Jefferson move-in date moved back

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

In what could be a record for brief meetings, the Van Wert City Board of Education took just 20 minutes to take care of business during their December meeting on Wednesday.

On the agenda was the resignation of five longtime district teachers, who are retiring at the end of the school year, while Superintendent Ken Amstutz also reported that the move-in date for the Van Wert Early Childhood Center (former Jefferson School) has been moved back a month.

Those teachers retiring include preschool teacher Nancy Bell, after 30 years in education, 12 years in the Van Wert City Schools; Title 1 teacher Jo Conover after 33 years in education, 30 of those at Van Wert; special education teachers Deb Davis, after 35 years, all at Van Wert, and Terry Sullivan, after 35 years in education, 34 of those at Van Wert; and fifth grade teacher Nancy Wolverton after 28 years in education, 25 of those in the Van Wert City Schools.

Amstutz noted that, with the delays experienced on the Jefferson project, the move-in date has also been postponed to January 17.

“We were aware that we were probably not going to make it (the original move-in date) for about a month now,” the superintendent said.

The move from Washington School, where the preschool and kindergarten students are now housed, will take place the three-day Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, with classes to start the Tuesday after the holiday.

Amstutz also talked about the new requirements included in Ohio House Bill 487, especially those related to staff evaluations, and noted that the state requires that police changes related to the new law be implemented by July 1, 2013. The superintendent said he would like to have all necessary policy changes adopted by the next board meeting in January 2013.

Board member Mike Morrow, who also is the board’s representative to the Van Wert Area Performing Arts Foundation — the group that operates the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio — reported on that organization’s recent and upcoming activities. Morrow said the Osmond Brothers concert tonight is sold out, and added that more than 1,500 tickets have been sold for the two performances of Shrek — The Musical coming to the NPAC on December 22. He noted that the NPAC staff hopes to sell another 100-200 tickets for those performances.

Morrow also reported on a members’ reception being planned in the coming weeks to recognize those who purchased membership in the VWAPAF.

In other action, the board:

• Accepted, with thanks, donations from the following: $2,500 from Iberdrola Renewables LLC for a second grade reading program; and $500 from Van Wert County Hospital for the arts department.
• Appointed Board President Ken Markward as president pro tempore for the January 2013 board meeting.
• Approved the treasurer’s report, bills and financial statements and amended certificate of estimates resources and amended permanent appropriations for Fiscal Year 2013.
• Approved nine change orders – four for the Van Wert Elementary School and five for the Van Wert Early Childhood Center (Jefferson School). The changes total $61,532.32, but are well within the total funding remaining for the two projects.
• Adopted a resolution authorizing a contract for an asbestos abatement consultant for the former Washington and Franklin schools.
• Went into two executive sessions, with no action taken afterward.

The next meeting of the Van Wert City Board of Education will be at 5 p.m. Wednesday, January 16, 2013, in the First Federal Lecture Hall of the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio.