CENTERBURG — On Monday, the Centerburg Board of Education voted to purchase a vacant parcel of land near the bus garage on South Preston Street. According to Superintendent Dorothy Holden, acquiring the property “opens up another [future] possibility” to the 17 acres the board owns near the ball fields, but she said the district has no immediate plans to develop the site. The site was owned by Charles Link.
In addition to approving routine fiscal actions, the board accepted a $1,000 donation from Abbott Lab for the Cordle Scholarship fund and $1,883 from Centerburg Elementary PTO for an iMac computer. It also renewed an agreement with Knox County Head Start for classroom space for the 2008-09 school year. Holden said the district also houses preschool units administered by the Knox County Educational Service Center.
Holden reported there are 106 pupils registered for kindergarten so far, and said the district has added a section of first grade and another fourth-grade class to help keep class sizes relatively small and manageable.
The board accepted letters of resignation from assistant cross country coach Sarah Parks-Walsh and middle school football coach Todd Kish. Kish was subsequently approved as assistant varsity football coach, and Parks-Walsh was approved as a cross county volunteer. Janis Cheek was advanced on the salary schedule, and a number of supplemental contracts were granted for various sports. George Gantner was added to the substitute bus driver list, and Chuck Davis was awarded a new three-year contract as elementary principal.
In other action, the board ratified bus routes and stops as established by the transportation coordinator for the 2008-09 school year, approved several volunteers and accepted an agreement with Otterbein College regarding student teaching and field experience. It also approved Mallory Coburn, a Mount Vernon Nazarene University student, as a vocational home economics student teacher assigned to Cathy Geoppinger.
