Crestview BOE to discuss improvements

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

CONVOY — A proposed plan for improvements to Crestview’s athletic facilities and more will be discussed at length at an early November school board work session.

Monday night, the Crestview Local Schools Board of Education briefly reviewed and discussed revised information provided by the architectural firm of Garmann Miller, along with the possiblity of making it a two-phase proposal, with the district self-financing some of the project and going to district voters with a ballot issue to cover the remaining cost.

More in-depth discussion will take place during a work session scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday, November 7, in the multi-purpose room.

Two proposals submitted last month by Garmann Miller included possible upgrades to the football field, baseball and softball fields, a training center and/or a community building, and a new access drive which would begin on Tully Street, east of Dollar General, and go towards the athletic facilities. It also included a bus maintenance facility. Each proposal carried a price tag of approximately $40 million, far more than the board expected.

During Monday’s meeting, the school board met behind closed doors with Van Wert County Sheriff Tom Riggenbach to discuss emergency response protocols for the district. Afterward, Riggenbach spoke to board members in open session about the addition of body cameras to his department. All deputies will start wearing body cams on November 1.

“The SRO (School Resource Officer) or whoever is filling in for the SRO…this is not a situation where they turn the camera on when they show up on the campus and the camera runs the entire shift,” Riggenbach stated. “That’s not the purpose of cameras and we don’t need to the operation that way.”

In other business, the board approved a 133-day contact with Abigail Cole Ortiz as a bus driver and approved compensation for event managers for the upcoming winter sports season.

Brett Latman, Director of Curriculum and Instruction gave a brief presentation on recent professional development related to trauma-informed care.

Board members accepted a pair of donations with thanks, $1,200 from the Van Wert Service Club for speech-related program services, and $780 from Van Wert Moose Lodge 1320 for past due student lunchroom accounts.

Before adjourning, the board met in executive session for a second time, this time to discuss employment and/or compensation of employees. However, outside of adjournment, no action was taken afterward.

The next regular meeting of the Crestview Local Schools Board of Education will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, November 18, in the multi-purpose room.