(Posted April 11, 2019)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
A large number of educators have expressed interest in the Jonathan Alder Junior High principal position.
At the April 8 school board meeting, Superintendent Gary Chapman reported that more than 60 candidates submitted applications for the job. School administrators interviewed eight of the candidates the first week of April and plan to hold second interviews with three of the candidates April 15.
Chapman said a committee composed of teachers, other staff members and community members will participate in the later rounds of interviews.
The person selected for the position will replace Clint Hayes, who the board recently approved as high school principal starting next school year. Altogether, the district will have new principals at three of its buildings this fall. The third is Taryn Fuller, who replaces Kelly Hicks as principal at Plain City Elementary.
Misty Swanger, assistant superintendent and director of curriculum, announced that Jonathan Alder will participate in a combined summer school program hosted at Tolles Career and Technical Center in Plain City. She said the London, Madison-Plains and Jefferson local school districts plan to participate, too. The program will offer remediation classes for credit recovery in math and English, plus science if enough students sign up. Students also will be able to take a physical education class in order to get the credit taken care of before starting high school.
“This allows us to offer more remediation and credit recovery than if we did it ourselves,” Swanger said.
The board commended several students for their academic and athletic achievements. Among them was eighth-grader Jackson McCoy, who earned the Wittenberg Power of the Pen award, a $26,000 college scholarship, renewable for four years.
“Jackson is a fine young man and a really talented writer,” said Hayes, who noted that Jonathan Alder Junior High’s Power of the Pen team practices after school multiple times per week.
The eighth-grade Power of the Pen team placed second overall in regional competition. The seventh- and eighth-grade teams placed second out of 25 schools in the Sweepstakes Award, which is based on combined rank and quality points from district and regional competition.
In addition to the scholarship, McCoy placed first at regionals, qualified for state competition, received the Director’s Choice award, and had his story, “The Cheater,” chosen by the executive director of Power of the Pen.
Eighth-graders Olivia Cramer and Cayden Wilson and seventh-graders Bailey Bliss and Tara Coffee also qualified for the state Power of the Pen competition.
In other action, the board approved a contract with FutureThink, a company based in Dublin, to perform an enrollment projection study for $4,750.
The board also held a first reading on a Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) tax abatement agreement. Tim Dawson, owner of properties at 138 W. Main St. and 150 W. Main St. in Plain City, plans to make improvements to existing structures on those properties in the amount of $630,000 and $295,000, respectively. He is seeking a tax exemption of 100 percent for 12 years on those improvements.
Chapman said he will have more information about the CRA request at the board’s next meeting on May 13.
In the meantime, Plain City village council expects to hold a first reading on the request at their April 22 meeting.
