MOUNT VERNON — The Knox County Educational Service Center board got some unexpected — but good — news at its meeting Thursday. Treasurer Heather Darnold announced the ESC ended the year in the black, in spite of a $61,000 last minute cut in the state foundation money.
Board member Ken Boeshart, with the other board members concurring, formally commended Darnold and Superintendent Timm Mackley for all the work done to end the year in the black. The board also commended the staff for going along with the [sometimes painful] cost containment measures.
In addition to approving routine fiscal actions, the board accepted a parent mentor grant from the Ohio Department of Education in the amount of $25,000 for the 2012-13 school year and renewed membership in the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy in School Funding. The board approved Sheakley UniService as the ESC’s worker’s compensation third party administrator at an annual rate of $1,059, a $700 decrease from last year and renewed liability, fleet and violence policies with the Hylant Group, retroactively effective July 1, with no change in premiums. Fiscal year agreements with Centerburg Local Schools and Mount Vernon City Schools were approved.
The board entered into a service agreement with Clear Fork Local Schools to provide aide services, speech therapy and a gifted/math teacher for the 2012-13 school year. Kelly Wilcox was assigned to provided the speech therapy services two days per week and Jerry Julian was employed as the gifted/math teacher.
The board approved contracts with St. Vincent de Paul School for a part-time secretary, tutor and speech and language pathologist. The ESC employees assigned to those duties are, respectively, Kathy Belcher, Linda Gibson and Karrie Calzo.
