HAMILTON — In preparation for a state requirement to livestream meetings, the Hamilton school board Monday approved a contract with Audio-Visual Specialties of Angola for $7,432.
A law that was approved in 2023 requires all state, county and local agencies to livestream their public meetings. They must comply by this July 1. The bill was authored by Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn.
“Because our board meetings now have to be televised starting July 1, we need to spend money for cameras and microphones and all that stuff,” Superintendent William Reichhart said Tuesday.
“They will be livestreamed, probably through You Tube is what we’re going to use.”
In other board meting updates:
• Reichhart said the board discussed the district’s day care program, which opened in January to fill a need after the closure of Kingdom Kids Day Care in Hamilton. The day care program is funded by tuition fees paid for by parents.
“One of the things, since we took on the day care program, that we don’t have in the room currently is a bathroom for the kids to use. They use our larger bathrooms that other students use. And so, for convenience and we potty train, it would be better to have a bathroom inside the rooms,” said Reichhart.
“We also are looking to expand the day care. Currently, we have 23 children in the day care. We are hoping to expand the program in the fall, in August, to 45 students. We’re going to use another classroom, and so we want to also put a bathroom in that classroom. The cost of construction for doing this is $145,000, and another $15,000 for architectural fees,” he said.
Reichhart explained the district has reached out to community foundations and agencies in DeKalb and Steuben counties and also will be looking for benefactors to help fund the bathroom project.
“We don’t want to use school funds. We promised that school funds would only be used for our pre-k to 12 populations, so if we can’t raise the $145,000, then we will have to put off the construction of the bathrooms in the rooms,” Reichhart added.
Reichhart said the district believes it does have a source of funding for the architectural fees.
“We know that there’s a demand in our community and we know that when we started it in January that we were going to have to limit it to just the kids that were currently in Kingdom Kids,” he said. “We’ve picked up a couple since then but we just don’t have room right now for more.
“But with the expansion of a second room, it’s going to open up doors for others, so we know that there will be a waiting list eventually,” Reichhart said of the day care program.
• The board approved the purchase of a used, re-conditioned scissor lift from Materials Handling Equipment for $6,500.
• The board approved supplemental pay of $1,500 for Carol Leitzel to run an after-school high ability program from March through May. The money comes from state grants.
• Reichhart said town hall meetings to answer questions about the board’s proposal to extend the current operating referendum will be will take place Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday, May 3 at 10 a.m. at the Hamilton Town Hall. Voters will decide on whether to extend the referendum during a special election on May 6.
• In personnel matters, the board the appointments of assistant varsity volleyball coach Alea Brandt; assistant spring athletic director and simmer volleyball coach Amanda Gondell; junior high track coaches Trish Harrison and David Nash; and summer basketball coach Kris Tadsen.
The board accepted the resignation of assistant spring athletic director Lucus Jordan.
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