Elementary technology aide; Michelle Krieter, Liberty Elementary Title I aide; and Christina Miceli, CHS math.

The school board also approved an increase in the cost of student breakfasts and lunches, as well as a new policy affecting students who run out of lunch money.

The cost for breakfasts will increase 5 cents, to $1.35 for sixth grade and under and to $1.50 for grades 7 through 12. The cost for lunch will increase 10 cents, to $2.10 for sixth grade and under and to $2.30 for grades 7 through 12.

Under the new policy, students will not be able to charge their accounts if they have a negative balance. If their account runs out of money, they will be given a basic lunch consisting of a cheese sandwich and milk. After the second such lunch, the parents will be notified of the need to replenish the account. Students will be allowed three such lunches per school year.

Kay Nallenweg, Duneland’s Food Service Director, said up until now, Duneland had no uniform policy regarding lunches on credit. She said that it takes school staff a great deal of time and effort to recoup lunch money and that the goal is to avoid having students charge lunches to their accounts. With the new policy, that should be easier to enforce, she said.

The school board formally accepted a total of $24,269 in donations to the school corporation over the past school year, a slight drop from the $25,163 donated the year before.

The donations came from a variety of sources, including PTO events, business contributions to school drives, local sororities, and BP grants awarded to teachers.

The board approval was more of a formality for the after-the-fact donations. “Obviously, we can’t turn these down,” said school board president Mike Trout.

Building Trades instructor Jeff Larson gave the school board a report on new energy-efficiency standards that the building trades students are learning about and implementing in their house construction project through Duneland’s partnership with Kankakee Valley REMC.

A house the students built last year was highly energy efficient, with monthly gas and electric bills less than $142. The new house that the students are working on should be even more efficient, due to extensive sealing and advancements in electronic and electrical components.

An open house will be held once the new house is completed, possibly in early August.

Also Monday, the school board rescheduled its next meeting to July 13, which falls on a Tuesday. The board might also reschedule its August meeting. In addition, the board will have to hold special meetings required for budget review and adoption.

Posted 6/15/2010