SR school board approves leasing land to farm | News, Sports, Jobs

CANFIELD – The South Range school board this week approved a lease agreement for the recently purchased property north of its sports complex.

The board unanimously approved a tilling lease agreement with Less and Less Farm LLC on an annual basis for $80 per acre for the 13 acres north of the Rominger Sports Complex on Columbiana Canfield Road. The land will not be leased long-term and will remain available for school purposes at the board’s discretion.

School counsel Harrington, Hoppe & Mitchell LTD prepared the terms of the lease.

In response to board member Taylor Christian’s question about the district’s liability under the lease, Treasurer Jim Phillips said Less and Less Farm LLC had to provide a certificate of insurance for $1 million and the district is held harmless.

The board in February used money from the .5-mill permanent improvement fund required with the bond issue for the K-12 campus to purchase the land in case it is needed in the future. Phillips said Less and Less Farm LLC had been leasing the land prior to the district purchasing it.

In other business, schools Superintendent Bethany Carlson reported the administrative team is working on summer school options to help students who have fallen behind in instruction due to the pandemic.

She said Elementary Principal Steve Matos is working to align kindergarten-first grade students and first-second grade students with the Success by Six program, which prepares students for kindergarten, and is currently obtaining different data points for the process. Grades three and four up to middle school will be addressed in late July and early August. High school students will be working on credit recovery all summer.

Carlson also reported the administrative team is working on blended option for remote learning next year. She said the district is not offering an all-remote option per Ohio Department of Education guidelines.

“We want students in school and learning with their peers and teachers,” Carlson said.

Additionally, Carlson reported the district is working with local health care providers to serve as a Covid-19 vaccine facility for students 16 years and older. She said the vaccine will not mandated for students, but the school will serve as a place for parents who want their children vaccinated but are unable to get them where they need to be.

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