By: Rebecca Miller
The May 12, 2020 Montpelier School Board meeting was held in the Athletic Building out back of the school, with only two members of the press and one member of the Teacher’s Association present to observe. Immediately after opening with the pledge and a moment of silence dedicated to the community, the board went into a half-hour Executive Session for Collective Bargaining matters.
Back in the regular meeting they voted to approve the minutes of the April 14 regular meeting and of the special meeting of April 20, 2020. Legislative Report was given by Board member Shawn Owen, who said that due to the COVID-19 there are not any updates on the House Bills that the school board has been monitoring.
“We will be looking for guidance from the state on many issues moving forward this summer and into next school year,” he said. The two updates that he did have were: 1. OHSAA no contact period has been extended through May 31 and school athletic facilities are closed through June 30. And 2. Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) approved dividends for Ohio employers, including school districts, to “ease the economic impact of the pandemic on Ohio’s economy and business community.
Graduation Ceremony plans are to have a Drive-Up Graduation. All of the details are on the website for the Montpelier Exempted Village Schools, but at the meeting Superintendent Jamison Grime did say, “This is not perfect, but we are truly hoping that it will give the kids some kind of closure to their senior year and some good memories.”
Grime also reported to the board that the Tech director has formulated a task force of teachers to make a consistent platform that All would use in the Fall if they have to continue teaching via the internet. “With each teacher using different formats it got confusing for some of the parents who have more than one child in our district,” Grime said. This would put everyone on the same page.
Treasurer Carla Rice reported:
- Second quarter of the school district income tax settlement was received the end of April. This was the final payment for the fiscal year and the amount received for FY20 was 3% higher than projected in the five-year forecast, which was good news.
- The CARES Act is providing funding to the school and some guidance has been released as to how it should be used, with some flexibility. Some suggestions were to use it for sanitizing the school, food service costs and teacher costs. She mentioned that she hopes some of it will be used to pay the cafeteria staff salaries to offset the losses in revenue in the cafeteria fund.
- The SWS Funds are still rumored to be available for next year and she will keep them posted
- She is working with Energy Efficiency group to obtain a rebate for the LED lighting upgrade that was done in the media center this year. This company is also providing the school with enough four packs of LED bulbs for the families of Montpelier and they will be distributing them during the lunch pick up on May 18. The rest will be donated to the chamber to give out to other Montpelier families.
- A BWC premium refund in the amount of $17,276.26 was received for the 2018 year.
- She is working with the staff and secretaries to get supply orders ready for next year but the plan is to hold off ordering until they have a firm start date or plan for when the building will open for school in August.
- She presented a five-year forecast review, stating that overall, “the forecast is showing deficit spending for all years with FY24 showing a negative $1,567,211 cash carryover balance. This forecast does not show the effects of the SWSF. For FY20, the SWSF will reduce general fund expenditures by $203,000. If the SWSF funds are paid out next year according to the current plan, general fund expenditures will be reduced another $297,000. Also, the CARES Act has the potential of another reduction of general fund expenditures of $161,000. All of these factors will contribute to reducing the deficit in FY24 and possibly FY25.”
The Board voted to approve:
- Financial report for the month of April 2020
- Following donations, both to the Cafeteria Fund: $3500 from Carol Keesbury and $139 from Coca Cola Company
- Amended Certificate
- Increase appropriations in various funds
- New fund and special cost center for K12 Prevention Education Grant for FY20
- Suspend charging utilities to the cafeteria fund using the indirect cost method from April through December 2020, due to lack of revenue from the closing.
- The Five year forecast for May 2020 and direct CFO to file the forecast with the ODE
- The employment of Kayla Rethmel as a teacher for the 2020-21 school year at Bachelor, Step 1
- Non renewal of all certificated supplemental contracts effective at the end of the 2019-20 school year
- David Bauer as a summer technology assistant for the 2019-20 school year at $15 per hour, not to exceed 200 hours
- Employ Kendra Michaelis as a One on One tutor at $21 per hour for the 2019-20 school year
- Treasurer to pay 100% of all supplemental contracts with time spent prior to March 23, 2020 considered completion of the contractual obligations
- Master Negotiations Agreement between the Montpelier Education Association and the Montpelier Exempted Village Board of Education to include a 3% increase each year of the contract; effective August 1, 2020 to July 31, 2023
- Rehire Diann Sanders as transportation supervisor for the 2020-21 school year at 210 days for $37,861
- Non renew all classified supplemental contracts effective at the end of the 2019-20 school year
- Troy Christman as summer school aide at $21.00 per hour for the 2019-20 school year
- Treasurer to 100% of the pupil activity contracts with time spent prior to March 23, 2020 considered completion of the contractual obligations
- Extension of the addendum to the continuing contract for Brooke Funk for the period from September 1, 2020 to August 31,2021
- Allow carryover of vacation leave greater than 10 days, for the school year ending June 30, 2020 only, for all employees earning vacation leave due tot he public health stay at home order.
- Classified Employees Administrative Procedure Manual, effective July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023, to include a 3% increase to the base salary schedule each year
- Agreement with Kent State University for speech services for school year 2020-21 at a cost of $75,755.41
- School Psychologist Service Agreement with Edon Northwest Local Schools. Montpelier Schools will supply school psychologist services for 66 days to Edon Northwest at a cost of $40, 400.97 for the 2020-21 school year.
- Blanket Student Accident Insurance Program through Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company for the 2020-21 school year
- Advertise for a price quote for milk purchases for the cafeteria for the 2020-21 school year.
- Montpelier High School Jazz Band and Locomotion trip to New Orleans March 11-16, 2021
- Participation in the following federal programs: Title I, Title II-A, Title IV-A, Title I Part B IDEA, Title III LEP and the federal meal and milk program for the 2020-21 school year
- K-6 grade fees at $35 per grade for the 2020-21 school year
- JH/HS fees for the 2020-21 school year
- School lunch prices stay the same for 2020-21 school year: Grades K-8 at $2.75, Grades 9-12 at$3.00, Adult at $3.50, extra milk at $.50, student breakfast at $1.50 and adult breakfast at $2.00
- List of GRADUATES for MHS Class of 2020, pending all graduation requirements have been met.
- NwOESC Mentor program for 2020-21
- Montpelier Athletic Department 2020-21 Athletic Worker rates
- Montpelier High School 2020-21 All Sports Passes
- Montpelier Exempted Village School District 2020-21 Athletic Handbook
- Montpelier Jr./Sr. High School Coaches Rules for 2020-21
- Montpelier Exempted Village Schools 2020-21 Drug testing policy
- Mostly Northwest Ohio Educational Service Center substitute teacher list for the 2020-21 school year
- Treasurer to pay all employees during the public health epidemic closure as allowed per ORC 3319.08 (B) for Teachers and ORC 3319.081 (G) for all non teaching staff. Also direct the treasurer to continue to pay all long term maternity leave substitute teachers who have been working for staff on maternity leave during the closure. These subs will be paid for the time committed per the staff FMLA leave arrangements prior to the health closure.
- Administrative Salary Schedule, 2020-2023 to include a 3% increase to the base salary each year.
Rebecca can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com
