By: Lucinda Held-Faulhaber
The Village Reporter
On the heels of last month’s resignations, Edon Northwest Local Board of Education acted without delay and filled the two administrative positions during its regular monthly session held Tuesday, December 9, 2014. President Brad McCrea called the 5:30 p.m. meeting to order with all members and four guests in attendance.
Following a brief Executive Session called for the expressed purpose of discussing employment of personnel, the Board returned to open session and approved John Granger as Interim Superintendent of Edon Northwest Local School District.
Dr. Granger brings over thirty years of administrative experience to the position having served as Superintendent of Edgerton, Anna and Anthony Wayne Local Schools and Williams County Schools/Northwest Ohio Educational Service Center; most recently, he served as Coordinator of Bowling Green State University’s Principal and Superintendent Cohort Leadership Academy. He replaces Ed Ewers who accepted the Assistant Superintendent position at Penta Career Center after three and one-half years at the helm of Edon Northwest Local Schools. Dr. Granger’s $52,375 contract (he will be taking over the remaining Ewers contract balance), runs through July 31, 2015.
Also approved that evening were contracts with William Blakely for District Treasurer. With his State of Ohio School Treasurer licensure expected early next year, Mr. Blakely was first issued a Consultant Services contract through February 28, 2015. His Treasurer’s contract, with a starting salary of fifty thousand dollars, will run through July 31, 2016. Mr. Blakely fills the position vacated by Kerry Samples who has taken on the treasurer’s position at Central Local School District.
Highlighting December’s Reports to the Board, administrators shared:
Superintendent Ed Ewers
•Thanked personnel, teachers, Bobbi Brown and her cafeteria staff for the great job they did on Grandparents/Grand Friends Day; everyone had an enjoyable time and their attendance was greatly appreciated.
•Shared work is moving forward to upgrade the high school gymnasium’s sound system over Christmas break; the speakers were in worse shape than originally thought and may not be used to supplement newer equipment. Funding for the project is anticipated through community donations (some already have been received) and Edon Athletic Boosters gift contributions; any remaining balance will be covered by the District’s Maintenance Fund. He also shared a new humidifier has helped address gymnasium floor issues.
•Noted the annual school-wide Safety Drill (utilizing ALICE protocols) was conducted before the December 1 deadline; thanks were extended to Edon Police Chief and Mrs. Tom Szymczak for their assistance in organizing the required drill. A new Safety Plan will need to be written and submitted to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office in the future; the process is set to include input from other aspects of the community i.e. Florence Township Fire Department, Northwest Fire and Rescue, Edon Police Department, etc. to ensure everything is being done to keep District students and staff safe.
Treasurer Kerry Samples
•Submitted his standard monthly SM2 Report indicating revenues were up thirty-three thousand dollars and expenses up one hundred three thousand dollars for the same five-month period as last year. The District is tracking seventy thousand dollars worse than a year ago (which is about right on schedule as projected in the Five Year Forecast).
•Shared retroactive pay increases approved with October’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (back pay to the beginning of the school year) were processed in the December 5 payroll; thanks was extended to Joyce Whitney for the extra time spent on calculating and entering new data for over one hundred certified, classified and supplemental contracts. Additionally, eight certified and two classified staff members switched over to the “high deductible” insurance plan, a twenty-five thousand dollar savings in next year’s premium costs.
•Noted annual December 1 bond principle payments were made (interest payments are due June 1); current bond balances now stand at: three-hundred sixty thousand dollars for the old building (December 1, 2019 payoff date) and $1.545 million for the current facility (December 1, 2024 payoff date).
7-12 Principal Anthony Stevens
•Congratulated November 2014 High School Student of the Month, senior Kaitlin Chrisman and Junior High Student of the Month, eighth-grader Reagan Gallehue.
•Shared Edon FFA Chapter members had attended last month’s annual National Convention where EHS graduates Dakota Parrish, Clay Parrish and Ben Brown received their American FFA Degrees. Members also competed in several recent Career Development Events (CDE’s); the ParliPro Novice Team (Schylar Bergman, Jordan Runyan, Wendy Braun, Thor Dunkle, Austen Riter, Naomi Hickman, Colin Dulle and Kyle Apger) advanced to District 1 competition; Emily Fox placed second in individual Dairy competition (out of one hundred seventy-five participants); Job Interview Team members placed in the top two and the Advanced ParliPro Team took Second Place County honors.
