Vantage board organizes for new year

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

The Vantage Board of Education approved a five-year contract extension for Superintendent Staci Kaufman and also heard a facilities project update from Kaufman earlier in the meeting.

Board member Greg Reinhart was the only board member to vote against a contract extension for Kaufman and he only did so because he felt voting on the contract renewal now was unnecessary, since the contract didn’t take effect until August 2014.

The superintendent noted that the facilities project came in under budget, with few items or work yet to be done. Vantage Treasurer Lori Davis agreed. “We’re getting down to our final dollars of our $36 million project,” she noted.

Davis also provided information on Vantage’s annual tax budget, a fiscal instrument government entities and schools are required to file with the county budget commission.

Meanwhile, work to come up with an agreement for a solar energy array at the school continues, although Kaufman said a number of the sticking points that have held up the accord have been resolved, adding that an agreement could be voted on in either February or March.

The Vantage superintendent was also excited about a partnership with Northwest State Community College to provide college coursework, with tuition costs advantageous to Vantage students, while the partnership would also deal a Vantage accreditation issue.

Kaufman also noted that Vantage was ranked 14th of 49 joint vocational schools during an informal survey conducted recently.

Vantage Board President Lonnie Nedderman was reappointed to that position during Vantage’s organizational meeting held on Thursday, while Sally Snyder was chosen as board vice president. Regularly scheduled board meetings will continue to be the first Thursday of each month, at least most of the time, with start time scheduled for 7 p.m.

In other action, the board:

• Employed the following: Kristy Rogers and Deborah Eckhart, 1-year contracts as cafeteria cooks.
• Approved the following supplemental contracts: MaryJo Wilhelm, Annette Klinger, Jerry Robinson, Larry Ray, Kevin Van Oss, Larry Regedanz, Nancy Keith, Brent Wright and Stacie Leiter, stipends for the Step Into Your Future program.
• Amended Ron Schumm’s contract to include reimbursement of basic Internet service, effective February 1.
• Employed the following Adult Education instructors: Tracey Borns, ABLE aide; Josephine Wilson, computers; Jeffrey Stittsworth, AWS testing; Beverly Melton, Trade & Industry; and James Haggerty, Police Academy assistant.
• Accepted the following donations: plastic storage containers worth $250 from Lafarge Cement of Paulding for the Trades & Industries programs; tools worth approximately $4,000 from Tractor Supply Company of Van wert for the Trades & Industries classes; a grant of $33,500 from The Van Wert County Foundation (Rothacker-Lampe Bequest) for electrical items.
• Approved a Community Investment Agreement with JJK Kahle LLC, doing business as B-K Tool & Design Inc. in Kalida,
• Approved a memorandum of understanding with the Vantage Teachers Organization for an online employee kiosk to request and document all leaves of absence.
• Approved a memorandum of understanding between the VTO and Vantage on having the staff seniority list posted December 19, 2012, with staff having until January 13 of this year to report corrections.
• Authorize a contract with the Northwest Ohio Area Computer Services Cooperative for Internet services until June 30, 2016.
• Approved a three-year contract with First Energy to reduce energy costs.

The next meeting of the Vantage Board of Education will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, February 7, in the Vantage Community Room.