By: Brenna White
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Montpelier Board of Education met Tuesday the 11th, at 5:30pm. Treasurer Rice called the meeting to order with a roll call. All board members were present.
Mr. Rose asked the community for a moment of silence, which was immediately followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Superintendent Travis Lichty mentioned a few things open for discussion at the start of the meeting.
A letter was received from council member Nathan Thompson, detailing the health department’s relocation concerns.
While not on the agenda, board member Patti Rockey expressed that there was general community apprehension surrounding this idea.
After quick discussion the board did not have any questions but opted to discuss the topic later on in the meeting. Rockey moved for a motion to sign the letter from the health department, and Rose seconded.
It passed with no contest. This document will be further deliberated in future meetings as more information comes out.
The Legislative Report detailed by Rockey stated Senate Bill 93 declares the GA’s intent to have a new school financing system.
It is a statewide bill that would affect public and charter schools, based on property taxes. It was referred to the Finance Committee on February 19th.
She notes that there is a lot of information and changes coming to the financial end of the board of education, and hopes that her fellow school board members are keeping up to date.
Senate Bill 107 would require state local schools to appear on the ballot with a party designation. This was also referred to the general government on February 19th.
Senate Bill 109 would require the public and non-charter to provide breakfast and lunch for students at no cost. This would only be appropriate to 300 million dollars to offset costs. Treasurer Rice notes that it’s unlikely that it would cover the full expense of feeding students.
Board President Nate Rose expresses concerns for how the dismantling of the Federal Education Department could affect the state-level schools on a short term basis.
Lichty hopes that it would not mess with federal title funding as it is used by many local schools. Montpelier itself uses grant funding to pay the wages of six teachers and to help pay for school lunches for children.
Rice notes that she has read that the money would be returning to the states instead, however, the school uses almost $750,000 in federal grant funding.
Rose poses the question of how such a large-scale shutdown would be effectively administered and monitored. So far there has not been enough information released to give the board any clear future concerning this issue.
Next was the Elementary Principal’s Report, given by Lance Thorp. He says the second grade gifting testing ended up qualifying nine total students.
Across the elementary grades, 58 students meet the requirements, which was roughly 10%. Thorp also says how after spring break, the elementary will be busy with testing in April.
Superintendent Lichty thanked High School Principal Su Thorp for her hard work. She followed with the JH/HS Principal Report.
First, she gave a shout out to the HS robotics class who competed at BGSU in the NORtech competition. Only four students attended this year, but they brought back 1st place and two 2nd place prizes.
The high school also had a blood drive, totaling 33 donations, putting Montpelier into the 1k donation range. Thorp mentioned how the cast and crew did a phenomenal job with the school musical this year, the Wizard of Oz.
She will be attending the DC music program trip with the band and choir. They will be performing at the Lincoln Memorial.
There will be a mock crash for the Junior and Senior class of Montpelier. Instead of being sponsored by the health department, this year the crash will be sponsored by the sheriff department.
This event happens every two years to help raise better student awareness when it comes to drunk driving. It is planned to happen before prom to show students the harsh reality of poor decision making. Two student volunteers will be participating in the crash.
Lichty then gave the Superintendent’s report. He opened with an energy optimizer plan, which will replace all classrooms and offices with LED panels, as well as changing some fixtures around the school to LED tube lights.
It will roughly be around 5k in labor costs. He notes that nothing is set in stone, but their projection is that this project would pay itself off in energy costs in 14 years.
He says allegedly energy rates are getting ready to jump in price, and if this is the case, the payback will come back much more quickly. He plans on splitting it into two different summers by going through a local provider.
The lighting fixtures around the school are starting to go bad as they are nearing 18 years of age.
Lichty says this project would come out of the permanent improvement fund, costing around $346,200. Instead of a change order, this would come out of the fund itself and be cheaper for the school.
As not many things will need to be replaced or bought in the next coming years, he seems confident that it will not be a burden on the school’s funds. It was not presented on tonight’s agenda, but he hoped to start a discussion to find a solution soon.
Finally, the treasurer’s report was given by Carla Rice. There were no cites or findings reported. The real estate settlement was received on Monday the 10th, and it came in at $1.9 million. This was about $300k higher than last year.
She estimates roughly $500,000 will be in the PI fund in August. The maintenance fund will also be rolling off at the end of the year. It can only be used for repairs in the building, and the plan is to use the leftovers to upgrade the sound system for the theater.
Rice moved to waive the reading of the minutes and approve minutes from the Regular Monthly Meeting of February 11, the special meeting minutes of February 17th, and February 24th as presented. This motion was moved by Rice, seconded by Gambler, and approved unanimously.
The financial reports were also passed unanimously, moved by Rose, seconded by Roth. It approved;
-Financial reports for the month of February 2025. This includes bank reconciliation, the cash summary report, distribution report, budget vs. actual report, and the investment report.
-To accept donations such as: To Skilled Trades Scholarship ($10,950), Superior Farm Supply ($450) Eagles ($1,800) 20/20 ($450) Johnson Supply ($450) Powers & Sons ($450) Becker Scrivens ($450) Kim Supply ($900) Hooley House ($350) Allied Moulded ($500) Montpelier Fire Fighter Association ($900) Miller Body Shop ($650) Montpelier Civic Legion ($900) Montpelier Eagles ($900) S & S Directional Boarding ($1,800) Art Department donation of $50 from Connie Dunseth, and Football Breakfast donation of $200 from the Athletic Boosters.
-Transfers a fund from the General Fund to the Athletic Fund (300 9500) in the amount of $4,811, to reimburse the Athletic Fund for JH/HS student ticket sales for the winter sports season per Board Resolution 39-24.
-Appropriation modifications and changes to Estimated Revenue as presented.
Next on the agenda was the employment of classified staff. This motion was moved by Rose and seconded by Schlosser. It approved;
-The retirement of Roberta Mercer, elementary aide at the end of the current school year.
-Approved the resignation of Amy Fielitz, second shift custodian, effective March 12th.
-Classified supplemental contracts for the 2024-2025 school year for Thomas Bechtol as assistant softball coach and Doug Williamson as assistant baseball coach.
-Add Julia Nofziger to the substitute aide list for the 2024-2025 school year.
The board moved on to approve the hiring of Eric Smeltzer as CFO/Treasurer. This includes a three-year, 260 day contract, effective August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2028. The motion was moved by Roth, seconded by Gambler. Board member Jennifer Schlosser cast the lone vote against hiring Smeltzer.
The purchases and service contracts were approved by the board unanimously, moved by Gambler and seconded by Roth. It recommended the approval of the 3313.845 agreement with the Northwest Ohio Educational Service Center to provide special education services at an estimated cost of $764,805.14. It also approved the continued agreement with the Ohio HS Athletic Association for the 2025-2026 school year.
They recommended to appoint Superintendent Lichty as the district representative to the Tax Incentive Review Council with the assistant superintendent appointed as the alternative in the event Lichty cannot attend. Next year, Smeltzer will be replacing the assistant superintendent as the alternative.
The board then moved into executive session before adjourning.
