Free lunches all year and vaccination event at school (Audio included)

The West Liberty-Salem Board of Education met in person on Tuesday evening.

The board welcomed West Liberty Village Council member Jeremy Keller as he proposed to form a Joint Recreation District with the schools. The village does not always have funds to be able to fully upkeep the different courts and ball fields which athletes use, and they hoped to form this new partnership to make it easier to raise funds and maintain the fields and equipment.

To first see if a partnership like this is possible, Keller proposed starting with an exploratory committee to obtain more information. If the board would like more information, he has proposed to bring in Superintendent Kristopher Myers of the Bellefontaine Joint Recreation District to talk about the benefits and functions that the partnership provides. The board has agreed to start with an initial exploratory committee to learn if this would be viable.

Food Service Director Kathy Smith presented some exciting developments to the board. She presented the guidelines that she has to follow in order to meet USDA requirements and assured that no matter how tough some meal options are to cut, her menu is always meeting the requirements.

She announced that all breakfasts and lunches in the coming 2021-2022 school year are free to students. This is a benefit for the students in that they will always be served food and will not go hungry if they did not have money for lunch. It also benefits the school as they will be reimbursed for the meals served, which will help offset the losses from schools being closed due to COVID. Families that have previously filed for free and reduced lunch programs will still need to fill out the application for the coming year despite the upcoming change.

From the principals reports:

Breakfast of Champions is scheduled for May 11^th, and the event is planned to be held outside if weather permits. Students are allowed to have four guests with them at the stadium during the breakfast. If the weather conditions are not ideal, the event will move inside the gym and students can only have two guests with them. Everyone will get a doughnut and drink, and there will be a speech given by the valedictorian, Kaylee LeVan.

The April Seniors of the Month were recognized during the meeting. The two seniors are Katelyn Stapleton and Ryan Motzko.

High school and middle school students are taking state tests starting this week. Unlike many other events and programs that were cancelled or postponed, the testing is one thing that still feels like a normal part of school that happened as it usually does.

Graduation is planned to take place on May 29th at 7 p.m. at the stadium. Sunday May 30th is the rainy day for the event.

From the superintendents report:

On Friday April 23rd, a vaccination clinic event will take place at the school, where students and their family members, who are 16 or older, can get the COVID vaccine. It is a free event and is put on by the Health District in partnership with the Urbana Medicine Shoppe. This event was planned to make the vaccine more accessible for families who have not yet gotten the vaccine and would wish to do so.

Superintendent Kraig Hissong discusses the meeting.

225 new iPads will need to be purchased for students. 100 will be bought for the new Freshman class, and 125 will be bought for the elementary school. Because iPads have roughly a six year lifespan before they begin to experience mechanical failure and can no longer support certain software, a new buying cycle has been proposed. Starting with the 2022 school year, the schools will be on a three year cycle and will purchase 200 iPads the first year, 200 iPads the second year, and 300 iPads the third year, and will then restart the cycle. By having incremental purchases during the years, it insures that updated technology is in circulation at the schools and there is no bulky one time technology purchases every few years. Older computer labs will also begin to be retired as now most websites and apps can be accessed through the iPads that students have, which will help in reducing technology costs.

Some additional improvements that need to be considered are:

School server upgrade which would cost $75,000 but could be paid off using Category 2 funding from E-rate
Paving bus lot – $191,300
Auxiliary parking lot near ball fields – $30,000
Practice field/green space – $9,000
LED Marquee sign – $30,000
Playground equipment – $25,000

In other board action:

Approved a non-renewal job hare partner on a 1-year limited contract:
Joleen Fullenkamp – 2020-2021 job share partner with Dee Harman

Approved the 50% job sharing request from Diedre Harman for the 8th grade science position for the 2021-2022 school year.

Approved Joleen Fullenkamp to be the 50% job sharing partner with Diedre Harman for the 8th grade science position for the 2021-2022 school year.

Approved the Seasonal Summer Student Worker Program. This program provides four to five students workers for the custodial department to assist with cleaning of the building during summer months and three technology student workers to assist with iPad and computer maintenance. Hours for the positions are based on need and as requested by supervisors. Students will be paid at a rate of $8.80 per hour. Students may begin working June 1st, 2021.

Approved the non-renewal of Joleen Fullenkamp on a 1-year contract for the part-time PLP Distance Learning Position created to support the implementation of the district’s PLP program as a result of COVID at the end of the 2020-2021 school year.

Approved Marysville Fence for a fence that will provide security and access control to all practice and athletic game fields on the campus at the installation cost of $18,750.

Approved the resignation of Jon Leichty as the Freshman Basketball Coach of the 2020-2021 school year based on not having Freshman team for this school year; and approved Jon Leichty as a Volunteer Coach for the 2020-2021 school year for boy’s basketball.

Approved the membership resolution to voluntarily join the Ohio High School Athletic Association, OHSAA, for grades 7-12 for the 2021-2022 school year.

Approved Deborah Alltop as a Sub Bus Aide and as a Certified Van Driver for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year based on all requirements being met.

Approved the resignation of Steve Maag, from his custodian position, effective at the end of the day, April 22, 2021.

Approved the following individuals as substitutes for the Food Service Department for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year based on all requirements being met:

Audrey Jones
Jill Brunke
Michelle Moffitt

Approved the Master Agreement between the West Liberty-Salem Board of Education and the West Liberty-Salem Education Association/OEA-NEA effective July 1st, 2021 through June 30th, 2024.

Approved for the Treasurer to enter into an agreement with the Ohio School Comp 2022 Workers Compensation Group Retrospective Rating Program, a program of OSBA and OASBO and Comp Management and to pay the 2022 enrollment and administrative fee in the amount of $600.

Approved Student Accident Insurance Policy for 2021-2022 from Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company, Agent Brandy Seals, administered in Ohio by Student Protective Agency.

Approved donations:

Waibel Pools – $100 – Jr Class Prom
Reliant Mechanical – $200 – Jr Class Prom
West Liberty Building Supply – $100 – Jr Class Prom
Anonymous (Staff) – $304 – Musical
Arthur Birt Family – $10,000 – Rotary Scholarships

Approved the following two-year contract renewal for the following Treasurer Staff employees:

Megan Wilkins – effective date – 8/1/2021 through 7/31/2023
Liz Carter – effective date – 8/1/2021 through 7/31/2023

The board entered executive session to discuss hiring/firing person of public or staff member, no action was taken.

The West Liberty-Salem Board of Education will meet again on May 18th at 7 p.m.