State to move to new poverty index for schools to try to avoid fraud
By Olivia Covington
TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS – Lawmakers concerned about fraud in the federal free- and reduced-lunch program have changed the way the state will measure poverty in the formula used to distribute state funding to schools.
For years, the state has used the lunch program enrollment numbers as the basis for sending extra money to districts. This year, roughly 17.6 percent of the $6.5 billion in state school funding will be distributed based on that data.
But concern that the federal government makes it too hard to verify eligibility for the program has led state budget writers to make a change. Starting in 2015, the formula will essentially measure poverty based on the number of students who qualify for free textbooks, a state-run program that will require more verification of parental income.
“It’s the same as the lunch program,†said Rep. Ed Clere, R-New Albany, who is the vice chairman of the Health Finance Commission, which recently learned more details about problems with the school lunch program.
“In terms of income parameters, it’s identical because the free and reduced lunch program is available to families whose household income is at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level,†he said.
For a family of four, that level is $43,568.
Earlier this month, an official from the state Department of Education told the finance commission that audits by schools have found that one-third of students signed up for free- or reduced-priced lunches do not actually qualify for the federal program or their families failed to verify their eligibility.
Lawmakers have said part of the problem is that federal law prohibits school districts from asking families who want to enroll their children in the program to provide proof of their income.
Additionally, federal law mandates that schools can only audit up to 3 percent of families who have children in the program. Clere said families have to earn annual incomes close to the maximum threshold to be audited.
In some cases, Clere said, schools can audit fewer than the 3 percent.
Currently, about 49 percent of Indiana public school students participate in the free- and reduced-price lunch program, according to the Department of Education’s website.  That percentage has been climbing. In 2006, that percentage was just 36 percent.
Julie Sutton, the department’s director of school and community nutrition, told the Indiana Health Financial Commission that the number has been increasing in part since lawmakers started giving funding preference to schools with higher numbers of free- and reduced-lunch students.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, said that raised questions about using the program as an appropriate measure for poverty, especially because it is so tough for schools to verify family incomes. That’s what led to using the free textbook program.
“We needed something that was a fair comparison to the lunch program, but something that we control that has more reporting requirements,†said Kenley, who is the chief budget writer in the Senate. “We knew we needed something of enough value (that) parents would be willing to cooperate in reporting their income and so all the onus wasn’t on the school.â€
Clere said the change to the textbook program shouldn’t impact schools with students who are genuinely needy.
“Students who were counted under the lunch program method for computing the complexity index should still be counted under the textbook assistance program because the income maximums for both programs are identical,†Clere said. “So there should be no negative effect on school corporations as long as families were, in fact, eligible to participate in the lunch program.â€
Lawmakers also voted to require families to provide more information when they are applying for free textbooks, a move designed to make it easier for schools to verify that they qualify for the program.
Audits show that in the school lunch program, 11 percent of applicants either were never eligible or increased income made them ineligible to participate in the program. Another 22 percent of families failed to respond to requests to verify income information.
“There’s very little verification of who is eligible (for free and reduced lunches), and in recent years the number of kids on free and reduced lunch have been going up dramatically,†Kenley said.
Clere said he supported changing the poverty factor because he believes Hoosier taxpayer money should be used fairly.
“At minimum we’re talking about hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars at stake,†Clere said. “We owe it to Hoosier taxpayers…to use the most accurate system possible, and many of us believe that transitioning to the textbook method would be a much more reliable system.â€
Dennis Costerison, executive director of the Indiana Association of School Business Officials, said he thinks it’s important Hoosiers know that parents, not school corporations, are the ones committing fraud. But he said it’s understandable that lawmakers would want to ensure the state is using accurate data to distribute money.
Kenley said he is unsure of how schools will handle families who currently take advantage of the school lunch program but are found to be ineligible through the textbook assistance program. And although the free- and reduced-price lunch program is run by the federal government, some lawmakers are calling for action against families that purposely misrepresent their income.
