Construction has been moving along at all the Swanton school buildings
That was in a report to the Board of Education at its March 15 meeting.
High winds March 8 created havoc at the Crestwood site, blowing down the framing. Repairs were swift and the project was under way again by March 9.
The preschool at the high school should have drywall and painting completed.
The crews have been busy at both Park and Crestwood addressing areas of concern. These are mostly items that were held up until it was decided what direction the district would be going, i.e. lighting, painting, and other items.
The grounds crew will be starting sometime the first part of April. With this last wind, there are a lot of limbs down. Nothing major but cleanup will be needed.
A tree came down near the MS football practice area as well as some trees that have fallen into the fields that are being farmed.
One major project on the agenda is to clean up the area west of the high school in the Land and Soil program. Crews will be taking out a number of dead or nuisance trees.
This will allow crews to mow the area three to four times throughout the summer.
This year’s Fourth of July fireworks have been scheduled for July 1 with a rain date of July 2. This year’s set up will be a little different.
The fireworks will be set off in the same area with the red zone extended for safety reasons. The vendors’ area will be relocated to offer room for more vendors. It will be approximately 50 yards from where it was but much more accessible to everyone.
After this last all-day rain we had some leaks in the middle school roof. Buckets handle the problem and it should be okay as long as the school doesn’t get torrential downpours.
Staff has been going through things and disposing of items that are no longer needed in preparation for “THE MOVE”.
The “04” building is also being gone through disposing of items that have been piled there for years. Things are being sorted for the upcoming auction.
“Kigar Realty and Auction” has been contracted to handle the auction. The format be an “Online Auction.”
A tentative start date of March 27 with an end date of April 9. . An open house and tour of the Cherry St. building from 9 a.m. to noon, April 8 is planned.
The kitchen equipment that will not be used has been added. This will end at a later time.
There were many trophies were found during the cleanup. Bettyjo Sadowski offered to come in and clean them up. They have been grouped together by date. The plan is to offer them to the public for a nominal price. Some of these trophies date back to the 1920s.
Everything there is pretty much status quo with the park except for the construction. Staff has been starting to dispose of items there also. I have started the process to interview summer sub custodial help for the schools this year. Two crews, the regular cleaning crew and a moving crew will be used.
The board approved a resolution authorizing a contract with Genesis Contracting to remove the underground storage tank related to the abatement and removal of the high school and former junior high school at 206 Cherry St. The cost is not to exceed $22,000.
The board approved a resolution to approve a contract with Midwest Environmental related to the abatement of the high school and former junior high at 206 Cherry St. The base bid amount is $54,000.
The board accepted the following donations:
$22.55 from Ohio Pyle for High School Principal’s Account
$200 from Julie Wright for High School Principal’s Account
$500 from Epiphany Community Services for High School Principal’s Account
$50 from Luce Chimney for High School Prom
$50 from Oak Valley Realtors for High School Prom
$40 from Michael & Terri Thompson for Girls Basketball Team Fundraising Account
(Roush Cleantec) Dave Craft of Cardinal Bus Sales, and Kuba Szczypiorski of Blue Bird Corporation gave a presentation of the benefits of Blue Bird’s Propane powered buses. Some of the topics will include Operating Costs, Reduced Emissions, Tax Incentives/Credits on propane, Fueling station options, and Propane’s proven safety. They will be available to answer your questions about the pros and cons of adding a propane bus(es) to the fleet.
For more information, visit http://www.roushcleantech.com/blue-bird-vision-propane/
The district’s one bus left for spot inspection was looked at March 2. The annual inspection date will be June 9. Bus 9 was once again at Cummins for emissions-related problems, the manifold ended up needing replaced, and so far, all is good.
The rest of the fleet has been regular maintenance for the most part, have had a couple rear brake jobs. Two sub drivers pass their driving tests, Greg Kohler and Shelly Schmidt. Both have been doing great, Jason Divoll Transportation Director, said.
It was Teachers Night On, March 7, at the high school, as the district hosted an International Teachers Night in the SHS cafeteria.
Nearly 20 teachers from around the world were on hand to share a little bit about their cultures and also learn about ours. There was food, interactive displays, and activities for the entire community. This was done in partnership with BGSU and their College of Education.
2017-2018 scheduling beginning this week, students will begin meeting with Mrs. Moeller to plan their schedules for next year. After students have chosen their schedule, parents must sign off on the final selections.
Students will then be inputting their schedules online. Administration will then build the final schedule for next year during the first week of April.
It was a great winter sports season at SHS. Both boys and girls basketball teams were able to cut down the nets as Sectional champions.
The bowling teams had a strong season, with the boys knocking off league champion Bryan at a home match early in the season.
The wrestling team sent three wrestlers down to the State Tournament, as well as winning their first sectional title since 1990.
SHS Musical SHS will be putting on “The Lion King jr” April in the SHS auditorium. Mrs. Zedlitz and her cast, along with Mrs. Lovell and the set crew have been working nonstop to get things perfect for the show. New this year, there will be four shows: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 30, Friday, Saturday, April 1, and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 2.
Reserve seats are $15. General admission are $7. (good any night) first come, first serve seating in the upper level of the auditorium.
