EVERGREEN BOARD … Members of the Evergreen School Board discuss the numerous items on the agenda during the May 18th, 2023, meeting. (PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
By: Jacob Kessler
The Evergreen Board of Education held their meeting on Monday, May 18th. The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance and the board moving to approve the minutes from the previous meeting held on April 17th.
Jacob Goodson was then commended for being named a National Merit Finalist by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
Goodson scored in the top 1% on the preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test which is taken by around 3.5 million high school students each year.
Guests were then invited to speak to the board with Heidi Ochs, Janet Creque and Bonnie Ochs coming up to speak.
They each spoke to the board regarding a woman who had entered the elementary school for an event.
Heidi Ochs stated that the woman, who was named as Jenna Bieber, was paraded around the gym floor in front of kids she had victimized.
Janet Creque went on to speak about advocacy for the safety of children and stated that she took issue with a person being allowed on school grounds that had been convicted of child endangerment.
Board member Zach Murry asked if there was any sort of court order or protection order in place to keep the individual out of the building, with the answer being that there is not.
It was also stated that the elementary principal had apologized for the incident due to her not being aware of the issue.
Board member Nora Kiefer then spoke to each of the individuals that had come up to speak. She informed them that the school is not able to kick people off the property unless there is some sort of court document in place.
She also stated that there has been a lot of turnover in the elementary school and that some people may not have known.
She thanked each of the people who spoke for bringing the issue to their attention but stated that without a court document there is not a lot that can be done.
Following discussion from visitors, the following items were approved by the board as part of a consent agenda.
The April 2023 financial reports, a list of donations, appropriation modifications, fund-to-fund transfers, and amended resources.
A grant was also approved from the Ohio Attorney General for FY 2023 School Safety in the amount of $6,245.02.
Next, the Five-Year Forecast was discussed and approved to be turned over to the Ohio Department of Education by May 31st.
Numerous personnel items were then approved before moving to on to also approve the following agenda items.
An agreement moved forward for the execution and delivery of a master electric energy sales agreement between Evergreen Local Schools and Power4Schools endorsed electric supplier.
A vote took place to authorize the Evergreen Administration to develop a viable plan to move the fifth-grade level of students to the Evergreen Middle School for the 2024-2025 school year.
The granting of diplomas for members of the Class of 2023 on May 21st, 2023, took place next along with the approval of a proposed policy revision to the current Evergreen Local School Board Policy.
An agreement with the Northwest Ohio Educational service center moved forward in order to provide training, support, resources, and handbooks to all mentor programs participants for the 2023-2024 school year.
The superintendent and treasurer were then authorized to accept the best bid from LAKETEC Communications Inc. to purchase, install, and monitor 911 Inform LDS in all campus buildings at a cost of $223,438.50.
The expense will be paid from Ohio K-12 Safety Grant and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s School/Law Enforcement Technology Linking Safety Grant.
Preschool tuition was then set at $1,000.00 for the 2023-2024 with a discounted price of $950.00 for families utilizing a one-time payment.
Next, a contract was finalized with the Fulton County Health Center to provide nurse services for the school for the 2023-2024 school year.
The Evergreen High School Gymnastics Club was then approved for the 2023-2024 school year before moving to approve the following overnight trips.
A trip for the FFA students to attend the FFA National Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana and a trip for the Evergreen Girls Soccer Team to participate in a team retreat at Camp Michindoh Spring Arbor University Campus in Hillsdale, Michigan.
A purchase was then approved for school district insurance through the Ohio School Plan, administered by Hylant Administrative Services.
A new food service provider was then discussed with it being stated five companies came in and toured the building to see what they can offer.
Building reports were then given before the board moved to adjourn for the evening.
Jacob can be reached at jacob@thevillagereporter.com