“I was very disappointed to hear that they don’t turn it over to the local prosecutor. They just take them off the program, and I think that’s unfortunate,†said Rep. Eric Turner, R-Cicero. “This is definitely something to look at next session.â€
Reporter Ellie Price contributed to this story. Olivia Covington is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
Strengthening Community Partnerships
Already an important partner to public and private universities, hospitals, libraries, schools, businesses, industries, government, and social-service agencies, USI now plans to expand its impact by engaging the community in new ways. USI will continue to build on its award-winning engagement program through education, arts, and business outreach designed to improve quality of life for all citizens in our region and state.
Endowing Operations for an Applied Engineering Center — $1 million
One of USI’s most innovative new programs—Applied Engineering—provides students the opportunity to work with cutting-edge manufacturing equipment in a teaching and learning factory. The University plans to equip and operate a 16,000-square-foot factory on campus so that students can work safely with regional industries using the Applied Engineering Center for research and technical projects. This center will help students become manufacturing leaders. (Strategic Plan Goals #1, #4)
Sustaining Historic New Harmony’s Living Classroom — $4 million
Since 1985, USI has managed educational and tourism programs in Historic New Harmony, seeking to preserve the utopian legacy of New Harmony through programs, retreats, and tours. Included in Historic New Harmony’s strategic plan are proposals for increasing the artifact acquisition and conservation fund, gifts to the D.W. Vaughn Endowment Fund to preserve historically significant New Harmony properties, grants for the Atheneum film and exhibits, toursite upgrades and high-tech tours, collection-management needs, and underwriting for symposia, institutes, and retreats. The vision for New Harmony is to become the global center for the concept of community, which meshes perfectly with the University’s prominent role in community engagement. Finally, support for New Harmony will include means to train USI students in preservation, conservation, and museum management. (Strategic Plan Goals #1, #4)
Developing a Center to Welcome Campus Visitors — $2 million
Each year more than 200,000 people use the campus for activities other than academic classes. Visitors, including prospective students and their parents, deserve a warm welcome and clear directions. Therefore, USI seeks to build a 6,000-square-foot highly visible (photos) and easily accessible facility adjacent to the Orr Center. This visitor center will serve as the central point for convening all campus tours. (Strategic Plan Goals #3, #6)
Building a Conference Center — $5 million
Anyone who visits campus recognizes the need for additional space with convenient parking to accommodate events such as hosting alumni groups, visits with University friends, and trustee and foundation meetings. This free-standing structure, built with future expansion in mind, also will be available for use by community groups. (photos) Designed to host about 200 persons at tables, the main meeting room will be planned so that it may be divided into three smaller rooms. Large floor-to-ceiling windows will accentuate the surrounding natural cliffs and wooded beauty of campus. It will include a kitchen, a private dining room, and a conference room. Plans are that the historic Bokelman School, which was moved to campus in 1993 to make way for the Lloyd Expressway overpass, will be used as the main entryway. A large exterior canopy at another entrance will protect guests during inclement weather. (Strategic Plan Goals #3, #4, #6)
Profile Of Democratic Candidate For Sheriff – David Wedding
Chief Deputy Dave Wedding is a thirty-two year veteran member of the Sheriff’s Office. Having been hired in 1981 as a civilian jailer and then in 1983 as a merit deputy sheriff; he has worked his way through the ranks to his current rank of Chief Deputy. He has worked in, supervised or commanded every area of the Sheriff’s Office.
Â
Chief Wedding is a lifelong resident of Vanderburgh County, graduating from Reitz Memorial High school in 1977, and is currently a member of St John Catholic Church in Daylight. He is the father of two grown daughters; Lindsey and Hailey who are both graduates of the University of Southern Indiana.
Â
Chief Wedding has received a great number of recognitions for exemplary work and has graduated from many law enforcement training and professional development programs, including; the Indiana Law enforcement Academy, The Federal Bureau Of Investigations National academy, Leadership Evansville, and received the Executive Director’s Award from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute in 2006 for his leadership in promoting traffic safety in our community.