The board approved the following recommendations:
Rescind Classified Supplemental 2016-2017 School Year Nick Tschantz – Reserve Baseball Coach – 9 percent
Rescind Recreation Contract 2016-2017 School Year Marty Thorpe – Biddy Wrestling – $700
Certified Supplemental 2016-2017 School Year Justin Reckner – Boys Track Assistant – 9%
Classified Contracts Jeffrey Betz – Lawn Maintenance – April 3-October 28, 2017 – extended to November 11 for playoff games if needed
Classified Supplemental 2016-2017 School Year Shane Bloom – Reserve Baseball Co-Coach – 4.5%
Kevin Kohlman – Reserve Baseball Co-Coach – 4.5%
Rick Roe – Girls Track Assistant – 9%
Da Netra Smith – Junior High Boys Assistant Track Coach – 5%
Classified Substitute 2016-2017 School Year James Robinson – Grounds Maintenance – $12/hr, April 3-October 28, 2017–extended to November 11 for playoff games if needed
Shelly Schmidt – Clerical, Library Aide, Playground/Lunch Aide, Athletic Worker
Student Aide Michelle McFarland – Clerical, Library Aide, Bus Aide, Playground/Lunch Aide, Student Aide Recreation Contracts 2016-2017 School Year Sandy Eitniear – Spring Soccer Field Maintenance – $8.15 an hour up to 10 hours per week
Liam Bloom – Baseball/Softball Field Maintenance – $8.15 an hour with 25 hours per week and 40 hours per week during tournament weekends
Timothy Ricard – 2017 Baseball Director – $1,200
Timothy Ricard – 2017 Softball Director – $1,200
Brooke Chinni – U4-U6 T-ball Director – $400
NWOESC Substitute Teachers 2016-2017 School Year Katherine Kaser Laurie Nofziger Karin McGilvery Raymond Orben Jr. Washington DC 2017 Chaperones Brooke Chinni Theodore Burch Anne Dodd Dennis Thornton Carolyn Fickel Kelly Gelske Carl Matheny Travis Weigel
Ariel Ohlemacher Melissa Miller Ryan Pawlowicz Daniel Zawodni Leigh Pancoast John Pratt Donald Szalapski .
Recreation Volunteers 2016-2017 School Year Scott Wiemken – Soccer; Tiffany Malone – Soccer; Luke Gardner – Soccer; Brooke Chinni – Soccer; Curt Bowman – Soccer; William Avery – Soccer; Leigh Pancoast – Soccer; Ted Burch – Soccer; Stephany Williams – Soccer ;Scott Haselman – Soccer ; April Oglesbee – Soccer; Matthew Laney – Soccer; Laura Strietelmeier – Soccer; Ed Strietelmeier – Soccer Mandi Stinehelfer – Soccer; Brett Loman – Soccer; Adam Pancoast – Soccer; Eric Butler – Soccer; John Osborn – Soccer; Scott Oglesbee – Soccer.
Student Teacher Volunteers 2016-2017 School Year Alexandria Scheerer with Shannon Berry. Student Teacher Volunteers 2017-2018 School Year Samantha Ohlinger with Kayla Brownfield
Swanton Middle School Board Report
Track season practices began March 6. Grade Career Expo at Penta Career Center: As part of the career readiness program at SMS, eighth grade students traveled to Penta Career Center at the end of February for the annual Career Expo. This event highlighted the career tech programs that Penta offers and the students had a great time. There were many Swanton High School Penta students on hand to show the middle school students programs.
The Middle school Destination Imagination Team ( Ellie Sachs, Logan Pelland, Jack Kitzmiller, Saylor McNally and CJ Santchi) competed at Delta at the end of February and took third place.
State Testing Preparation Begins It is now time to start talking about State Standardized Testing again. Swanton Middle School will begin the first round of testing on March 28 and 29.
The Swanton Middle School Character Committee received the Character Grant from The Swanton Local Schools Mini-Grant.
● Facilitating Swanton Local Schools District’s building/addition plan encompassing all technology: ○ District
■ Creating a unified access control system for controlled entrance into Elementary, Middle, and High Schools.
■ Working through logistics and planning for technology in each new/relocated room, to ensure that the staff members technology needs are met. ○ Park (Swanton Middle School)
■ Logistics for creating 2 additional IDFs. One in the new band/choir section, and one in the cafeteria mezzanine area. An IDF is necessary due to the length of the new building and the limitations on structured cabling.
■ Planning out installation/relocation of existing networking equipment and WAPs from old MS. ○ Crestwood (Swanton Elementary School)
■ Logistics for creating 1 additional IDF in the new classroom section. An IDF is necessary due to the length of the new building and the limitations on structured cabling.
■ Planning out installation/relocation of existing networking equipment and WAPs from old MS. ○ Fisher Gym
■ Relocation the Internet Service Provider demarcation point. Existing location will be removed with demolition.
■ Planning out installation of existing networking equipment and WAP from old MS.
Meal Counts for All Schools In February 2017
Breakfast Total: 4,475 ; Lunch Total: 12,620
Meal Counts For All Schools Year to date:
Breakfast Total : 26,398; Lunch Total: 77,014
The numbers in 2017 shown above are for reimbursed meals. Totaling over $35,000. Interest in breakfast continues with great help from the schools and their principals reminding students that Free and Reduced also applies to breakfast as well. Numbers are up from last year as interest in the lunch program continues to grow. Change in the high school breakfast menu has been implemented to help with participation.
James Pruitt may be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com