PHOTO BY BRIANNA BALOGH / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
BOARD BUSINESS … Vice President Ashley Reed guided the Edon Board of Education through an agenda packed with personnel and end-of-year approvals.
By: Brianna Balogh
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Edon Board of Education made final school year preparations as they held their regular meeting on Monday, May 11. Vice President Ashley Reed called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. After reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, Treasurer Deb Nester took roll call.
Board members Patty Eicher, Christian Appel, and David Wehrle were present with President Cody Best absent.
Also present were Superintendent Anthony Stevens, Elementary Principal Jennifer Ripke, and High School Principal Kayla Lapham.
Reed started working through the night’s agenda with recognition of visitors. With none present, Reed moved onto the IDEA-B public input. Superintendent Stevens explained this is a required meeting for the public to provide input on how the IDEA-B funds are spent.
The board’s focus then shifted to the consent agenda, presented by Stevens. The first item was to approve the meeting minutes from the regular meeting on Monday, April 13. The financial reports for April followed.
The third consent agenda item was to approve the amended certificate from the County Auditor. Stevens continued with approval of donations for the month of April, totaling $6,488.49.
The bulk of the funds were donated to Post Prom, held on May 2. Stevens commented he heard it went well, emphasizing that he heard no news the night of the event, which means good news.
The next two consent items were to approve the list of graduating seniors and the list of early graduates, both pending satisfactory completion of present course work. Graduation is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 17.
Stevens followed with approval of the NWOESC substitute list for teacher and paraprofessional for April. The final consent agenda item was to approve the fiscal agent for Early Childhood Special Education-IDEA grant consortium for fiscal year 2027, which provides funding for students enrolled in the preschool program.
Wehrle moved to approve all items on the consent agenda. Eicher seconded the motion and the consent items were passed unanimously.
TREASURER’S REPORT
The meeting moved into the reports sections, starting with the Treasurer’s report. Nester reported revenues were up by $219,000 from the previous year. Expenditures were also up by $580,883; however, revenues still outpace expenditures by $802,000. The current day’s cash is at 253. April income tax revenue came in at $83,384.
PRINCIPAL REPORTS
The principal’s report followed. Principal Lapham started with the recent FFA banquet where members were honored with a dinner, noting that the Edon chapter is the largest in Williams County.
Also held recently were the Edon Workforce Foundation Interviews, where 10 seniors interviewed to receive specific items to assist in their transition to the workforce ranging from boots and tool belts to cosmetology supplies.
The winners will be rewarded at the Senior Awards Night, being held later that same night.
Twenty-three businesses participated in the recent career fair, where two students walked away with future positions. One in military service and one in the workforce. Lapham felt a lot of success came out of that event.
Lapham thanked both staff and chaperones who contributed to the successful Prom and Post Prom held the previous Saturday, especially thanking Matt and Jennifer Ripke who chaperoned Post Prom.
She then shifted to student achievements, informing the board of the recent trip to the FFA State Convention, where 12 students traveled to Columbus.
Several students were honored, earning awards for their books and earning state degrees.
Lapham closed with upcoming events including fine arts night for High School students on May 12, graduation on May 17, junior high fine arts night on May 19, and academic awards on May 26 for grades 7 through 11.
Principal Ripke was next with the elementary report, joking, “They have all the serious stuff at the end of the year and we’re just having fun at the end of the year.”
Starting off with Bomber Parent Night, where five of the eight registered families attended. Among the various presentations, Ripke highlighted a teacher skit explaining reading assistance strategies.
She also commended the NHS, National Honor Society, students who kept the younger students busy with two planting projects.
Recently the spring feast was held where the amazement can be seen on the Kinder Kids’ faces. Testing is complete and results should start coming in this week. The sixth grade talent show was held the previous Friday.
Upcoming events include the right to read week, May 18 through May 22, and grand-friends day. Field day is coming up on Friday, May 22 and hopefully fun in the sun on the last week of the year.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
Superintendent Stevens started his report with enrollment numbers, noting they have returned back to the beginning of the year numbers.