Â
Chief Wedding is a board member of 911 Gives Hope and the Santa Clothes Club. He is an active supporter of Youth Resources, Albion Fellows Bacon Center and St Vincent’s Center for Family and Children, along with many other local organizations.
IS IT TRUE We Have Alignment And Downed HeadStones Problems At City Owned Cemeteries
IS IT  TRUE that political activist Jordan Baer’s public crusade to correct the obvious problems at both city owned  cemeteries should be no surprise to anyone?  …that Mr. Baer made a formal presentation to Evansville City Council during last years budget hearing.  …that his presentation was so effective that City Council voted to put $35,000 in the cemeteries 2013 to budget to reset down and mis-aliened head stone throughout both cemeteries.  …the majority of the downed and mis-aligned head stones that need to be uprighted and straighten up by Mr. Cooke and his staff  has been caused by vandals and mowing equipment.? …the down and mis-aliened  grave headstone problems has been going for many years and Mr. Cook is not the sole  cause of this huge problem that exist at our city owned  cemeteries?  …we are surprised to learn that some of our local media outlets  feel that there isn’t any problems at Oak Hill and Locust Hill cemeteries?  …we encourage everyone of our readers to click on the blogspot link posted below called “agraveinjustice”?  …we like to personally thank political activist Jordan Baer for his outstanding work on documenting the major alignment and downed head stone problems at  our city owned  graveyards?
click here to link: Â Â Â http://agraveinjustice.blogspot.com/
I-69 Ignite
|
Greetings!
Are you (or do you long to be) an entrepreneur, innovator or business founder?
Are you interested in connecting with innovators from across SW Indiana?
Are you interested in mentoring or supporting those who are founding new regional business ventures?
If so, then join the I69 Ignite Network;
a product of the I69 Innovation Corridor Initiative.
 Â We have started a Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/I69Evv2Crane) to help connect innovators, entrepreneurs, founders, and mentors from across the region.
We are starting lean, using Facebook and Twitter to list and notify people about events and spaces across the region that can support entrepreneurial efforts.
We hope to expand the communication as networks are established and expanded, but WE NEED YOUR HELP!
We have also setup a Twitter account (@I69Ignite) so you can easily tweet about happenings and resources, or re-tweet events that are posted.
Help us make the I69 Ignite Facebook and Twitter pages become the go-to place for regional innovation and entrepreneurship;
so everyone can know what’s going on, that there is help available, and that there are kindred souls “looking to ignite”.
|
School resource officers have chance to solve many problems
By Lesley Weidenbener
TheStatehouseFile.com
Lesley Weidenbener, managing editor, TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS – There are few things more traumatic or tragic than a school shooting, particularly when the killer is from the students’ own ranks. And the United States has far too many of them.
Such events lead to calls for more school security and bans on guns and sometimes result in decisions that do littler more than just make us feel better.
But I think in Indiana, state officials have developed a program that should make students actually safer – and have other benefits as well. It doesn’t ban guns and it doesn’t arm teachers, which are two of the solutions the far left and far right are often seeking.
Instead, Indiana is putting its emphasis on funding school resource officers, which are typically retired or former police officers who do far more than just act as security guards.
This week, the state distributed $9 million in grants to schools all across the state, many of which will be used to fund these officers.
Part of a school resource officer’s job, of course, is to coordinate traditional security. Having a formally trained cop in a building – who in most cases will be carrying a weapon – is a potential deterrent or even a foil for plots to attack students.
But the school resource officer is also an ear on the ground. A big part of the officer’s job is to get to know students, learn about their problems and listen for issues that could develop into violence. The SROs – as they’re typically called – are law enforcement officers first but also act as a counselor, adviser and educator.
The officers develop links with the community and seek resources to help students who need it.
Donald Schoeff, a resource officer at Carmel Elementary School, told TheStatehouseFile.com earlier this year that he even checks police reports to see if any of the incidents involved students or their families. If so, he’ll check on the student.
“I may sit and chat with someone and discuss what they’ve been through and what decisions they made,†Schoeff said last spring.
