Mantua – At the November Board meeting, District Treasurer Sarah Palm shared the District’s Five Year Forecast. In it, Palm noted that in Fiscal Year 2021, a revenue shortfall is expected. According to Palm, “This means that expenditures are expected to be greater than revenue by $374,231.” She also noted that based on current projections, by Fiscal Year 2025 (the last year of the forecast), the district is expected to have a revenue shortfall where expenditures are projected to be greater than revenue. Visit Crestwoodschools.org for more information and to view the district’s Five Year Forecast.
As of November 20, the district made the determination to switch to the hybrid-learning model. The determination was made during Superintendent Toth’s weekly meeting with representatives from the Portage County Health Department. According to messages distributed to families in the district, Toth noted, “During this meeting, data and information were shared relative to the pandemic. As expected, the situation in our county is not improving.” As such, students were directed to stay home on November 23 and 24, but to access instruction remotely through Google Classroom and Google Meet. Beginning on November 30, Crestwood Schools will operate under the hybrid instructional model through December 22, at which time Winter Break is scheduled to begin.
According to Toth, the Hybrid Plan is being implemented to reduce class size and overall numbers of students in our buildings to minimize the virus’s spread. This plan would have groups of students attending school in person for a certain number of days while the other groups of students would be learning via a digital format. In addition, all extracurricular and after-school activities will be postponed until December 6, including all practices, games, scrimmages, and any after school clubs or organizations. He noted that the district will evaluate this situation the week of November 30 to determine if the postponement will continue. Toth noted, “There is always a possibility, depending on the community spread of the virus and staffing issues, that we may transition to a full remote at-home learning model. We will continue to monitor the situation and consult with the Portage County Health District.”
In other news, The school board recognized three students who were awarded the R. A. Horn Outstanding Student Achievement in 2020. Those students are Caleb Bowne, Thomas Fusci, and Julianna Gerhardt. In addition, Aubrey Heiskell was recognized as the Franklin B. Walter Outstanding Educator. Next, the Board was pleased to accept a donation in the amount of $6,200 for the Permanent Improvement Fund from local resident Angie Janson. The donation was earned through the production and sales of the “Men of Mantua” calendar, which was available through local businesses.
In other news, the board approved a proposed schedule for the 2021-22 school year. In this proposed calendar, school is scheduled to begin on August 30th for all students in grades six through twelve. Students in grades five through kindergarten would be divided by last name, with the first half of students returning on August 30th, followed by the second group on August 31st, with all students in grades five through kindergarten returning together on September first. The proposed final day of the school year is tentatively set for June 8, 2021.
The next regularly scheduled School Board meeting will take place online on Tuesday, December 8 at 7 pm; visit Crestwoodschools.org to access the link, or call the Superintendent’s office at (330) 357-8206. This will be the last Board meeting of 2020.
