Members of the Pettisville Local Board of Education convened in regular session on the evening of February 9.
Items approved by the Board from the consent agenda included the issuance of a supplemental contract as mentor/mentee to Mr. Jason Mansfield and Mrs. Lacee (Lovins) Miller for year two. The Board also ordered a correction of the supplemental amount for the elementary operetta to the intended amount of .02415, making the same correction for Mrs. Roberta Yoder and Mr. Duane Beck, and set the date of March 9, 2016 at 7:00 PM is set as the hearing for the school calendar for the coming year.
Mr. Jason Waldvogel, the Principal of Pettisville Elementary, reported that the Fulton County Spelling Bee will be held at the Northwest Ohio Educational Service Center on Tuesday, February 10th. The following students will represent our elementary: 6th Grade – Elise Hartzler; 5th Grade – Lyla Heising, and 4th Grade – Isabella Strauss.
It was decided that third grade students would not participate in the Spelling Bee, and that Shannon Borton will serve as the elementary representative.
On Thursday, February 20 the sophomore class will hold their annual supper from 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. On the same evening, the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade girls and boys Minibirds will display their basketball talents starting at 6:00 p.m. Come enjoy an evening of good food and entertainment.
It is time to pre-register and test kindergartners for the coming year. Students who will turn five by August 1st are eligible for kindergarten. Parents who are planning to have their children register for next year’s kindergarten should call the school. Please be ready to supply the child’s name, birth date, parents’ names, address, and phone number. During the call, parents will be asked to schedule an appointment time for their child’s registration screening process to be held on March 27th. Please allow at least an hour of time for the child to go through the entire screening process. An information session for parents will be held during the individual screening sessions.
The session will allow parents to see what a typical day of a student will be, and to answer any questions they may have.
On Monday, January 26th, the elementary teachers participated in the McTeacher’s Night at the McDonald’s restaurant in Archbold. The teachers helped operate the restaurant from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. McDonald’s donated 20% of all dine-in, carry-out and drive-thru sales during this time. The staff earned $634.28 with McDonald’s rounding the total up to $700. The staff also received $46.41 in tips bringing the total for the evening to $746.41. A huge thank-you to the community for their support and the staff for their tremendous effort!
The district will begin next week with the spring performance based end of year assessments that are mandated by the Ohio Department of Education. The elementary tests will be given on the Chromebooks within their regular classrooms, with the exception of students with accommodations.
At the recommendation of Mr. Chris Lee, Treasurer/CFO, the Board approved a measure to authorize him to enter into a three year agreement with Sammy Stamm and Company for preparation of financial statements at a cost of $2,200 per year.
Mr. Lee and Dr. Switzer met with Patrick King of Stiffel Niclaus regarding a refinancing of the bonds currently held by the district on the new building. He has been watching the situation and reported several months ago with some projections of savings if the district were to refinance. At that time, he did not recommend proceeding because the level of savings did not justify the cost of refinancing. He now has a different recommendation, based in part on the historic lows that the bond market has experienced. On November 28, 2014, ten year and thirty year bonds hit an historic low. Ten year bonds hit 1.47% and thirty year bonds hit 2.47%. The bonds that the district sold for the new building were sold for 4.88. It is Mr. King’s recommendation, concurred by Mr. Lee and Dr. Switzer, that the district should proceed with refinancing. He estimates that the taxpayers of the district would save $230,964—nearly a quarter million dollars—over the course of the bond issue. The Board approved several actions enabling refinancing of the bonds to proceed.
Dr. Stephen Switzer, Superintendent of the Pettisville Local Schools, reported that on Tuesday, February 3, 2015, Governor Kasich presented his budget. Basically, Pettisville Schools stand to lose $35,976 in fiscal year 2016 and $35,616 in fiscal year 2017. That represents a 2 percent decrease in “final core aid” each year.
In fiscal year 2016 Pettisville is one of ten districts in the four county area that would lose funds and one of three in Fulton County. In fiscal year 2017 Pettisville is one of nine districts in the four county area that would lose funds and one of three in Fulton County.
The governor’s budget is the first round in the budgeting process that will include a house budget, a senate budget, and then, likely, a conference committee budget.
Traditionally the funding gets increased as the budget moves along but we are not necessarily in traditional times.
Some of the Capital Projects being considered for summer include…
•Phone System Replacement
•Repair asphalt in north lot and re-seal lot
•Purchase a new mower
•Add heat tape and ice stops to north wing roof near atrium
•School Bus Purchase for 2015-16
•Railing at the South Crosswalk has been ordered and will be installed in spring
•Removal of Toledo Edison pole at the north east corner of the bus loop entrance
•Four different Energy Conversion projects
INFORMATION PROVIDED