By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Ballard and Howard Elementary schools were recognized at Monday night's Niles Community Schools Board of Education meeting for earning A grades on their school report card from the state.
"This is something we take great pride in and we are very proud our schools are able to achieve A's once again. It says a lot about our school system," Niles curriculum director Jim Craig said Monday.
Ballard has now received three A's, while Howard has two. Eastside Elementary fell just short of the cutoff for an A and received another B.
Niles High School also received a B.
Ring Lardner Middle School and Oak Manor Sixth Grade Center are appealing the state for A's. According to Superintendent Doug Law, Ring Lardner, who received an A last year, had a problem with its special education students being overcounted. For Oak Manor, the state still evaluates it as a K-5 building instead of a sixth-grade only building, which caused some problems in the grading system.
Both Ballard and Howard were given banners to hang in their schools, recognizing them on a job well done. Staff and students were invited to the meeting, and introduced to the board and those in attendance at the meeting.
In other business, the school approved an unpaid leave of absence for high school teacher Carrie Rinehart, as she will be off for seven weeks in February and March in order to complete her intern requirement to become a certified school counselor.
Also, Student Count Day is set to take place on Wednesday, Sept. 26. According to Law, enrollment is down more than usual in the elementary schools.
"We're pretty concerned about elementary enrollment. The high school and middle schools are up, but we've lost around 60 students on the elementary level," Law said at a meeting Friday afternoon.
Law said around 40 students moved out of the state, with 27 going just across the border to South Bend, Ind.
"We're not sure what it all means just yet, but we are going to continue to watch it very closely. Obviously a decrease in elementary students could have long term effects on the school district," he added.
In the closed meeting motion, the sale or purchase of a piece of property in the next few months was discussed, but Law could not give out any further information as to where the property was or what it was for.