PHOTO BY BRIANNA BALOGH / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
POLICY REVIEW … From left, Board Members David Wehrle and Christian Appel review several NEOLA policy updates presented to the Board of Education for approval during the April meeting.
By: Brianna Balogh
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
Board members Ashley Reed, Patty Eicher, David Wehrle, and Christian Appel, as well as board President Cody Best, convened on Monday, April 13.
The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by Best. First was the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by roll call with all members in attendance.
In addition to all board members, Treasurer Deb Nester, Superintendent Anthony Stevens, Elementary Principal Jennifer Ripke, and High School Principal Kayla Lapham were also in attendance.
CONSENT AGENDA
The board wasted no time getting straight into the meeting agenda. No visitors were present to speak, moving the agenda into consent items. Superintendent Stevens presented the consent items.
The first item was the approval of the previous meeting minutes held on Monday, March 9. Approval of the financial reports for March 2026 followed, which had been provided to the board. The next item on the consent agenda was to approve the request for the amended certificate from the County Auditor.
Stevens continued with the approval of the then and now certificate. Approval of donations followed, with March donations totaling $8,998 coming mainly from the Athletic Boosters. Stevens paused to thank the Athletic Boosters for the continued support.
Continuing through the consent agenda, the March NWOESC teacher and paraprofessionals substitute list was next for approval. Three trips up for approvals followed, starting with the FFA Convention April 30 through May 1.
A boys basketball overnight trip to Eastern Ohio Basketball Camp for June 16 through 19 followed. Last trip for approval was a girls basketball overnight trip to Xavier University for June 27 through 28.
Rounding out the consent agenda was approval of the student accident insurance program through Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company for the school year 2026-2027, an annual action.
The entire consent agenda was moved for approval by Reed and seconded by Eicher. The motion passed unanimously.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Best then directed the board to the reports section of the agenda. Nester was first to present the Treasurer’s report. Beginning with the normal revenue and expenditures figures, Nester reported revenues are up by approximately $457,000; however, expenditures are also up by about $539,000.
Revenues are still up over expenditures by around $918,000, mainly due to the real estate settlement. The days cash balance sits at 260 days.
HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
Principal Lapham followed with the high school principal’s report. Lapham commended everyone involved in the recent senior retreat, which she has heard was a great time. Seventeen students were able to participate.
Lapham also updated the board on the recent scholarship interviews, held on April 8, in which 18 students participated. With a similar format, workforce foundation interviews will take place on April 22.
Upcoming academic awards will be split this year, due to graduation taking place on May 17. Senior academic awards will be held on May 11, at 7:30 p.m. Academic awards for grades 7-12 will be held after Memorial Day.
Lapham noted they will review next year, stating there were both benefits and drawbacks to hosting the awards separately.
Lapham closed with several upcoming events, including the FFA Banquet on April 18, Career Fair on April 28, Prom, and the Junior High Dance.
Best commented on the phenomenal way the students perform during the scholarship interviews, despite the anxiety of being in front of an entire panel of people.
ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
Principal Ripke followed with the elementary principal’s report. Ripke joked that Lapham was focused on graduation while she was focused on kindergarten registration. Currently there are 29 students enrolled for kindergarten next year.
Preschool registration updates followed, with Ripke clarifying that while the preschool screening dates are full, students will be put onto a waiting list.
In August, all remaining preschool students will be screened prior to the start of the school year. Ripke should have more exact enrollment numbers in May.
The upcoming Bomber Parent Night has seven families signed up, surpassing the goal of five.
There will be several presentations, including from the health department and ECHO Coalition. Ripke noted that so far state testing has been going well.
Recently the American Legion visited the fourth grade with a flag presentation. Students took a test after the presentation and also wrote an essay with the subject “What does the flag mean to me.”
Legion representatives will visit again this week with awards for the top essays, and the winning essays will be submitted to the state. Ripke commented she learned some interesting flag facts herself.
