Wauseon Schools Hoping All Abide By ODH Virtual Graduation Only

By: Rebecca Miller

Wauseon High School Principal Keith Leatherman shared at the afternoon school board meeting on April 24, 2020 that he and Superintendent Troy Armstrong had met on a conference call, on April 23, with the Senior Class officers to discuss options for a Graduation Ceremony.

All of their ideas were basically scrapped the day after the meeting when the Ohio Department of Health strongly recommended that schools do Virtual Graduations Only. They also recommended keeping the date that each school had already set for Graduation.

They had discussed some creative ideas such as the possibility of using the football stadium in cars with the local radio station broadcasting the addresses and their names. He said that the biggest thing that seems to matter to them is that they really want to be presented with their diploma. They don’t want to just hear their name read.

Leatherman expressed his concern that some other schools might not follow the guidelines, creating difficulty for the schools who do., causing students to feel frustrated. They are working on coming up with some kind of “last event” for the seniors to make a memory.

Armstrong gave his report and received approval from the board for the following recommendations:

• Approve the intent to non-renew the contract of Pamela Waugh, Transportation Supervisor, and to not re-employ said person at the expiration of her current contract that expires on July 31, 2020
• Accept the resignation of Lauren Borton as the WEVS Assistant Treasurer/HR effective April 22, 2020
• Approve the transfer of April Beck from a WES 5th Grade teacher to a WES 4th Grade teacher, effective with the 2020-12 School year
• Approve Josh Oyer, Assistant Technology Coordinator, to be paid at Step 16 on the approval salary schedule for Fiscal Year 2021 ( due to the fact that he is needed year round and not only during the school year, thus expanding his days to 260)
• Authorize the Superintendent to use the Ohio schools Council Cooperative to advertise and receive bids for school bus chassis and bodies in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Education bus grant award in the amount of $53,990.22 (one 84 passenger bus)

Congratulations and honor were spoken for the 138 students who were chosen for the district Spring Celebrating Art program. The meeting adjourned at 2:30.

Rebecca can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com