Vantage director to retire; bonds reissued

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

The Vantage Board of Education approved the retirement of three longtime employees — including Vantage Director Bob Vennekotter — and also approved a switch in bonds from the federal Build America program that will bring future savings to the district during its May meeting on Thursday.

Vennekotter, who has been Vantage director for the past 14 years, will be retiring, effective December 31. “Congratulations and we will miss you at this table,” Superintendent Staci Kaufman said after the announcement that Vennekotter would be retiring. The Vantage director has 37 years in education, 27 of those as a school administrator.

The board also approved a three-year contract for Ben Winans, currently Student Services director, to replace Vennekotter.

Two other longtime employees, custodians Dick Fry and Jon Burns, also resigned for the purpose of retirement. Fry’s resignation is effective July 31, while Burns’ resignation will take effect May 31.

Also on Thursday, the board heard recommendations from Edward Cavezza, an attorney for Columbus law firm Peck, Shaffer & Williams LLP, and Omar Ganoom, managing director of Ross, Sinclaire & Associates LLC, on what to do with the district’s Build America bonds.

The federal program, which has provided a 35-percent discount on bond issuances, has become a victim of the recent sequestration budget cuts, which has ended the discount.

Both Cavezza and Ganoom recommended that the district switch to tax-exempt bonds, which now provide more savings to the district than the Build America bond program, although that wasn’t the case when the bonds were first issued.

How much savings, however, won’t be known until the new bonds are issued, Treasurer Lori Davis said after Thursday’s board meeting. During the treasurer’s consent items, the board approved a resolution to provide for the issuance of $16.455 million in school improvement refunding bonds.

Davis noted that the district was fortunate that Cavezza and Ganoom put clauses into the bond contract that allowed Vantage to leave the Build America bond program and switch to another form of bonds. Less than 2 percent of those who participated in the Build America bond program were able to leave the program.

Davis and Kaufman both commended the bond consultants for their work on the bond issue, while the board later recognized Davis for the district’s having another excellent state audit report.

In other action, the board:

• Approved a resolution to place $157,486,89 earned through four auctions of unwanted or obsolete equipment and furniture into the district’s permanent improvement fund.
• Authorized the following stipends: Marcia Osenga, Kari Casto and Jerry Robinson, $250 for being LPDS Committee members; Susan Farr, $250 as resident educator mentor for Matt Miller; Theresa Mengerink, $250 as mentor for Larry Regedanz; Amy Grothouse, $250 as mentor for Leigh Carey; Mary Ann Falk, a total of $600 as mentor for Ashley Cline, Mike Miller and Sherryl Proctor.
• Employed the following Adult Education employees on an as-needed, as-scheduled basis: Jarrod Girardot, Devin Merschman, Lucas Maag and Adam Crabtree as Alternative Energy student workers; Ronald Joseph as a Police Academy assistant; Nancy Potter, Computers; and Jean Steele and Mary Jane Fast, both Health Careers.

The next meeting of the Vantage Board of Education will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 6, in the district conference room.