Windham – Windham Board of Education (BOE) met for their regularly scheduled meeting in the Hangar at the high school on Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 6:30 pm. Board members Melissa Roubic, Elaine Grant, Maurina Wagner, Mandy Berardinalli, Treasurer Samantha Pochedly and Superintendent Gregg Isler were in attendance.
The meeting opened with the pledge of Alegiance, followed by student-of-the-month awards. The meeting was then called to order by President Melissa Roubic.
Upcoming events were announced — Veterans Day Breakfast on November 10th at 7:45 am with a program to follow at 8:30 am., the Athletic Annual Silent Auction will be held on November 5, 2017 with doors opening at noon. Windham will once again hold its annual cheer competition on November 18, 2017, and lastly, it was announced that there would be no school on November 7, 2017, due to the elections being held in the school. There will be an in-service day for the staff.
A discussion was held on the new legislature proposal on bullying which brought up questions on how the school deals with it. Isler said “We follow the Ohio Department of Education Protocol on defining bullying and how to handle it.” He also said although they have a few reported each month after investigating them, most are not considered bullying. Last year, they dealt with three actual bullying cases within the district.
A discussion on the up-coming Hall of Fame inductees was held. The Hall of Fame board is narrowing down the contenders and will present them to the board at the November meeting.
High School / Jr. High School report by Principal Laura Amero was given. The 6th graders just left for Camp Fitch, a blood drive was held recently at the high school with 27 donors. The 5th grade band kicked-off this week and all participants were excited to try the instruments.
The elementary school report was given by Principal Sherri Gross. United Way has set up the Big Red Book Shelf at the school. They also come in and do three minute reading to students weekly. The school is also getting ready to do the annual canned food drive for Thanksgiving.
In transportation and maintenance, Jake Eye reported that he took his first bus trip. He drove the J-V football team to their game last week. He also reported that Bus #1 was in need of some maintenance. The rest of the fleet is fine. Eye also reported that even though they were down a driver, they have been able to cover routes. He also reported that the stadium lighting issue has been resolved.
Treasurer Samantha Pochedly presented to the board, the districts five year forecast. After some discussion, the BOE did approve the figures as presented. In food service, Pochedly reported that the new freezer installed in Katherine Thomas Elementary School has a few aesthetic issues, Pochedly has been in touch with them and the installer will fix the issues.
In other BOE news, the board approved the following supplemental contracts pending proper BCI and FBI back ground checks. They also approved the hiring of two sub-bus drivers and a district-wide sub. Lastly, the BOE approved a one year probationary contract for bus driving to John Clark at $16.15 per hour at 4 ½ hours per day. This is pending BCI and FBI back ground checks and proper certification.
After an executive session to discuss private issues as defined by law, the meeting was adjourned.
