MOUNT VERNON – The Mount Vernon City Schools Board of Education held its monthly meeting in the Middle School Library on Monday. All board members were present, as was Superintendent William Seder and Pam Rose, Director of Student Services.
The board held a lengthy discussion of the options for athletic league affiliation beginning in the 2016-17 school year. Superintendent Seder had initiated this discussion at February’s meeting when he informed board members that the Ohio Cardinal Conference had selected Mount Vernon as a possible member in its league. He noted that Mount Vernon had become something of an outlier in the Ohio Capitol Conference (particularly in terms of travel time and competitiveness in certain sports) and that changing its league affiliation would be a largely positive development. The Ohio Cardinal Conference was not the only candidate, however, since the Licking County League had recently developed a more ambitious proposal to incorporate several schools comparable to Mount Vernon—including Big Walnut, Zanesville, and others—into their conference.
Superintendent Seder updated board members on developments during the past month. Since February, Orrville has formally petitioned to leave the Ohio Cardinal Conference, prompting the league to officially invite Mount Vernon to replace them via a letter on March 9th. Members—and potential members—of the Licking County League had by then already scheduled an informal meeting to discuss the LCL’s future on March 15th and agreed to hold a formal meeting on March 23rd to determine if the conference reorganization was a viable option. In the meantime, Superintendent Seder and Director Mark Shively polled Mount Vernon’s coaching staff and found them to be of mixed opinions on whether the OCC or the LCL would better serve the interests of their student-athletes. Both leagues offer certain benefits and certain drawbacks—and, assuming that both are viable options, no coaches expressed overwhelming dissatisfaction with either. Shively and Seder also presented data regarding the effects of affiliation with each conferences on gate receipts, transportation costs, and scheduling.
Anxious to avoid what Steven Thompson referred to as “paralysis by analysis”, several board members indicated that a decision needed to be made at the earliest available opportunity and particularly noted that the invitation to join the Ohio Cardinal Conference warranted a timely response. No action was taken on the matter but it was determined that, as soon as possible after March 23rd, the Board would hold a special session to pass a resolution on a definite course of action.
The meeting also featured comments from the board members. Cheryl Feasal expressed her appreciation of the transportation supervisor, the bus drivers, parents, and administrators who worked together to cope effectively with the less-than-ideal weather of the past several weeks. Mary Rugola-Dye thanked the teachers and high-school students in attendance, thanked the community for its continued support, and thanked the Ohio Constitution Modernization Committee for retaining the phrase “thorough and efficient” in its mandate for the state’s public education system.
Steve Thompson noted that, for the first time, he saw a baseball team practicing on the football field—testimony not only to the fine weather but of the benefits of the field’s new surface.
Jody Goetzman praised the three MVHS wrestlers who went to state competitions last weekend and praised also the Mount Vernon Jazz Band for their performance at the Ohio School Board Association conference last week. She also acknowledged again the exciting designation of East Elementary as a Blue Ribbon school this year.
Dr. Margie Bennett seconded Goetzman’s praise of the “Mellow Jackets” jazz ensemble and the satisfaction of seeing East Elementary being recognized. Superintendent William Seder, Jr., noted that administrators from other schools at the OSBA conference had praised the MVHS Jazz band and wanted also to recognize the achievements of the district’s Forensic Science group and the Symphonic Band (which recently received a “Superior” rating at an adjudicated event).
Kathy Kasler, principal of Mount Vernon High School, introduced the “Behind-the-Scenes Person of the Month” for March. Faced with the daunting task of selecting a single unsung hero, the school’s Building Leadership Team decided to take a broader view and designate the entire MVHS Academic Booster Club (ABC) for its efforts. The ABC does many things, including organizing assemblies, presenting scholarships, and (with the College Credit Plus program on its way) offering a Winter ACT/SAT workshop to help students prepare for college placement exams. ABC President Colleen Clarkson accepted the award and recognized other ABC officers present—including Marty Trese (Secretary-in-training), Beth Robinson (Treasurer), and Tonya Noonen (ACT/SAT Prep Class Coordinator). “We are a small group,” commented Clarkson, “but we get a lot done.”
The High School was the featured building at this month’s meeting and representatives from two student groups summarized some of their recent activities.
