BOE holds regular February meeting

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

Supplemental contracts for spring and fall sports coaches made up a sizable portion of Wednesday’s Van Wert City Schools Board of Education agenda.

The board accepted the resignation of boys’ head tennis coach Eli Alvarez, then hired Mitch Price as his replacement, and Katie Peterson as assistant coach. Peterson also serves as the girls’ tennis head coach.

 Scott Bigham and Matt West were hired as asssistant varsity softball coaches, Destiny Coil was hired as junior varsity softball coach, Carlee Young was approved as a junior varsity volunteer assistant coach and Alli Kennedy was approved as a varsity volunteer assistant.

The board hired Damian Helm as varsity assistant baseball coach, Damon Brown as junior varsity coach, Jalen McCracken as freshman baseball coach, Jeremy Kitson as a varsity volunteer assistant, and Mason Place as a junior varsity assistant baseball coach.

Kim Laudick, Nick Pauff, Alexis Dowdy and Ben Laudick were approved as varsity as high school assistant track and field coaches, Gage Chiles was approved as a high school volunteer track coach, Kerry Koontz, Bob Spath and Bryce Crea were hired as middle school track and field coaches, and Noah Carter was approved as a middle school volunteer track coach.

The board approved several head coaches for fall sports: Keith Recker, football; Katie Peterson, girls’ tennis; Bob Spath, girls’ and boys’ cross country; Kim Doidge, golf; Rachel Black, volleyball; Ashley Showalter, girls’ soccer, and Samantha Fleming, fall cheerleading.

Other personnel matters handled by the board accepting the retirement-resignation of Stacy Strick, special services secretary, effective July 1, and  the resignation of Audrea Mancinotti, middle school science teacher, at the end of the current school year.

The board approved Michael Dellinger, elementary school paraprofessional; Kole Small, fifth grade teacher; Hanna Heitkamp, fourth grade teacher; Destiny Coil, cross-categorical intervention specialist; Brittany Boaz and Jennifer Trinosky, elementary school art teachers, and Emily Gehle, high school spring musical assistant director.

During his report to the board, Superintendent Mark Bagley briefly touched on the district’s updated strategic plan (2025-2030), school funding and AI (artificial intelligence).

“We have to embrace AI, we can’t run from that, we can’t say ‘we’ve always done it that way’ because it’s here, our kids know about it, they’re using it and we have to do a really good job of training our teachers and our kids on how to use it the right way,” Bagley said.

In terms of school funding, Bagley said Governor Mike DeWine has indicated he wants to move forward with the Fair School Funding plan, and he added it’s based on 2022 numbers, which might mean the district could lose nearly $1 million in state funds over the next two years.

“You always have to look at if someone retires do you replace that job or reimagine it or how does that look?” Bagley said. “We’re not there yet but if those numbers come through that is a big hit for Van Wert City Schools.”

“We’re still in great shape financially but we know in two years that could change, based on little calculations here and there,” he later added.

Approval was given to a resolution to award a contract of just over $1 million to Smith-Boughan Mechancial Inc. for the chiller replacement project at Van Wert Middle School/High School. The money had been previously set aside for the project. The current chiller is 19 years old.

“It was a first time system that our staff has done an incredible job maintaining as long as they have,” Bagley said. “The way it was designed, it was a tough design, but we’re going to get a lot more efficient. Our chillers have been running at 50-75 percent the last three years.”

In other business, the board:

• Held a brief public hearing regarding the school calendar.
• Authorized membership in the OHSAA for the 2025-2026 school year.
• Approved a lease agreement with the City of Van Wert for setting up, displaying and tearing down the July 4 fireworks on the middle school/high school and elementary school campus.
• Approved a facility agreement with the Van Wert Parks & Recreation Department for use of park facilities for school athletic contests and the use of school facilities recreational programs offered by the Parks & Recreation Department.
• Approved a Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) agreement between the City of Van Wert and Intraplas Packaging Solutions.
• The board accepted a list of nearly three dozen donations earmarked for various clubs, scholarships and the athletic department.

Wednesday’s meeting began with a brief presentation by Special Services Coordinator Ruth Ann Dowler, who shared information about what her staff does to meet the needs of students with special needs. Board members ended the meeting with an hour long executive session to discuss the employment of personnel but outside of adjournment, no action was taken afterward.

The next meeting of the Van Wert City Schools Board of Education will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, in the First Federal Lecture Hall at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center.