It’s an approach that allows officers to detect potential problems before they manifest in something as dramatic as school shooting or other type of violence.
But it’s not a new approach. Some schools in Indiana have had resource officers in place for years. Others either haven’t found the money to hire them or haven’t made it a priority.
State lawmakers – acting on a recommendation from Attorney General Greg Zoeller – have made that easier. The General Assembly created the new grant program that  allows schools with 1,000 or fewer students to apply for a matching grant of up to $30,000; schools with more students can apply for a grant of up to $50,000.
Schools can use the money to hire a resource officer or to pay for other security measures. And in the latest round of grants announced last week, many schools opted to use the money for the officers.
“Their presence in schools will serve to increase respect for law by students and also deter problems of bullying, weapons and drug abuse that must be addressed in schools every day,†Zoeller said last spring.
That would be fantastic. The problems that threaten Hoosier students’ safety may be least likely to come from a shooting or other high-profile violent act. Drug abuse, bullying and mental health issues are far more insidious problems and ones that a school resource officer – rather than an armed security guard – could likely to do something about.
Lesley Weidenbener is editor of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
Dynasty
Thirty-four years. Twenty GLVC Championships.
One sport. One Team. One word. Dynasty.
Since the inception of the Great Lakes Valley Conference in 1978, the University of Southern Indiana’s men’s cross country team has won more conference championships than any other team in any other sport in league history.
This Saturday at Forest Park in St. Louis, Mo., the Screaming Eagles will compete for the 35th time in a GLVC Championship and will look for their 21st conference title, including their ninth straight. Should that feat occur, it would be the first time in league history that any team in any sport has won nine consecutive conference crowns.
For USI head coach Mike Hillyard, who has 10 GLVC Men’s Coach of the Year honors since 1998, those numbers are solely meant for records books. In fact, the only numbers he will ever talk about around his student-athletes are one and four.
“You can only win one year at a time, and these kids only have four opportunities in their career to be a part of it,” said Hillyard. “We don’t really ever talk about the streak or the number of titles at practice.  We simply take each day as it comes, and try to do our best to make the most of every opportunity to improve.”
Let’s be honest though. Rarely will coaches ever admit to focusing on streaks. If they begin to focus on something other than the next race, they know their student-athletes will too.
To some degree, that long line of conference championships does reside in a very small file in the back of Hillyard’s mind. But is has nothing to do with the idea of hoisting another trophy. It’s a responsibility to both his current team and all the decorated USI runners that have contributed to the success of the program.
As well as a former coach.
Hillyard, who took over the tradition-rich men’s program left by legendary USI and GLVC Hall of Fame Coach Bill Stegemoller, competed under the direction of his mentor in 1991, when he placed 34th at the 1991 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. He later earned a fifth-place result in the steeplechase at the 1992 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Any architect would tell you that no matter how high your project soars, it will crumble in an instant without a solid foundation.
“Steggy,” as he was affectionately referred to by his peers and runners, laid such a foundation when he started the USI program in 1979. During his tenure, which extended through the 1998 season, Stegemoller collected 12 GLVC championships including nine straight from 1979-1987. He coached six individual cross country champions and was voted GLVC Coach of the Year a record 12 times. His teams finished in the top three in the team standings at the GLVC Championships in each of his 20 years.
In March of 2007, Stegemoller passed away after a brief three-month battle with cancer. His death came just two months before he was inducted into the GLVC Hall of Fame.
So with all due respect to the current streak, it is that foundation on which and by whom this program was formed, that always keeps Hillyard focused moving forward.
“Like a lot of coaches, I have a fear of failure that keeps me pushing forward,” he said. “I don’t want to let the kids down. Certainly following in Bill’s footsteps, the bar was set pretty high from the outset. I do feel a sense of responsibility to maintain that.”
So far, so good.
