(PHOTO BY JESSE DAVIS / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
TOP OF HER CLASS … Swanton Middle School student Ariana Jacomet poses with a certificate honoring her for being recognized as the Ohio Middle Level Association’s Student of the Year for the state of Ohio. Jacomet was presented the award by eighth-grade social studies teacher Dakota Ulrich, middle school art teacher Jodie Rominski, and Middle School Assistant Principal Bailey Langenderfer.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
A variety of financial challenges from cost overruns to increasing insurance premiums to state public school funding mechanisms drove discussion during Wednesday’s meeting of the Swanton Local School District Board of Education.
The first major item was the required transfer of just under $150,000 to the food service fund and roughly $48,600 to athletics due to cost overruns requiring deficit spending.
The athletics charges were due to new football and baseball uniforms as well as football helmet replacement.
The helmets are regularly inspected by Riddel to determine whether they are safe for use, and if not they can be refurbished or some must be replaced.
Upon the last inspection, roughly half of the football helmets were deemed unsafe and had to be replaced at a cost of between $500 and $700 each.
The food service fund overrun was due to an error by the previous contractor in how a system was set up to purchase commodity food through the government.
Because of the way it had been set up and the fact that some of the food products weren’t available, the commodities funds weren’t able to be used the way they were supposed to, resulting in the cost overrun.
Superintendent Chris Lake pointed out there were concerns with the contractor at the time, which is why the district chose to seek a new contractor earlier than the standard five-year cycle and hire The Nutrition Group to take over.
Lake said The Nutrition Group had been identifying problems with the way things have been handled and that this issue has been corrected so it will not occur again in the future.
INSURANCE RENEWAL
The board approved the district’s annual insurance renewal including property and liability insurance as well as cyber liability insurance.
Both are likely to come back up to be amended based on a proposed change to one of the property insurance premiums as well as the possibility of getting a better deal on cyber liability insurance.
Last year, the board was told the value of district property had increased roughly $12 million and they chose to split the difference across two years, with roughly $6 million increases in coverage last year and this year rather than absorb the total cost increase all at once. Because of that, the coverage was increased from $72 million to approximately $79 million.
In total, the changes to property and liability insurance resulted in a roughly $14,000 increase in the premium.
At the request of the board, Stapleton Insurance Group Vice President of Commercial Insurance Craig Kachmarik – who presented the updated plan to the board – is going to reprice the coverage with a higher deductible, which could result in a savings of between $1,000 and $2,500 in the premium.
The district’s cyber liability insurance policy roughly doubled in cost while the coverage level was cut in half.
Last year, it cost the district about $6,400 for $2 million in coverage, while the new plan includes $1 million of coverage for a premium of $11,325.
Kachmarik said he has located another potential option which would cost $5,900 for $1 million of coverage, and is pricing out a $2 million option he believes will come in at a premium of just under $10,000.
Kachmarik said the increases in coverage cost for all the types of insurance was not localized to Swanton. “It’s not you, it’s everybody,” he said.
FAIR SCHOOL FUNDING PLAN
The board approved a resolution supporting the Fair School Funding Plan and authorizing submission of a letter to state legislators stating their support. The letter comes in response to proposed changes to school funding including limits on carryover cash balances.
Lake said there is a “whole slew of legislation” being considered in the statehouse that would be bad for schools, including a push for a constitutional amendment to ban property taxes outright.
“It’s just a bad time for public schools,” Lake said, later adding “the fight to save public schools is really on right now.”
PERSONNEL BUSINESS
The board approved a variety of personnel changes, including acceptance of the resignations of three teachers and Swanton Middle School Principal Leigh Pancoast.
Pancoast originally took over the position in August 2023 after several years as assistant principal. She leaves after a total of 20 years with the district and will now be the assistant principal at Fallen Timbers Middle School in the Anthony Wayne Local School District.
The board approved an agreement with the School Support Staff Association as well as a new fringe benefits and compensation package.
OTHER BUSINESS
The board accepted combined donations of $400 for Adulthood Day, $6,834.50 for the elementary school, $4,658.51 to the middle school, $10,000 for strength and conditioning services, $3,000 “for volleyball for shooting gun,” $121.64 for prom, and $400 for golf package sales.
The board approved a variety of changes to the student handbooks for each of the schools.
The board approved its annual slate of payments in lieu of transportation to families with children for whom the district was unable to bus to school.
The board approved its annual agreement with the Northwest Ohio Juvenile Detention Center to provide education services to any students incarcerated at the facility during the 2025-2026 school year.
The board ended the public portion of the meeting by voting to go into executive session for the purpose of “consideration of the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of a public employee or official.” No action was expected as a result.
The next regular meeting of the Swanton Local School District Board of Education is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16 at 108 N. Main Street.