PHOTO BY JESSE DAVIS / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
A HEART FOR SAVING LIVES … District Nurse Laura Brown (right) receives an award from Tim Lewis of the American Heart Association (left) for her preparation and execution of a response plan for a student with an internal defibrillator, whose life she and her team helped save when he went into sudden cardiac arrest.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
In a good news, bad news report during Wednesday’s meeting of the Pike-Delta-York Local School District Board of Education, CFO/Treasurer Leland Hays reported the district was beginning to feel the first real impact of the expiration of its 5.31-mill property tax levy.
According to Hays, real estate taxes collected by the district are down by $522,000 year to date from last year, with other tax collections up just slightly. He said total revenue for the year is down 18 percent.
Despite the revenue challenges, Hays said expenses are down somewhat, and thanks to the board’s planning ahead, the school’s cash balance is up 27 percent year over year.
“From the collections and everything that’s happened over the last couple of years, for now, we’re in a pretty good spot. If the [new 1.25 percent earned income tax] levy passes, hopefully we’ll stay strong as we move forward,” Hays said.
Board member Tim Ford elaborated, saying the district faces a “financial cliff” in fiscal year 2028 if residents vote down the new levy.
“Obviously the outcome in November would dictate some of our plans for the committees and some decisions we have to make to close that gap proactively,” board President Jackie Chiesa said.
Hays said they will have to continue to monitor revenue and expenses “as best we can,” but added that he is “cautiously optimistic.”
NURSE RECOGNIZED FOR SAVING STUDENT
District Nurse Laura Brown was presented with an award from the American Heart Association after the cardiac emergency response plan she had put in place paired with the quick response of the team she put together resulted in them being able to save the life of a student who went into sudden cardiac arrest when his pacemaker failed.
Tim Lewis of the AHA attended the meeting in order to present the award to Brown. “When I first learned about this I was just so inspired by it and said we spend a lot of time working with school districts, but also working with businesses and hospitals and trying to put together the best plans, and you all are a model for what she did and what she put together to respond to that,” Lewis said.
He went on to say their effort resulted in the resuscitation of the student and his return to school within a couple of weeks.
VOLLEYBALL COACH CONCERNS
The mother of a Delta High School varsity volleyball player addressed the board, sharing her opinion that the team’s coach “is not capable of coaching and developing players on a volleyball team.”
“She does not effectively run an offense for the girls to be able to score points in the set. Most points are coming from errors on the opposing team.
“For the first 10 games this season, she never stood up from her chair on the sidelines. She doesn’t coach while the team is playing. She doesn’t instruct during timeouts.
“She doesn’t tell them as the rally is going on where that hit is coming from, if the serve is in or out, or calling a tip coming over the net,” the woman said.
The woman also said defense specialists on the team have shown no improvements in the three years the coach has been coaching them, and that she isn’t showing them different ways of getting to the ball during practices.
She also said the coach has been disrespectful to her daughter several games during this season.
“In every scrimmage and game I have witnessed, I can say I am deeply disappointed, and I do not see how the volleyball program will be improved,” she said.
She encouraged board members to attend a varsity game this season to see for themselves the performance of the coach.
OTHER BUSINESS
The board approved updates to its handbook. The board approved agreements with Northwest Ohio Educational Services for Roots analysis of state testing data and for intervention specialist services.
The board approved several revisions to policies, Smart Snack compliance, and the rescinding of an unnecessary policy.
The board approved overnight FFA trips to the Ag and Urban State CDE contests from October 10-11, the National FFA Convention from October 28 to November 1, and to the Ohio Leadership Conference from Jan. 16-18, 2026.
The board accepted donations of $22,500 from Fulton County Processing and $10,000 from Tammy Sprow for scoreboard sponsorships, as well as $49.05 for scholarships, $100 for the Larry Geiger memorial, $300 for girls soccer, $100 to purchase books at the middle school, $1,250 for the athletic department, $442 for fall cheer, $4,400 for middle school football helmets and uniforms, $4,500 for football meals, $1,050 for the Panther Pantry, $498.28 for FFA, $3,000 for 2025-2026 calendar sponsorships, $254.32 for Cory’s Backpack, and $60 for the Sunshine Committee.
The next regular meeting of the Pike-Delta-York Local School District Board of Education will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 15, at the board’s offices, located at 504 Fernwood Street in Delta.