Mantua – At the last meeting, Superintendent Dr. David Toth congratulated Jeff Woolard and his team for facilitating a $157,000 grant from the Ohio Facilities Commission. The funds will be used for security cameras, door access and hold alarms. Other planned improvements include upgrades to the district’s communications devices, including bus radios and hand held walkie talkies. In addition, the District is investing in digital upgrades to enhance communication between administration, safety forces, and buses. In addition, this spring a security fence will be added around the playground at the elementary school as well. Toth noted that more grants are currently being solicited on behalf of the district in areas of building security, as well as funding to improve air quality in the field house and the science wing of the high school.
Lastly, Toth noted that bids have been requested for work on the chiller system and controls for the HVAC system at the Intermediate and Primary buildings. He noted that the 7-12 campus project is on budget and should be done in time for the opening of the next school year. In addition, the team is considering a timeline and possible bids on a gymnasium floor replacement project at the 7-12 campus. Finally, Toth noted that the Crestwood Local Schools website (crestwoodschools.org) has been upgraded.
In the Treasurer’s report, Katie Hoffmeister reported that the district ended the previous month with a cash balance of $11.2 million in funds; the General Fund itself had $7.1 million. She noted that several appropriation adjustments needed approval, including the Safety Grant and the American Rescue Plan, as well as funds from the Robert Corbett memorial donation that was made to the district. The district received $334,000 from the estate of Robert Corbett, a 1960 Crestwood graduate who returned to teach history, geography, economics, and English at his alma mater in 1988.
Lastly, the board member Todd Monroe asked the board to follow up on discussions from the previous month’s meeting regarding whether the unions would want to open the contract. Monroe argued that as the district has “lost half our staff in the last four years, there’s a great demand for teachers, and we need to tell them we value them.” Board members Bonnie Lovejoy and Kristen Cavanaugh disagreed with opening the contracts. Cavanaugh asked whether the district could add a bonus to a teacher and not open the contract until next year, which Hoffmeister affirmed. Board member Tim Herron noted that because of teacher shortages, the district should show good faith in rewarding teachers for good work and to help with retention. After more discussion, no resolution was reached.
The next regular School Board meeting will take place on Monday, April 17th at 7 pm.