Again, due to the date, Right to Read Week will also take place after graduation. Math assessments will now be required three times per year, similar to language arts. The school will continue to use the AMPLIFY vendor.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
The last report was from Superintendent Stevens, starting out with enrollment numbers. March is trending slightly down at 539. While not immediately concerning, Stevens stated they would continue to watch the number closely.
The next item was the planned phone system upgrade. They have selected a company and provided the board with the quote from New Wave.
The company has worked with other school districts in the past. At the suggestion of Best, Stevens informed the board that the normal service contract is approximately $14,000 and this year would total closer to $18,000.
With a system upgrade installing new hardware over existing infrastructure, the upgrade will pay for itself quickly. The system will also be able to stay active during a power outage.
Stevens was happy to inform the board that the company will be able to do much of the background work prior to switching the entire system.
The school district will be able to select a specific changeover date and eliminate any system outages. While no action is required from the board, Stevens wanted to keep them informed and up to date on the upgrades.
AI POLICY DISCUSSION
Stevens followed with some more information on the AI policy, which would be contained in the action items.
After review, Stevens feels the company Magic School AI would be ideal for a student use vendor specifically geared towards schools.
The third party company has a reasonable cost and is already identified as Senate Bill 29 compliant. This AI system would be primarily for student use.
While Magic School AI can be used by staff, Stevens noted a more robust system may be required. The recommendation was to use Google Gemini for many reasons.
First, the staff already operates within Google for email, calendars, and classroom resources. Gemini will also keep a limited record of prompts so that any compliance or privacy issues can be reviewed. Professional development days will be scheduled for staff regarding AI usage and tools.
FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT
Stevens also noted that he has been in contact with a company to resurface the track long jump runway. The resurfacing was scheduled to occur last summer, but the company was unable to complete it.
He hopes to have the work completed this summer. Stevens commended the maintenance crew for their work in the interim.
Stevens closed with an update on the maintenance dump truck, a Ford F-350, recently purchased on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Stevens was surprised to learn the current 2005 truck was purchased almost 21 years ago at $39,000 and the current purchase was for approximately $44,000.
The transmission was replaced in the new truck and will come with a warranty as well as a snow plow.
OLD AND NEW BUSINESS
No old business was brought before the board, but Stevens did note a slight reduction in the ESC contract. Stevens and Best introduced new business in the form of meeting dates.
Best would be unable to attend the May 11 meeting, and Stevens requested to reschedule the September meeting.
The board consulted their calendars but were unable to move the May meeting. The September meeting, however, was changed to Tuesday, September 15, still at 5:30 p.m.
ACTION ITEMS
With no further new business items, the agenda moved into a long list of action items. The first item to approve was the 2027-2028 school calendar provided to the board. Eicher moved to approve, and Apple seconded.
The next three items were updates to the NEOLA Board Policy. Update Volume 2 Number 44 was the first one to be moved for approval by Reed and seconded by Eicher.
Appel moved to approve Board Policy 8500 regarding food service. Stevens noted the policy will not currently impact the district but is a required update. Wehrle seconded the motion.
Lastly was the recently discussed artificial intelligence policy. The first reading of Board Policy 7540.9 as drafted and presented regarding AI was moved by Eicher and seconded by Reed.
The next matter before the board was the non-renewal of supplemental contracts at the end of the 2025-2026 contract year.
Best noted this is an annual action and the contracts are one-year terms. Appel moved to approve, and Reed seconded.
Eicher regrettably made the motion to approve the resignation of Head Varsity Football Coach Bob Olwin, effective immediately. Reed seconded.
The last action item was Fiscal Year 2027 OHI Charter Workers Comp Group Rating program, moved by Reed and seconded by Eicher. All action items were passed unanimously.
EXECUTIVE SESSION AND ADJOURNMENT
Concluding the meeting, Eicher moved to enter executive session, and Reed seconded.
The meeting moved into executive session at 6:04 p.m., with no action expected to follow. The next meeting will be held on Monday, May 11.