By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
The Swanton Local School District Board of Education selected a new property insurance plan following an update on increasing costs and a breakdown of their options during their most recent meeting.
According to Craig Kachmarik, vice president of the Stapleton Insurance Group, the board had three options – a plan that increased their annual premium from $40,230 to $51,674 while retaining enough coverage to fully reconstruct all buildings if they were all lost at the same time, a plan with the same coverage but with a special offer to the school to only increase the premium to $47,284 the first year and $51,674 for years following, and a plan that would only increase the premium to $46,796 with no further increases, but with a property valuation roughly $7.5 million lower, meaning if all buildings were lost at once, reconstruction costs would likely exceed the payout by roughly that amount.
The first two options include a total building reconstruction value of roughly $78.8 million, which was determined by an analysis of the properties including a physical walkthrough.
The valuation in the third option, just over $71 million, was based on calculations that take building specifications like square footage, year of construction, and number of stories, and plug them into an equation that gives an estimated valuation.
In the end, the board voted to select the second option, which included the more accurate valuation and the split increase in pricing.
BASEBALL/SOFTBALL COMPLEX UPDATE
Superintendent Chris Lake provided the board with an update on the baseball/softball complex, saying there is a possibility of splitting the project into two phases in order to get it moving more quickly.
With somewhere around $200,000 cash on hand, he said it made more sense to pursue some of the larger donors who have promised money in the future for the project to provide some now.
According to Lake, with $300,000 they could construct the game fields, fences, and dugouts, enough to potentially have fields ready to play on in calendar year 2025.
A second phase would then include the remainder of the project – press boxes, bathrooms, concessions, et cetera.
OTHER BUSINESS
The board approve a significant shortening of the schedule for increases to employees’ vacation time. Employees of between one and five years receive 10 days off, while employees with 5-10 years longevity will receive 15 and those with more than 10 years will receive 20.
The previous structure offered the same number of days off for employees with one to 10, 10 to 20, and more than 20 years of experience, respectively.
The board accepted a large number of donations, totaling $943.59 to the general fund, $12,000 for the baseball/softball field, $5,417.60 to the Swanton Elementary Principal Account, $3,375 to the Swanton Middle School Principal Account, $91.19 to the Swanton High School Principal Account, $7,701 to the SHS Leadership Program, $5,692.50 to the Athletic Fund, $1,000 to the Boys’ Basketball Team Fundraising Account, $2,304 to the Football Team Fundraising Account, $2,760 to the Track Team Fundraising Account, $875 to the Girls’ Basketball Team Fundraising Account, $2,500 to the Cheer Team Fundraising Account, and in-kind donations for Adulthood Day of drive-in passes for door prizes, coffee truck expenses, food for the hospitality room, catering services, and nearly $1,200 for Toledo Zoo passes.
The board approved a two-year administrative contract for Bailey May to serve as the new assistant principal of Swanton Middle School. The board approved increases to selected pay rates.
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 2024-2025 school year.
The board approved renewal of its annual membership in the Ohio School Boards Association Legal Assistance Fund at a cost of $250.
The board approved a spring varsity baseball team trip to Cocoa Beach, Florida, during spring break in March 2025.
The board approved a band trip in August of this year to spectate the Drum Corps International prelims in Indiana.
The board approved a variety of changes to the student handbooks for each of the schools. Lake reported the number of bullying cases confirmed true following investigation for the year to be one at Swanton Elementary School, five at Swanton Middle School, and nine at Swanton High School.
Lake reported the district had bought one diesel bus at a cost of approximately $135,000. The initial plan was to buy two buses, but the price was around $20,000 higher than what the district paid per bus in a purchase last year, so only one was obtained this year.
The board approved a variety of modifications to appropriations. 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,” although it was clarified that only employment would be considered. No action was expected as a result.
The next regular meeting of the Swanton Local School District Board of Education is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 10 at 108 N. Main Street.