To his knowledge, preschool was completely full and Ripke added she did have the list but did not have the exact class breakdown yet.
Stevens touched on several personnel recommendations that would be approved later in the meeting. He noted the general contract renewals and the resignation of the EMIS coordinator.
If approved, Stevens plans to post the open EMIS Coordinator position this week and have a candidate for the June meeting. Stevens also noted that School Nurse interviews had not yet begun but also hoped to have a candidate for approval in June, adding they had a very good group of candidates.
Recent headlines influenced Stevens’ next topic, cyber-security. With the recent Canvas ransomware attack, Stevens informed the board of an upcoming resolution to address protocols and systems to help protect against these types of attacks.
He is already taking steps to review roles and access accounts. An example of safeguards to put into place is multi-factor authentication. With several legacy systems, the board will need to discuss convenience versus security.
The goal is to discourage criminals and make earning a quick ransom payment much more difficult with similar cyber attacks.
Again, Stevens hopes to have a resolution regarding cyber-security protocols in June, which will need to be in place by July.
The last item Stevens had to report was the attendance dashboard, launched by the State Department of Education and Workforce.
The focus is to help track and mitigate chronic absenteeism. There is an opt-out option but Stevens admitted he was not informed enough yet to make a definitive decision.
Reed asked if Stevens had seen it. He has noted the district was at approximately 13% and it is available for anyone to view on the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce website.
Reed also wondered what value it brings and if the dashboard tells the district any information they do not already have. Stevens admitted he is not sure that it does and it seems as if they are trying to apply a one-size-fits-all model.
He also explained that if the district were to opt out, a notice would be posted on the website, which Eicher cautioned could potentially give the impression that the district was being less transparent than intended.
Reed stated she trusted Stevens’ best judgment. Stevens warned that if several districts opt out, the State may move to making it a requirement if they are highly invested in the project.
Stevens closed by stating, “I’m not overly concerned about it but I want to learn more about it before making a decision.”
With no old business to address, Reed moved onto new business. Wehrle asked what projects were scheduled for the summer break.
Stevens replied it was mostly small maintenance projects like repairing cracks in the basketball courts and parking lot.
He noted they were waiting for better weather to install the track runway. Stevens rounded out the list with general painting and landscaping, common summer projects. The largest upcoming project will be the phone system upgrade.
The last section on the agenda was action items. Reed started the substantial list with approval for a 3% salary increase for classified staff members for the 2026-2027 contract year. Eicher motioned to approve with Appel seconding.
The next item was establishing a new fund for the class of 2030 which Wehrle moved to approve. Eicher provided a second.
Appel moved to approve an agreement with Joy D. Fruchey and Associates for school-based mental health services for 2026-2027 school year. Eicher seconded the motion. Reed continued through the action items with the next motion requested to approve the NEOLA board policy 7540.09 regarding artificial intelligence. Eicher made the motion to approve with a second from Wehrle.
The next action item was to approve the resignation of Kimberly Limber, EMIS coordinator, effective at the end of the current contract year, July 31, 2026. Appel motioned and Eicher seconded.
The remaining action items were all recommendations for approval. Teaching contracts effective August 14 were the first recommendation, followed with non-teaching contracts for the 2026-2027 school year.
Supplemental contract recommendations for the 2026-2027 school year, pending successful completion of the district and OHSAA coaching requirements, followed with a motion from Wehrle. Eicher seconded.
The recommendation to approve contracts for summer school at a rate of $30 was the next item. Eicher motioned to approve and Appel seconded. The next recommendation was to approve a 3-year proposal with Julian and Grube for compiling financial statements for the 2026-2028 school years, motioned by Eicher and seconded by Wehrle.
The last recommendation was to approve the Junior High/High School and Elementary handbooks for the 2026-2027 school year. Appel moved to approve and Eicher seconded. All action items were approved unanimously.
With no need for an executive session, Eicher motioned to adjourn the meeting and Wehrle followed with a quick second.
With all members approving, the meeting adjourned at 6:07 p.m. The next meeting will be held on Monday, June 8.