Lincolnview BOE holds first meeting

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Leadership will remain the same for the Lincolnview Local Schools Board of Education this year.

The board held its annual organizational meeting Wednesday night and re-elected Michelle Gorman as board president and Mark Zielke as vice-president. Zielke, Eric Germann and Lori Snyder were sworn in for new four year terms. Among other things, the board also set meeting dates and times, generally 6 p.m. the third Wednesday of each month. All meetings are held in the Neubrecht Lecture Hall and all meetings are open to the public.

During the regular monthly meeting, which immediately followed the organizational meeting, the board heard from Van Wert Area Economic Development Director Brent Stevens, who shared a powerpoint presentation with information about the pending data center at the Mega Site, which was annexed into the City of Van Wert but is in the Lincolnview school district. More information about the data center could be made available in the coming weeks.

In a move related to the data center, the board agreed to appoint Snyder as the district’s representative to the Community Reinvestment Area board.

“There have been no numbers shared with us about what it could be,” Superintendent Jeff Snyder said about what the data center could mean to the school district in financial terms. “Once the owner comes out that’s when we’ll begin the negotiating process of the property taxes and the pilot payments.”

A long list of personal services contracts were approved Taylor Hesseling and Kim Pollock, assistant spring play directors; Mary Ann Falk, spring play technical director; Josh England, spring play set coordinator; Shawn Holvid, junior varsity baseball head coach; Keli Ralston, eighth grade baseball coach; Ryan Kriescher, seventh grade baseball coach; Clay Erman, varsity assistant softball coach; Kevin Longstreth, junior varsity softball coach; Allison Miller, eighth grade softball head coach and Wayne Longstreth and Eric Geissler, assistant soccer coaches. 

Supplemental contracts approved by the board included Eli Alvarez, varsity boys soccer coach; Chad Kraner, spring play director, and Tanner Crowle, freshman baseball coach. Tim Snyder and Jaden Youtsey were approved as a volunteer high school baseball coaches, and Travel Kill and Corey Reindel were approved as volunteer junior high softball coaches.

Approval was given to a request to allow the Lincolnview High School steel drum band to attend and perform at the Ohio Music Educators Association Conerence in Columbus January 30-31, along with a request for the varsity baseball team to travel to Whitley County, Kentucky March 13-15 to play in a number of baseball scrimmages and tour the University of Kentucky.

During his report, Snyder reminded the board that the 10th annual “Rivals United” campaign with Crestview will be held next month. The fundraiser benefits the United Way of Van Wert County. He also presented each board member with a certificate for School Board Appreciation Month.

The next meeting of the Lincolnview Local Schools Board of Education will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, February 18, in the Neubrecht Lecture Hall.