FREDERICKTOWN — In response to a question by a community member, the Fredericktown school board on Monday explained why the 6.4-mill operating levy on the May ballot is larger than the 4.8-mill levy the board asked voters to approve last May.
Treasurer Pat Miller said the 2011 levy will not be collected until 2012, and that means the district will have lost a half a year’s worth of revenue. She said although the stimulus money the district received helped stave off the need for more revenues for a while, it was targeted for specific uses and could not just be spent as general operating money.
Charles Streby, board president, said Fredericktown has an outstanding faculty and staff, and provides a quality education to its students. He said he understands the reluctance of district residents to impose more taxes on themselves, and added the money is necessary to maintain its status as an excellent school district.
Board vice president Tom Seymour said funding cuts were expected last year, but with the new state administration, even more state cuts to schools are coming. He said the amount of the cuts is uncertain, and could reach 25 percent. That is a significant amount of money, as Fredericktown receives about 60 percent of its operating money from the state.
“With this levy,” he said, “we are just staving off an even more critical situation in the future.”
Thanking the community member for his query, the board members invited anyone with questions about the levy to attend board meetings, or call the board and express their concerns.
Middle school Student Council members Ramey Turner and Zac Stalnaker also talked during the public participation portion of the meeting. They, along with their advisor Kerri Stump, reported this year’s penny drive raised $1,000 for Food for the Hungry.
Zac said the student council turned the drive into a contest between homerooms, and reported “the students liked the competition” aspect.
Ramey, president of student council, said she learned that “if you make it more fun, more kids will participate.”
Secondary principal Robert Moore said Fredericktown eighth-graders will be part of the next National Assessment of Educational Progress report card. At the request of the Ohio Department of Education, they took NAEP tests in science, math and reading.
Actions taken by the board included the approval of routine fiscal matters and the adoption of the 2011-12 school calendar. The board also moved to permit a two-hour late arrival for high school juniors and seniors not involved in Ohio Graduation Tests testing in March and accepted a list of seniors for graduation, provided that all graduation requirements are met.
Regarding personnel, the board issued supplemental contracts to: Jeff Keener, head softball coach; Dan Tedrow, JV softball coach; Will Hartley, head boys track coach; Bob Geiger, head girls track coach; Don DeMarco, junior high boys track coach; Bill Porter, assistant girls track coach; Brennan Goeppinger, junior high boys track coach; and Amber Douglas, junior high girls track coach; Kevin Berry, half-time assistant boys track coach; Dave Geiger, 1/4 assistant boys track coach; Tim Cothren, 1/4 assistant boys track coach; Julie Geiger, junior high girls track coach; and Larry Dill, JV baseball coach. Dave Rashley and Tommi Merrin were approved to serve as track volunteers and Wendy Fowler was approved as a kindergarten volunteer.
The following student teacher field experience placements were approved by the board: Mount Vernon Nazarene University student Nicole Devlin placed in fifth-grade with Bernadette Murray; Meredith Stewart, MVNU, grade four with Kathy Gardiner and gifted with Kathleen Carpenter; Colleen Zabudske, MVNU, grade five with Amber Parry; and Teresa Kramer, Grand Canyon University, grade three, Jan Reynolds.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Fredericktown school board will be held Thursday, March 10, at 7 p.m. in the administration building.