•Noted he was currently evaluating the feasibility of increasing academic time by dropping the number of class periods per day from eight to seven; a short daily academic assist period could possibly be included as well.
Additionally, teachers had taken part in Professional Development opportunities pertaining to new testing assessments and standards (effective February 2015) and identifying students at risk (based on a number of factors) with follow-up intervention.
KK-6 Grade Principal Michelle Molargik
•Congratulated November’s Bomber Courtesy Club members.
•Shared elementary students had been showcased in recent events including last month’s Thanksgiving Assembly (Jenna Dulle, Elliott Mohre and Thea Staten read their winning essays); Grandparents/Grand Friends Day and the Grades1-4 Winter Concert; several compliments were received on the wonderful programs that were presented. Thanks were also extended to school personnel and the nearly four hundred special friends who made Grandparent’s Day 2014 a huge success.
•Noted Third Grade OAA results showed eighty-seven percent of the students were proficient or higher; percentages for advanced and accelerated levels were high as well.
•Explained plans are underway for Grades K-6 students to participate in the Fort Wayne TinCaps Reading Program. Students achieving their goal and reaching home plate will receive complimentary game and lunch tickets to a TinCaps game; the all-school field day is tentatively slated for May 27, 2015 at 11:05 a.m.
In other action taken, Board members:
•Set January 13, 2015 as the date for its reorganization meeting beginning at 5:00 p.m. in the school’s Media Center; the regular Board of Education meeting will follow at 5:30 p.m.
•Elected Brad McCrea as President Pro-Tem for January’s reorganization meeting.
•Approved the Resolution Declaring It Necessary To Raise Annually An Additional Amount For School District Purposes And Requesting The State Tax Commission To Estimate The Respective Rates At Which It Would Be Necessary To Levy An Ad Valorem Property Tax And A School District Income Tax To Produce That Amount.
•Accepted Cash Donations for Elementary ($17.29 from Ohiopyle Prints/sales at Kaiser’s Supermarket); High School ($17.30 from Ohiopyle Prints/sales at Kaiser’s Supermarket) and FFA ($1022.85 from an anonymous donor/305 bushels of soybeans) Funds during November; Gift Donations for the month were also accepted from Edon Athletic Boosters (Weight Room Equipment/$1771; AED/$1399; Screen Printing for volleyball jerseys/$550; Embroidery on volleyball coaches’ shirts/$28; One-half the cost of wireless headsets for football coaches/$1781.50; Cross-Country uniforms/$1872) and Edon Music Boosters (Choir uniforms/$734).
•Accepted the retirement resignation of Sharon Aeschliman as bus driver effective January 31, 2015.
•Approved a contract with Kerry Samples to perform Interim Treasurer Services from January 1, 2015 through February 28, 2015 as needed at a rate of twenty-five dollars per hour.
•Amended the Treasurer Shared Services Agreement with Edgerton Local Schools through July 31, 2016.
•Approved Len Johnson as school representative to the Park Board effective January 1, 2015.
•Heard from Jill Jacoby regarding the Academic Boosters Club; with its 501(c)(3) tax exempt status still active, Parent Advisory Committee members are excited to revive the club and restore ABC-sponsored quarterly reward, academic letter and yard sign programs. Additional information regarding a possible reorganization meeting in January will be noted on the District’s website.
•Approved Ohio School Boards Association Membership Dues ($2810) and annual subscriptions to OSBA Briefcase (electronic copy/free) and School Management News (electronic copy/$150); a one hundred seventy dollar savings was realized by the District for electronic subscriptions.
•Approved minutes from the November 18 regular meeting, November’s Financial Reports and the amended Certificate of Estimated Resources and Permanent Appropriations for FY 2015 as submitted by Treasurer Samples.
Lucinda Held-Faulhaber
May be reached at
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
