By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
Superintendent Jon Burke discussed the impact on several pieces of passed and in-process state legislation during Wednesday’s meeting of the Pike-Delta-York Local School District Board of Education Burke said House Bill 8 – or the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” – will become effective soon, which will bar transgender issues or “things of that nature” from the curriculum or the website.
“I don’t know that we have that in our curriculum but there could be cases where kids are reading novels that have things that would be on their own, I don’t think any of our classroom-approved novels have any of those topics in them. But if they do, we have to post those on our website,” he said.
Burke also pointed out the law’s requirement that the district notify parents of any major emotional or physical changes in students.
“Here’s where things get a little bit tricky with that, is if you have a kid who confides on a sensitive topic, that they don’t want to maybe tell their parents for a variety of reasons.”
“We’re still mandated to inform parents,” he said, adding “probably the trickiest conversation out of that would be … pregnant teens, sexual orientation, those kinds of topics.”
He said staff would be informed of the requirements and that the district would be complying with the law.
Burke also gave an update on House Bill 206, which authorizes districts to expel students for up to 180 days “for actions that the superintendent determines pose imminent and severe endangerment to the health and safety of other pupils or school employees,” according to the bill’s text.
It also requires as part of the process that the student be assessed by a psychiatrist, licensed psychologist, or licensed school psychologist. Any cost for the assessment not covered by the student’s health insurance will be the responsibility of the district.
After the initial 180 days, the superintendent must again assess the student, with an option to extend the expulsion for an additional 90 days.
The bill also includes requirements for educational planning for the student, options to allow the student to return early, and an appeal process for parents or guardians.
Burke said House Bill 208 mandates students use bathrooms and locker rooms aligning with their birth sex, and that both facilities be marked male or female.
Both Burke and a district IT staffer gave updates related to Senate Bill 29, which requires all educational resources to be compliant with a national data privacy law.
This affects, for example, what software can be used on school computers to ensure personally identifiable information is not shared with any unapproved outside entities.
“When teachers are using resources that are not on that list, they can get them approved, and if it’s not on that national register for student data privacy we’ve got to reach out and either needs to be a local contract or they need to get it on the national or we can’t use it in school,” Burke said.
FINANCIAL UPDATE
Effects of state legislative action on school finances was also a topic of discussion, with Burke pointing out that they are in the last two years of the fair school funding formula, and potential property tax relief looking to take out another chunk of funding.
“We know that there’s going to be some kind of property tax relief, right now there’s 22 bills throughout the house and senate to try to figure out what the property tax relief is going to look like,” Burke said.
Burke said it looks like legislators are trying to keep the 20-mill floor in place but will be cutting $100 million to public schools over the course of fiscal years 2025 through 2027.
According to Burke, “proposed projections” show the district losing roughly $50,000 in fiscal year 2025, $100,000 in 2026, and $200,000 in 2027.
“They’re freezing the expense input but updating the revenue inputs,” Treasurer Leland Hays said. “So, property taxes go up, income taxes go up, that’s counting against us, but we’re only allowed to use expense levels from 2022.”
Burke said he and other superintendents in Fulton County sent a letter to legislators sharing their support for keeping the fair school funding formula in place.
Hays also pointed out that the district’s fund balance is stable, with funds on hand to cover approximately 90 days of operations. That hits the top end of the recommendations from the Government Finance Officers Association for fund balances, which suggest 60 to 90 days of funding on hand.
While balances are stable and on track with expectations, Hays said expenses are up almost 8 percent. In particular, he noted that the district has spent $207,000 on electricity year to date.
2025-2026 CALENDAR APPROVED
The board voted to approve the calendar for the 2025-2026 school year, which led to a discussion on the difference between total hours in school and total days in school for students and what they believed to be appropriate.
While the total hours and days in school are currently within standards for the district, restructuring of the schedule over time particularly with regard to pre-planned two-hour delay days has reduced the total number of days students are in school from roughly 180 in the past to 173 in the upcoming school year.
“We have plenty of hours. At the middle school/high school level we have to get 1,001 hours for them to earn credit, and we’re well over that threshold. We’re actually close to 1,100 hours,” Burke said.
He said he still believed 173 days was low and that he thinks it should be around 175 or 176, which he said would be looked at for the 2026-2027 school year. Board member Tim Ford agreed that 173 days was not enough.
“We need to work back towards that 180, right? So, there’s a contract and the contract stipulates how many of those days should be for, you know, student days on campus and I think we need to make sure we stay to that, because, again, taxpayers pay for their kids to be in school … they want their kids there,” Ford said.
OTHER BUSINESS
The board approved early graduation for Makayla Heinemann and Kiera Krise. The board approved a slate of personnel changes, including the retirements of Gifted Intervention Specialist Jane Foor and vocational agriculture teacher and FFA adviser Jessie Schulze.
Foor’s responsibilities are being spread across existing staff, while the district is already looking for a replacement for Schulze.
The board approved course revisions for the 2025-2026 school year at Delta High School and Delta Middle School, largely consisting of the addition of career exploration classes.
The board approved the hiring of Konnor Hawkins as a high school technology intern at a rate of $14 per hour.
Hawkins had already been assisting the department, and the district will be reimbursed for his pay through a state program.
The board approved its annual contract for the membership of Delta High School and Delta Middle School in the Ohio High School Athletic Association for the 2025-2026 school year.
The board approved overnight FFA trips to the state convention in Columbus from April 30 to May 2 and to the nature and wildlife career development event contests at Hocking College in Logan from March 28 to March 29.
The board voted to accept donations totaling $1,198 for the FFA, $1,350 for archery, $1,735.94 for volleyball, $1,590 for Cory’s Backpack/Jerry Demaline memorial, $200 for the Panther Pantry, $641.25 for Marty shirts and rally towels, $100 for the Nathaniel Albring Scholarship, $73 for golf, and $1,000 for a new athletics score table.
The board ended the public portion of the meeting by going into executive session for the purpose of discussing “the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of an employee or the investigation of charges or complaints against an employee, or official, licensee, or student.” No action was expected as a result of the session.