In the first, three students described their summer trip to Italy last summer. As part of the Henry Wilks Study Tour of Rome and Pompeii, Latin Teacher Mary Jo Behrensmeyer accompanied ten students to the “flaming fields” of Cumae to study ancient Rome and visit important sites. Students were responsible only for their transportation costs while their expenses were covered by the Wilks grant. In her proposal, Ms. Behrensmeyer suggested that “since the early Americans lived in the afterglow of the Renaissance and because our Founding Fathers had a classical studies education” her students would develop projects that compare the “relics” of the ancient world with the ways those products were “naturalized” on American soil. Although that sort of comparison can be made more directly to the architecture of Washington, DC, students carried the comparison further by comparing and contrasting elements of classical culture to Mount Vernon today. One student, for example, discussed the similarities between the Roman Forum and the Farmers Market on the Square. Another discussed the construction of millennium-old stone Roman roads with the more pothole-enriched streets of our own community. A third student described his project on the ways that ancient pagan sites were repurposed as Christian ones and were then copied (with some of the classical pre-Christian elements intact) in American houses of worship. Their presentations concluded, all three of the students expressed their appreciation of their experiences—which included a night-time almost-private tour of the Vatican. Behrensmeyer pointed out that, since the program was such a success last summer, another trip—this time funded by a $5,000 grant from the Ariel Foundation—was planned for Summer 2015.
Teacher Martha Melick then introduced three students who presented an overview of activities undertaken throughout the past year by the Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America. This organization’s mission is to promote personal growth and leadership development through family and consumer science education. The students presented an overview of the group’s various service-learning projects—which included an “Apple Walk” at a September Farmers Market, spearheading the High School’s “Food for the Hungry” drive in October, making cat and dog toys as fundraisers for the local Humane Society and animal shelter, developing a “survivor selfie” program to raise money for the James Cancer Research Hospital in Columbus, holding a “Kindness Day” event at the Middle School, conducting a Story Time at the Public Library, making Buckeye Spirit necklaces with the multiple disabilities class to raise money for Special Olympics, and maintaining the “Positive Poster” campaign in school hallways. Their most recent major service-learning project promotes traffic safety through implementation of the week-long nationwide “Safe Driver and Powerful Passenger” campaign—implemented locally in partnership with other student organizations, the AAA, the Knox County Health Department and Safe Communities Coalition, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and the Ohio Traffic Safety Department. Elements included a “grim statistics” event (during the Grim Reaper handed out cards bearing data about traffic safety to lunching students), several assemblies, and the conducting of a survey among students and community members to allow them to evaluate their own traffic safety practices. Partners provided cinch-bags and other incentives to improve student participation, two “distracted-driver simulators” were brought to school to increase awareness of its dangers, and students were able to use probability wheels to assess the risks they face under a variety of driving scenarios. In April, the FCCLA will focus on the texting-while-driving laws by assisting the Student Council in a pledge project and, in May, they will work with the Knox County Community Safety Coalition to plan events for National Traffic Safety Month. The FCCLA members concluded their presentation by describing their recent successes in regional competitions (in which one of their projects won a gold medal) and their plans for the upcoming statewide competition in April.
Student Council Representative Layne McKinley then presented an overview of prominent academic and athletic events of MVHS’s year thus far.
The Board retroactively approved a minor change to the school calendar. March 13, 2015 had been changed from a split professional development / work day to a regular school day in order to decrease the number of calamity make-up days needed at the end of the school year.
The Board then approved an extended trip for the Future Farmers of America Soils Team. The FFA Soils Team will attend the National Soils Contest in Oklahoma City, OK in May. Students placed first in the Ohio FFA State Rural Soils Career Development Event last fall which made the team eligible to compete in the national event in Oklahoma. Students will depart on May 3 and return on May 9, 2015.
It also approved an overnight trip for the Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America. FCCLA students will attend the State Leadership Conference at the Ohio Exposition Center in Columbus. Four students, who have participated in regional competition, will compete and/or receive awards. Students will depart on April 23 and return on April 24, 2015.
Treasurer Judy Forney reported that property tax revenues had been collected and, while some state funds had not yet been disbursed, the district’s budget was performing largely as expected. She noted also that revenues—including interest on investments—were very slightly higher than anticipated and spending was slightly lower.
As requested at a previous meeting, Treasurer Forney also presented to Board members a detailed analysis of the costs involved in shifting from the current method of using OCBOA reporting (which focuses largely on the movement of cash within a budget) to GAAP reporting (which includes a more detailed account of long-term assets and liabilities). She noted that, even including a potential penalty imposed for relying on the OCBOA approach, the district’s current auditing firm would charge substantially more for a GAAP report. Moreover, a GAAP report would require a good deal more information than was typically provided and, to be fully in-order, would probably the re-appraisal of the school district’s current assets. She recommended, therefore, that the current budget report model be retained at least for the duration of the current auditing contract. The Board agreed with her recommendation and took no action on the proposal to change the current practice.
The Board accepted the donation of $6,049 from the Pleasant Street PTO to purchase Chromebooks for Pleasant Street Elementary School. It accepted also the donation of two Memorial Books: A Mother’s Song was donated to the East Elementary Library in memory of Dorothy L. White, Mother of Holly Trask, Gifted Teacher and The Monogram Murders was donated to Mount Vernon High School Library in memory of the father of Cory R. Ward, Teacher at the Mount Vernon High School.
