Windham – Windham Board of Education (BOE) met for their regularly-scheduled meeting for August with one member missing. The meeting was opened with the pledge and a moment of silence before moving forward with the agenda.
The first item on the agenda was a technology update from Brian Shanower who is the districts techie guru. According to Shanower, their system has been updated to improve speed, allow individual student log ins and an improved help-desk ticket system. The district has also received a technology grant for the high school that will allow the district’s system to go wireless in all three buildings, he noted that everything will still be filtered through SPARCC so there are no worries about students accessing things they shouldn’t, like Facebook and My Space. The grant also allowed the district to purchase six new projectorless smart boards, new computers for the teachers and 10 new laptops for the library for study use. Shanower stated that all the obsolete and broken equipment was disposed of through a recycling company out of Youngstown. The district expects all the updates to be completed prior to the start of school.
In the Legislative report Melissa Roubic announced that union members from around the state were able to obtain enough signatures on the petition to have the repeal Ohio HB5 placed on the fall ballot. She also noted that Ohio has changed the school year from required days to hours allowing more flexibility for districts that are in areas where they could potentially use all their calamity days.
In the superintendent’s report Gregg Isler reported that the district received a notice from the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE) for alleged unfair labor practices in this spring’s contract negotiations. Isler stated that a response to the allegations was sent. He also said the district has applied for a book grant that will provide 300 books for students. Other items in the superintendent’s report were that the application for title one funds is pending and the preschool grant was approved.
Transportation and Building Maintenance Supervisor Craig Alderman said the buses all passed the Ohio State Highway Patrol Inspections and the buildings were right on schedule to be ready for the first day of school. Bus routes will soon be re-evaluated and possibly some rerouted so they can continue to be fiscally responsible.
In other board news the board approved a five cent increase for lunches making high school lunches $2.55 and Elementary lunches $2.05 per meal. They also approved the calamity day alternative make-up plan, which is where the district can hold school online rather than cancel the day. Those who do not have access to a computer will receive study packets on the assignments.
Lastly, the board accepted a $200 donation made in memory of former kindergarten teacher, Chloe Ann Small, to help defray the cost of the kindergarten zoo trip.
The BOE meets regularly on the fourth Thursday of each month at 7pm. However, due to schedule conflicts, the August meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 16th at 7 pm.