The 20 GLVC Championships make up nearly 40 percent of USI’s conference-high 54 men’s league titles in all sports. Since 1996, seven Eagles have been named GLVC Athlete of the Year including the past two seasons in Michael Jordan (2012) and Brendan Devine (2011). The league’s top honor also goes to the individual champion, which included Paul Jellema in 2007, Joey Byrne in 2001 and 2002, and Elly Rono in 1996 and 1997. Rono went on to win the 1997 NCAA Division II Championship. Four other individual titles have been earned by USI, tying Lewis’ 11 first-place crowns for the most in conference history. Those four titles were earned by one man – James Nolan, who is the only runner in the past 34 years to win the conference meet all four seasons (1980-81-82-83).
Of note, the first non-USI runner to finish behind Nolan in the 1980 and 1981 meets was Jim Vargo, who has been Bellarmine University’s Director of Cross Country and Track and Field since the programs’ inception in 2000.
Looking back at the long list of names that have contributed to USI’s impressive men’s cross country list, Hillyard starts with Nolan, but takes pride in the fact that no two runners have come from similar backgrounds.
“We have been quite fortunate to have had several great runners come through our program,” Hillyard said. “Jim Nolan, the only four-time GLVC individual champion, was someone that I looked up to as a young athlete. Trent Nolan, his son, is now one our top runners. Elly Rono, Ben Kapsoiya, Joey Byrne, Paul Jellema, Dustin Emerick, Brendan Devine and Michael Jordan were all unique individuals with very different backgrounds and upbringings.  The one thing that they all have in common, however, is that each and every one of them went through a great deal of adversity along the way. I think that’s what separates champions from everyone else. Champions just keep getting back up.”
Prior to Hillyard’s first season as head coach of the men’s program, he had spent one year mentoring the Eagles’ women’s team. It did not take long for him to set their course to greatness.
Following a second-place finish at the GLVC Championships in his first year, Hillyard’s squad earned the 1998 and 1999 titles over the University of Wisconsin-Parkside – a team that would go on to beat out USI for the next three conference crowns.
Heading into this week, Southern Indiana owns seven women’s GLVC Championships, just one shy of UW-Parkside’s active-leading total of eight. Former GLVC member Ashland owns the conference record with nine women’s titles.
Of those seven titles in USI’s possession, four have come in the last five years as the Eagles earned the 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012 GLVC Championships.
Prior to the recent women’s dynasty, however, Hillyard is quick to point out the efforts of Heather Cooksey, who was a two-time GLVC Athlete of the Year in 2004 and 2005.
“Hands down, Heather Cooksey was the toughest and most talented athlete to have ever competed here at USI,” he said. “She and Jenny Farmer were two of the first great female distance runners here. Allie Shafer-Krieger, Mary Ballinger, Jackie Henderson, and now Erika Wilson have since followed in their footsteps.”
Shafer was the league’s Athlete of the Year in 2006, while Ballinger and Henderson earned the conference’s top honor in 2009 and 2011, respectively. Wilson is among the favorites to contend for the 2013 crown on Saturday as the reigning GLVC Runner of the Week currently holds the top 6,000-meter time in the conference this year (21:48.0)
“Most of (these ladies) had never even earned All-State honors in high school, and not one of them did during their senior year,” Hillyard recalled.
So what has been the secret to the success of the women’s program?
“The dynamics of coaching a successful women’s program is very different,” said Hillyard, a seven-time GLVC Women’s Coach of the Year. “Their desire to compete and succeed is no different, however. The men tend to come in with an overinflated idea of what they can become but have no game plan to get there. The women, more often than not, are realistic to a fault. The greatest joy of coaching is to see them achieve things that they never imagined being possible… and then dreaming of reaching new plateaus.”
Those plateaus, however, cannot be reached without a solid foundation.
Thirty-five years and a combined 27 GLVC Championships later, the University of Southern Indiana’s cross country programs have never been on better footing.
One word. Dynasty.
A dynasty that has gone the distance throughout the history of the GLVC.
