By: Brianna Balogh
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Edgerton School Board met on Monday February 17th at a rescheduled time of 4:30 p.m. due to the girls basketball sectional game for.
Attending were all board members as follows: Lyn Bowsher, Amanda Giesige, Nick Hug, Robert Siebenaler, and Bill Swank.
Also in attendance were Elementary Principal Lucas Smith, Junior High and High School Principal Brett Grieser, Treasurer William Blakely, and Superintendent Ben Wilhelm.
First to be approved was the minutes from the previous meeting, held on January 13th. Approved by all members.
Public participation followed where Village Administrator Dawn Fitzcharles and Mayor Bob Day provided updates on the Safe Routes to school grant.
Next item on the agenda was the treasurer’s report and recommendations. Discussion included the general fund report, the food service monthly report, income tax history, AOS and Fraud Surveys, auction results, state budget process, and the real estate/income tax 5-year forecast.
Following discussion topics were the treasurer’s recommendations. Recommendations were approval of the financial reports, bills for payment, appropriation and estimated resource modifications for January as well as several investments including $2,512,186.64 from Star Ohio, $3,207,973.39 from Red Tree, $427,848.62 from Premier Bank MM, $223,351.75 from State Bank CD maturing on 3/11/25 and $837,352.96 from Hicksville Bank 30 day CD.
Second recommendation on the treasurer agenda was to approve participation in the cooperative purchasing programs of the Ohio Schools Council.
Third was approval for the additional pay of $375.00 to Nick Archer and Tracy Rendleman for the new CCP classes that were taught in school year 2023-2024. All recommendations were approved.
The superintendent’s report followed with an update on the bus barn, communications from Four County Career Center, and a thank you regarding the family of John Close.
Superintendent Wilhelm followed with his recommendations. Starting off with the approval of the updated district security and safety plan for 2024-2025 school year.
Second was to approve the proposed changes to NEOLA board policies as presented in January, including the reinstatement of Policy 5330.02 regarding the procurement and use of epinephrine auto-injectors in emergency situations.
Third on the recommendation agenda was to accept a donation of $2500 to the STEAM lab from Altenloh and Brink Company of Bryan Ohio. Student recommendation followed with 2nd quarter honor roll for grades 4-12 and Four County Career center.
Also included were both spelling bee participants, Jocelin Lopez 8th grade and Brycen Cape 7th grade, who competed at the county level.
The final recommendation prior to personnel recommendation was to approve the 2025-2026 membership into the Ohio High School Athletic Association for grades 7-8 and 9-12.
Personnel recommendations followed with the first being to approve the current NWOESC sub-list for paraprofessionals and teachers. Second was the approval of volunteers for the 2024-2025 school year pending the necessary pre-employment requirements.
These were as follows: Jacob Adams for track, Cole Meyer for track, Cameron Jordan for baseball, and Mike Caryer for softball.
Third was to accept the resignation of Chelsea Engelberth as an elementary aide effective at the conclusion of the 2024-2025 school year.
Final personnel recommendation was to approve an unpaid leave of absence for December 11-19th, 2025. All recommendations were approved.
Elementary Principal Lucas Smith provided his report. Smith included the past events of MTSS with Julie Eitiner which is still looking to better streamline the data and processes, and Kidz club which started on 1/28/25.
Included in the report were pictures from several events including Lunch with a dog with a thanks to Mr. Muehlfeld, Bulldog best recipients, Mr. Zumbaugh’s Native American projects, 1st grade sledding with Mrs. Grime and Ms. Wood, and Bulldog ties with Mr. Zumbaugh including a thanks to Subway and Darren Bok.
Smith concluded with a list of upcoming events as follows: FFA week petting zoo on February 21st, dentaltTalk with grade 1 on February 24th, bulldog best on February 28th, book fair on March 10th – 14th, family fun night on March 13th 4:30-6:00, MTSS with Julie Eitiner, 4th/5th math competition on March 14th, end of the 3rd quarter on March 14th, incentive celebration on March 21st, 3rd – 6th grade going to Bryan Theater thanks to the PTO and K-2 is going to have an afternoon celebration, bulldog best on March 21st, and house assembly March 21st.
Principal Brett Grieser followed with the junior high and high school report. Grieser provided photos of the recent STEAM lab donation, Winter Fest 2024-2025, recent career focused field trips, extracurricular activities including band, choir and wrestling, and a visit from the therapy dog.
Upcoming items included FFA recognition week from February 17th through February 22nd, FFA Pancake Breakfast on February 22nd open to community, winter sports tournament action with girls on February 15th, boys on February 21st an Wrestling on February 22nd, new mural student recognition partnering with businesses, scheduling and planning with Mrs. Stark for 2025-2026, and save the date for May 16th–1st Annual Fine Arts Day at ELS.
The meeting was then adjourned to executive session. The next meeting is set to be held on Monday, March 17th at 6:00 p.m. in the Annex Board Room.