Wauseon Local Exempted Schools will begin the 2017-18 school year Aug. 16, according to a new calendar.
The calendar was approved by the Board of Education Jan. 31 at a noon meeting. The schedule’s structure is centered around mandatory state testing, officials said.
Teachers will report Aug. 14 to start the year.
Thanksgiving break will be Nov. 23-24. Christmas break will be Dec. 21 through Jan. 3.
Teachers will have in-service days Sept. 25, Oct. 27, Jan. 12, 2018 and March 12, 2018, as part of the district’s ongoing training of its staff.
Two of the days will be for the staff and two will be just for teachers, Superintendent Larry Brown said.
Commencement for the Class of 2018 will be May 27.
Parent-teacher conferences will be Nov. 16 and 20 and March 20 and 22 for the high school and middle school. The elementary school will have its conferences Nov. 16 and 20 and March 20.
The primary school conferences will be Nov. 20 and 21 and March 19.
There was some discussion about starting the school year after Labor Day, but the discussions didn’t go far.
The schedule includes a week-long spring break, but that time could be used for make-up days lost to closing for inclement weather.
In other news:
The board approved the following donations: $400 from Northwest OASBO to the WHS A Capella Choir; $ 44.29 from an anonymous donor to the WHS National Honor Society; $250 from Harlan and Luann Goertzen to the WES Food Pantry in honor of Brent and Steph King; $100 from Christ United Methodist Church Women’s Group to the WES Food Pantry; $100 from Sauder Woodworking to the WHS FFA; $508.42 from the Wauseon Athletic Boosters for Swim Team video equipment; $250 from the Wauseon Indian Music Boosters to the WPS Music Department for a Bass Bar and Basic Beat Mallet and draw string bags valued at approximately $450 from Tomahawk Wrestling Club to the Wauseon Wrestling Program
The board approved the following personnel items:
• Accepted the resignation of Mindy Cheney as a WMS Art Teacher, effective with the close of the 2016-17 school year
• Approved the voluntary transfer of Shelley Grosjean from a WES 5th Grade Math/Science Teacher to a WMS 6th Grade Math Teacher, effective with the 2017-18 school year
• Approved the following individuals as volunteer coaches: Steve Marks and Jack Warncke (baseball)
• Accepted the resignation of Julie Shehorn as a WMS 3-hour Cook, effective Jan. 20. She will transition to the Classified Substitute list for the remainder of the school year
• Approved Ann Berry as a Classified Substitute for the school year
• Approved Jessica Eicher as a Classified Substitute for the school year pending receipt of both a clean BCI/FBI background check. Failure to provide both a clean BCI/FBI background check will result in the approval being withdrawn
The board approved the following overnight trips for the Speech Team as presented:
NSDA National Qualifier Gahanna, Feb. 17-18.
OHSSL State Finals Berea, March 2-4.
NSDA District Congress Columbus, March 17-18.
NCFL Speech Finals Sacramento, California, May 25-29.
NSDA Speech Finals Salt Lake City, Utah, June 17-23.
The next meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 13, at the Board of Education office.
James Pruitt may be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com