Cross Country Travels To MVC Championships
Josh Genet led the UE men while Kelby Jenkins paced the women
Kelby Jenkins and the Aces are looking for success at the MVC Championships
With the momentum gained from the Evansville Invitational two weeks ago, the Purple Aces have their sights set on a bigger prize – the Missouri Valley Conference Championship – this weekend.
Blank Park Golf Course on the south side of Des Moines will play host to the races on Saturday morning. The men take to the course at 10:30 a.m. for their 8K event before the women run their 5K race at 11:30 a.m. It will be a frigid morning as the low in the area on Saturday morning will be 35 with partly cloudy skies.
Kelby Jenkins is amongst the favorites on the women’s side. She is coming off of the best race of her senior career at the Evansville Invitational where she set the program 5K record. Jenkins ran a time of 17:27.27, topping Andrea Sonnenschein’s mark that was set in 2007. Her old record was a 17:30. Jenkins was in front for the majority of the race, winning by a margin of 11 seconds over Lindsey Hinken of Western Kentucky.
In last year’s championship, Jenkins had a solid run, taking fourth place while setting a PR at the time with a 17:38.
Coming home in seventh place two weeks ago was Laurel Wolfe, who ran the first sub-19 minute 5K event of her collegiate career as she ran a time of 18:45.23. Just behind her was junior Nicole Kreuzman, who ran a PR of her own, conquering the course in a time of 19:13.64 to take 13th.
Josh Genet paced the men’s team last season, taking 12th place while running the top 8K time of his career. He finished the race in 24:58 for his best time at UE, a mark that is still the best of his career. In the home race two weeks ago, Genet took second place with a time of 25:39.09. He finished behind winner David Mokone of WKU, who paced the 70 runners with a time of 25:20.86. Genet has been the top male runner for UE in every event this season while recording a top 12 finish in five out of six outings thus far.
Freshman Ross Frondorf set a PR at the Evansville Invitational, finishing in 14th with a time of 26:48.55, topping his previous best by ten seconds. He was followed by Jon Ashby,Ben Woolems and Kyle Wilson. Wilson set a PR with a 27:56.62.
For full information on the event, please visit the MVC Championships site at http://www.mvc-sports.com/cc/news/2013-14/6875/2013-cross-country-championship/.
Aces Swimming & Diving falls to Missouri State Bears
The University of Evansville Purple Aces swimming & diving teams lost a tough fought battle against Missouri State in a dual meet Friday night, with the Aces women’s squad losing 142-95 and the Aces men’s squad losing 131-103.
The Lady Aces top performer of the night was Danielle Freeman who won the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.11. Freeman was a part of the women’s 200-yard medley relay team along with Michaela Kent, Mackenzie Powell and Melissa Ball, which placed second with a time of 1:48.94. She was also part of the women’s 400-yard medley relay team with
Abby Smith, Michaela Kent and Michelle Tipton, which placed first in the heat with a time of 3:35.69.
For the Lady Bears the top performer of the night was Renata Sander who placed first in all three of her events. She had times of 1:48.12 in the 200-yard medley relay, 2:09.85 in the 200 yard IM and 1:05.10 in the 100-yard breaststroke.
For the Aces men’s squad, Reid Mobley had a terrific night. He finished third in the 200 yard IM with a time of 2:01.94, second in the 100 yard back with a time of 55.19 and was part of the 200 yard medley relay team along with Conor Sprick, Carder LaBrake and Tom Steele which finished fourth with a time of 1:42.65. Junior Ashton Bishop continued his great season by placing second in the 50 yard free with a time of 21.77.
The Bears men’s squad had top performer Vitalii Baryshok who took first in the 200 yard free and was a part of the 200-yard medley relay team that finished first.
Continuing the Aces strong performance was the diving squad. Stephanie Tran finished first in the women’s 1 & 3 meter diving contests, while Alex Hart had a second and third place finish as well. On the men’s side Mallet Reid finished second in the men’s 3-meter contest.
The Aces men’s squad will swim tomorrow versus Ball State at Wyttenbach Pool at 2 p.m., while the women’s squad doesn’t compete again until Nov. 8 against Illinois State.