Mantua – At their last meeting, Superintendent David Toth publicly recognized Food Service Director Jennifer Bujak-Hirsch and her Nutrition Service team for helping to support Crestwood students and their families throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr. Toth noted that the team served more than 300,000 meals to area families, both in school and via drive-through services from March through December 2020. Both Mr. Toth and the Board expressed gratitude for each member of the Nutrition Service team for their service at the last Board meeting. The team includes: Angie Hunter, Bridget Auble, Barb Blazek, Teresa Zimmerman, Robin Herbold, Kym Ballentine, Michelle Long, Tiffany Lough, Tracy Kaiser, Lisa Davis, Kim Ewing, Jessie Biltz, Carol Robinson and Vici Stansberry.
In other news, Superintendent Toth noted that the district will soon begin scheduling Covid vaccinations for staff members who wish to receive them; vaccinations will be administered by Akron Children’s Hospital as soon as they are available.
In other news, the board discussed the potential of adjusting start times for the school day, based on the district’s plan to re-organized grade levels in the upcoming 2021-2022 school year. To that end, the district distributed a community survey posing the following questions to parents of students in preschool through seven regarding keeping the current school starting time, or beginning later in the morning. Responses were evenly split among the 229 respondents. In addition, parents were asked their opinion on providing a staggered starting time for High School and Middle School students, who will both be housed at the High School next year. Roughly 70% of those respondents (166 individuals) preferred Middle and High School students to begin their school days at the same time.
In similar news, the board discussed the possibility of reducing transportation costs by adopting state minimum transportation, which would eliminate busing for high school students in the coming school year. According to Mr. Toth, this change would save the district roughly $50,000 per year. No decisions have been made on start times or transportation, as discussions on these matters will continue at future Board meetings.
Lastly, District Treasurer Sarah Palm noted that state budget cuts, which were expected to cut the district’s budget by $375,000, were less severe than previously stated. She noted that the district instead received funding cuts of $162,000.
The next regularly scheduled board meeting will be live streamed on Tuesday, February 9th at 7 pm; visit crestwoodschools.org for details on how to attend.