The Board approved several requests for free use of facilities. These included the use of Columbia gymnasium for Friday night activities between 2/27 and 4/10, the use of Columbia gymnasium for Thursday and Saturday practices for Foster’s MVBA team, the use of Dan Emmett gymnasium by the Dan Emmett PTO for a Spring Craft Family Night on 3/24, the use of the Mount Vernon High School gymnasium by the Mount Vernon News for the Senior All-Star Basketball Game on 3/16, the use of the Mount Vernon Middle School gymnasium by the MVBA Little League for pitching practice on 3/15, 3/22, and 3/29, and the use of the Junior Varsity softball field by the Ohio Stingrays for girls’ fast-pitch softball practice between 4/15 and 8/15. Cub Scout Pack 339 was granted fee-based use (custodial fees only) of the Pleasant Street gymnasium for its Pinewood Derby on 3/21.
It approved granting a 100% real property tax exemption to PACS Switchgear for a period of fifteen years and accepted contracts for broadband services and Internet service from LACA and for emergency response system plan compliance assistance from NaviGate.
It also approved the solicitation of competitive bids for two or more 65-77 passenger school buses, fueled by diesel or alternative fuel, and the awarding of the contract to the lowest responsible bidder able to meet the district’s specifications.
The Board granted an unpaid Parental Leave of Absence for Tiffeny Miller, First Grade Teacher at Twin Oak Elementary, effective for the 2015-2016 school year. It then accepted the retirements of two teachers: Karen Shriver, Second Grade Teacher at Twin Oaks Elementary, and John Frye, Head Teacher/Dean of Students at Mount Vernon High School. Both are effective May, 31, 2015.
It approved the hiring of Sarah Alverson as an Intervention Specialist (retroactive to 3/9/15) and Tammara Adams, Mary Murray, Edna Ridenbaugh, and Brenda VanValkenburg as substitute teachers. The hiring of Jeff Mizer as Freshman Softball Coach, Jennifer Bishop as Girls’ Cross-Country Coach, Scott Dapprich as Head Boys’ Soccer Coach, Trudy Debolt as Cheerleading Advisor, Brock Evans and Head Girls’ Soccer Coach, Jeff Jarosz as Middle School Golf Coach, Chris Kane as Girls’ Volleyball Coach, Samantha Paul as Girls’ Tennis Assistant Coach, Steve Tier as Tennis Coach, and Justin Todd as Head Football Coach was also approved. Several individuals were accepted as volunteers to assist with extracurricular activities. These included Mark Lee Boone (Girls’ Track), Melissa Forney (Girls’ Track), Amy Hale (Head Girls’ Soccer Coach), Chris Kane (Boys’ Volleyball), Courtney Rabold (Softball), Sam Shuman (Baseball) and Jennifer Wolfe (Softball).
A $1000 stipend was approved to Web Page Master John Fry and $250 stipends were approved for Website Instructors Ken Wiles, Scott Patterson, Ben Lloyd, Kari Krabill, and Lynette Telek. All of them will attend training in Columbus and assist teachers in designing their own webpages and integrating them with the new website—which is itself scheduled to go live later this term.
Stipends of $50 were approved for 33 Best Practices presenters. These included Elizabeth Bonaudi, Angie Clippinger, Annmarie Croswell, Michele Dallas, Eileen Eilbacher, Darcy Ewers, Julie Fowler, Holle Frackman, Christy Grandstaff, Melissa Gregory, Heidi Hanna, Jill Harris, Janet Jones, Whitney Joseph, LeeAnn Kline, Amy Kramp, Michelle Kramp, Lisa Loveland, Kerri Mahan, Kimberly Marth, Casey Melton, Christine Metcalf, Raye Ellen Nixon, Dawn Porter, Christan Sears, Julie Seng, Deanna Severns, Jamie Taylor, Traci Thomas, Kim Treber, Heather Waugh, Susan White, and Katie Wilson.
The Board accepted the retirements of Marilyn Chidester, Library Aide at Pleasant Street Elementary, and of Mary Lonzo, Instructional Aide at Twin Oak Elementary. Both are effective May 29, 2015.
It accepted the resignation of Cindy Saunders, 3.75 Hour Cook at the High School (effective March 27, 2015).
It approved the payment of a $2,500 stipend to Chip Zolman of E-rate Consulting.
The Board issued a two-year contract to Richard Moss, High School Custodian (retroactive to March 10, 2015) and approved the hiring of five substitute employees—including Betsy Easterday (Aide and Secretary), Sherry Ernest (Bus Driver, retroactive to 3/5), Erin Miller (Secretary), Ben Musser (Bus Driver, retroactive to 3/6), and Laura Szenas (Secretary).
The Board then went into an Executive Session to discuss matters regarding employment and complaints made against an employee.
