Vantage OKs items for new school year

DAVE MOSIER/for the VW independent

Vantage Career Center Board of Education took a variety of moves in preparation for the upcoming 2024-25 school year during its August meeting on Thursday evening.

Superintendent Rick Turner said Vantage is essentially ready for the new school year to begin.

“We have two openings to fill yet, to be fully staffed, and those openings are posted,” he noted.

Turner said the maintenance and custodial staff have done an excellent job preparing the facilities, while support staff members have worked hard to be ready for “a large group of students” to begin school Thursday, August 15.

“There are so many moving parts to make the launch of the school year happen smoothly, and the staff at Vantage does it very well,” the superintendent added.

High School Director Ben Winans noted that enrollment is up overall this year, with 327 incoming juniors and 249 returning seniors for a total of 576 students. That compares to 300 juniors and 235 returning seniors (a total of 535) last school year.

“Many of our programs are at, or near, capacity, and, overall, we are happy with our current enrollment,” Winans said.

The high school director noted that orientation nights for new students will be August 12 for the Trade and Industry programs, and August 13 for Business and Service programs.

“We have again split each orientation session into two groups to better accommodate the larger numbers we are seeing,” Winans explained. 

Staff will return to the building on Tuesday, August 14, for Vantage’s annual inservice/work day. Included that day will be a presentation by the local United Way staff, as well as deputies from the Van Wert County Sheriff’s Office to provide an update on building safety.

During his report, Turner also noted that bids for the expansion and lighting of the CDL lot, as well as  were opened on Monday, and the low bid of $346,578.63 by VTF Excavation LLC was later approved by the board.

Work is scheduled to begin the week of August 26, with completion projected for October 9.

He added that parking lot resurfacing and striping is also essentially complete and ready for the new school year, while the second and third phase of that project will be combined and completed next year, due to cost savings on Phase I.

Adult Education Director Angie Fahy noted that enrollment in that area is progressing, adding: “I think we will be happy with the final numbers.”

Fahy also said her area had applied for a number of grants that will provide funding for various Adult Ed programs.

She added that the Practical Nursing Program Pinning Ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, August 8.

Community Relations Coordinator Miriam Owens talked about a design enhancement project the school that would provide a new design esthetic for, at first, five high-traffic areas of the school, including the Student Services entrance, the vestibule area, the commons area, the high school vestibule and the high school entrance area. 

Owens showed photos of the areas in question and also talked about the color scheme currently in the commons area.

She also noted that having the school’s Hall of Fame wall in the commons area could be a good idea, while noting that, eventually, she would like to see the entire building reflect the new design esthetic.

The board also appointed Lonnie Nedderman as the board’s delegate to the Ohio Schools Boards Capital Conference November 10-12, and Becca Suever as the alternate.

In other action, the board:

• Approved a two-year contract for Ashley Cline as the new supervisor of student operations, while Samantha Heckler replaced Cline as Special Education coordinator and was given a continuing contract.
• Approved the following supplemental contracts: Jerry Robinson, per contract, Carpentry House, and Sarah Koch, $3,000 stipend as lead teacher.
• Approved the following certified employees, as needed, as scheduled for the upcoming school year: Reesa Rohrs, high school secondary program STNA coordinator/clinical check-off, and phlebotomy check-off/clinical supervisor for Health Technologies; and Cindy Bowsher, full-time instructor substitute.
• Hired Emily Hanenkratt as a Culinary Arts aide on a one-year contract.
• Approved the Adult Education Practical Nursing Student Handbook and the Adult Education LPN-RN Transition Program Student Handbook for the 2024-25 school year.
• Approved Juliette Schroeder, Career-Technical supervisor, as a certified evaluator for the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System.
• Authorized payment of an invoice to Garmann Miller totaling $39,266.25 for architectural-engineering services related to the construction and enhancement of the truck driving parking lot, and an invoice totaling $150,622 to HAAS Factory Outlet for the purchase of machines, freight and training.
• Approve the Full Time Instructor Substitute job description.
• Approved a Memorandums of Understanding between Vantage and the Vantage Teachers Organization and Apollo Career Center.
• Approved the substitute list of certified and non-certified employees and any revisions for high school and adult education operations in the coming school year, as well as the Western Buckeye ESC substitute list and any revisions.
• Approved school lunch prices for the 2024-25 school year as follows: Student breakfast, $1.60; Reduced breakfast, 30 cents; Student lunches, $3.15; Student reduced lunches, 40 cents; Student milk, 60 cents; Adult breakfast, $2.10; Adult lunch, $4.45. The board also accepted a cafeteria bid from Nickles Bakery for bread and Schenkels Dairy for milk.
• Accepted the following grants and donations: $1,275.45 from the Patricia M. Lichtensteiger Memorial Fund, and $137,003.53 from the Rose R. and Ellis C. Lampe Fund by Frieda Rothacker. All funds are administered by The Van Wert County Foundation.
• Went into executive session to discuss personnel matters with no action taken following the session.

The next meeting of the Vantage Board of Education will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, September 5, in the District Conference Room.