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Tuesday, April 15, 2014 OBITUARIES Jovita Butt, 84 Fr. Cletus J. Healy, 96 Doris L. Orr, 98 INSIDE TODAY
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School board passes budget despite objections from NCEA, several teachers By Ty Rushing Daily News Senior Staff Writer The Newton Community School District’s Board of Education passed its 2014-15 fiscal year budget on Monday night, but not without resistance from some of the district’s teachers and members of the Newton Community Education Association.
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Elks Lodge donates to Berg Page 2A
Newton, Iowa
Budgets were due to the State of Iowa today. “I would like to bring up some concerns that my members brought to me about the budget and the budget cuts,” NCEA President Barb Hackworth said. One topic of concern for her members was the carryover supply budget, which would be eliminated from next year’s bud-
get. The reason her members were concerned was due to the district freezing all supplies spending during this current fiscal year. A number of teachers, who hadn’t already used their allotted $250 for supply costs, felt “penalized” for not spending their money she said. BUDGET See Page 5A
Ty Rushing/Daily News Barb Hackworth, Thomas Jefferson teacher and president of the Newton Community Education Association, was one of many teachers who spoke out against some of the proposed budget cuts for the 2014-15 fiscal year.
Blood Moon Rising
By Bob Eschliman Daily News Editor
Agriculture Solar energy at local farm Page 8A
Sports
Rugby team 1-1 at Southeast Warren
Bob Eschliman/Daily News Clear skies over Jasper County provided an opportunity to view a total lunar eclipse, which resulted in a “blood moon,” which is caused when refracted sunlight seeps around Earth, striking the lunar surface, and is reflected back. The eclipse reached totality at approximately 2:30 a.m. this morning (left photo). The moon began emerging from Earth’s shadow about an hour later (right photo). The next total lunar eclipse will occur in October; it is part of a “tetrad” of eclipses that will be visible over North America during the next 18 months. The last tetrad occurred in 1967.
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School calendar set for 2014-15
Weather
By Ty Rushing Daily News Senior Staff Writer
Wednesday
High 63 Low 33
Thursday
High 47 Low 35 Weather Almanac
Mon., April 14 High 38 Low 29 .14 inch of rain Also: Astrograph Page 5B Classifieds Page 4B Comics & Puzzles Page 6A
Opinion Page 4A
By Zach Johnson Daily News Staff Writer
Obituaries Page 3A Police Page 3A Our 112th Year No. 231
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Whether you loved them, or hated them, early out Wednesdays are now a thing of the past in the Newton Community School District. At Monday’s meeting, the board of education approved the 2014-15 school calendar, which effectively ended the practice that has often been a matter of contention among board members, teachers and parents. Board member Donna Cook was the only member opposed to the new calendar and said a majority of feedback she heard supported early outs. “I just don’t see any benefit from it,” Board member Nat Clark said, who once compared school buildings on early-out Wednesday to ghost towns. Ideally, teachers in the district would use early-out Wednesdays for professional development and building collaboration time. However, various district officials said this gave them mixed results. The higher education institutions like Newton Senior High School and Berg Middle School found success with the model, but a majority of the teachers in the district’s four elementary buildings felt the time was too limited. “The biggest thing that came out was that they felt a half day was of little value from an elementary school level,”
Board and School Improvement Advisory Committee member Robyn Friedman said. “The kids are not tuned in. A half day is a day of vacation and it is hard for that to be instructional at all. Instead of a half day of professional development, it’s better to have all in one.” Next year’s calendar, which will be based around the 1,080-hour instructional method, will feature six full days of professional development and collaboration time during the school year for teachers. “There is no 100-percent perfect way to address this,” Callaghan said of designing the calendar. Another big change is that a standard school day will now be 390 minutes long, versus the previous 378 minutes. According to the district, teachers said they felt the additional time will aide in the student development process. The school year will begin on Tuesday, Aug. 19, have 86 instructional days and end on Tuesday, Dec. 23. Classes end on Thursday, May 28, 2015, barring making up days, and the second semester would consist of 91 instructional days. Potential make-up days for inclement weather are Feb. 16, 2015, and April 6, 2015. BOARD See Page 5A
A former Park Centre employee charged with first-degree theft has pleaded guilty to the felony charge, and a rural Sully man accused of attacking his wife has received a new trial date in Jasper County District Court. Scott Hirsch, 38, of Montezuma filed a motion to set a hearing date for April 7 to enter a plea of guilt to the first-degree burglary charge, which is a Class C felony. As of Monday, however, it was confirmed that the plea was entered, but no paperwork regarding that plea taking hearing has been filed with the Jasper County Clerk of Court’s Office. Hirsch’s arrest on the theft charge followed an investigation by the Newton Police Department into $11,847 taken from Park Centre. Hirsch is alleged to have taken 16 checks totaling that amount, depositing them into his personal checking account. COURTS See Page 5A
BBBS of Central Iowa hosting Bowl for Kids’ Sake April 27-28 By Zach Johnson Daily News Staff Writer Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Iowa will host its annual Bowl For Kids’ Sake of Jasper County from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 27, and from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, April 28, at Cardinal Lanes in Newton. The fundraising event aims to support the creation and sustainability of one-to-one mentoring relationships in Jasper County. Participants must raise $50 to participate, earning themselves a T-shirt, shoe rental, two games of bowling and a chance to win prizes. BOWL See Page 7A
Six Newton Main Street members complete training
Dear Abby Page 6A
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Hirsch pleads guilty to theft from Park Centre
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Representatives of the Newton Main Street program attended Main Street University on April 9 and 10 in Greenfield. Main Street Iowa State Coordinator Michael Wagler awarded certificates of completion for the intensive training to Danielle Rogers, Darrin Hamilton, Rita Reinheimer,
Darrell Sarmento, Pat Wallace and Tracy Taylor. Attendance at the two-day training on the Main Street Four Point Approach to commercial district revitalization is a mandatory requirement for new Main Street communities. The purpose of this basic training is to provide MAIN STREET See Page 7A
Zach Johnson/Daily News Iowa Main Street Board Members present Danielle Rogers, Darrin Hamilton, Rita Reinheimer, Darrell Sarmento, Pat Wallace and Tracy Taylor with certificates of completion for their training at Main Street University held April 9-10 in Greenfield.