L’view honors students, hears forecast

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

The Lincolnview Local Board of Education recognized several groups of students and also heard a mostly positive five-year forecast from Treasurer Troy Bowersock during the board’s November meeting on Tuesday.

First recognized by the board was the Lancer boys’ cross country team, which finished 10th at the Division IV State Cross Country Meet, while seniors Bayley Tow and Alex Rodriguez were also singled out for their individual cross country performances.

Also at the meeting was the high school Money Skills class and FFA students who participated in the 2014 FFA National Convention in Louisville, Kentucky.

Board President Eric Germann was also recognized for being selected as the Ohio School Boards Association’s president-elect. Germann will become the organization’s president in 2016.

Bowersock talked about the various components of the district’s five-year forecast, noting that, while the amount of money the district will receive in state foundation money is an unknown at this time, he projects Lincolnview’s revenues will be mostly flat-lined in the coming five-year period, while also estimating that expenses will continue to increase.

Noting his belief that the district will operate within its budget for the first and second year of the forecast, the treasurer also added that the next three years will depend on state foundation money and the approximately $900,000 Lincolnview currently receives in emergency money from the state.

Bowersock also talked about the recent triennial update of property valuations and the fact that, unlike most updates, the district could see some additional revenues from the most recent update, based on Lincolnview’s proximity to its 20-mill revenue base.

In personnel action, the board accepted the resignation, for retirement purposes, of Tom Bryan as high school social studies teacher and athletic director after 35 years of service, while adjusting Kathy Thompson’s retirement date from May 31, 2015, to December 31, 2014.

Kent McClure’s resignation as head varsity softball coach was accepted, while Mike Hill was hired as a substitute teacher’s aide. Nancy Hennel and Anna Baker were given supplemental contracts as home instructors, while Malinda Shellabarger, Adam Owens and Stacie Korte were given contracts as Saturday School teachers on an as-needed basis.

Curriculum Coordinator Becky Diglia reported on her progress on identifying teachers who can provide leadership for staff development efforts, while High School-Junior High School Principal Brad Mendenhall and Elementary Principal Nita McKinney discussed parent-teacher conferences and upcoming testing and teacher evaluation.

In other action, the board:

• Approved Germann’s attendance at the 2015 Federal Relations Network Conference in Washington, D.C., on February 1-3, 2015, with travel and hotel expenses to be paid by the OSBA.
• Designated McKinney as the district’s homeless liaison for the current school year.
• Authorized retroactively an overnight trip by the cross country team and Coaches Matt Langdon, Trina Langdon and Ben Cowan for the state cross country meet in Hebron.
• Approved a fixed-price agreement with Interstate Gas Supply Inc. from January 2015 through January 2017.
• Authorized a contract with Emerald Data Solutions Inc. for BoardDocs LT web-based services.
• Honored 2012 Lincolnview graduate Beth Army for earning her American Farmer FFA degree in October.
• Authorized the sixth-grade trip to Washington, D.C., for October 5-10, 2015.
• Accepted, with thanks, the following donations: $5,000 from the Lincolnview Athletic Boosters for the baseball/softball diamonds; $5,132 from the Lincolnview Athletic Boosters for the track bleacher/press box project; $244 from the United Methodist Church for the needy student fund; $1,129 from Clark’s Rx LLC for the public school support fund; $300 from Van Wert Carts & More to the benefit council fund, and $300 from Van Wert Carts & More for the public school support jeans fund.
• Authorized the following technology purchases: $45,506.85 to Apple Inc., $104,407.40 to Tierney Brothers Inc. and $14,475 to Xtek Partners.
• Approved an October 2014 severance payment to Clara L. Eberle.
• Approved the district teacher seniority list.
• Went into executive session to discuss personnel matters, with no action taken following the session.

The next meeting of the Lincolnview Local Board of Education will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, December 17, in the Neubrecht Lecture Hall.