(PHOTO BY JESSE DAVIS / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
NEW SMS ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL … The Swanton Local School District Board of Education welcomed new Swanton Middle School Assistant Principal Dakota Ulrich during its meeting Wednesday evening.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
A school breakfast program and the meal programs more generally were the subject of an extended conversation during Wednesday evening’s meeting of the Swanton Local School District Board of Education.
According to Director of Food and Nutrition Dustin Klopping, the new hot breakfast menu at Swanton Elementary School – which includes items like eggs and sausage – has been a huge success, boosting usage of the program from roughly 160 students to about 270.
The idea of making the breakfast program a universal, free program has been floated, but Superintendent Chris Lake said it would put the program just under $30,000 underwater by the end of the year.
Klopping said the change could be funded by increasing the cost of lunch to all students by 30 cents in order to break even.
Currently, lunch costs $3.10 per student at the elementary school and $3.60 at the middle and high schools. The most recent increases took place in May 2023, when the elementary was raised from $2.65 and the middle school from $3.10.
Another option, discussed at the meeting and recently suggested to Lake by Klopping, was offering breakfast at all three schools, but eliminating the option for it to be free.
Everyone seemed to support maintaining breakfast as an option, particularly on Mondays. It is the program’s busiest day of the week, attributed meeting attendees to some students not having enough access to food while home during the weekends.
The discussion took place in relation to the district’s ongoing food service contract with The Nutrition Group, which the board voted to extend by a year.
The contract can be extended one year at a time through the 2028-2029 school year before a new request for proposals must be issued.
OTHER BUSINESS
During his strategic update, Superintendent Chris Lake reported construction of the baseball/softball complex has begun, with the grass and root base removed and the land now being readied for installation of drainage and irrigation. Lake said the fields will be ready to use by next spring.
The board approved its annual agreement with the Wood County Juvenile Detention Center to provide instruction to any students housed there at a cost of $88 per day at the detention center and $96 per day at the Juvenile Residential Center of Northwest Ohio.
The board approved a slate of personnel changes, including the resignation of Swanton Middle School Assistant Principal Bailey Langenderfer and the hiring of her replacement, Dakota Ulrich.
The board approved a series of alterations to the district’s temporary appropriations for fiscal year 2026.
The board approved a $36,000 transfer from the general fund to the food service line to wrap up the fiscal year. Once the May reimbursement for food service comes in (possibly this week), those funds will be transferred back to the general fund.
The board also approved a $109,125.30 transfer from the general fund to the debt service fund to cover a pair of payments for the certificate of participation for building renovations from 2017.
The board named absent member Ben Remer as its representative and member Kris Oberheim as the alternate for the Ohio School Boards Association Capital Conference Business Meeting this November.
The board approved a one-year extension of the food service management contract with The Nutrition Group.
The board approved payments in lieu of transportation for four students across two families.
The board accepted combined donations of $85 for boys basketball, $5,320 for the baseball/softball complex, $120 for track, $70 for yearbook, $576.81 from Kroger rewards, $50 for field trip transportation reimbursement, $233.75 for prom, and $5,000 for weight room equipment.
The board ended regular business by going into executive session for “consideration of the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of a public employee or official.” No action was anticipated as a result of the executive session.
The next regular meeting of the Swanton Local School District Board of Education is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on WednesdaY, August 13, 2025 at 108 N. Main Street.