VWCS board OKs personnel actions

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

The Van Wert City Board of Education approved a number of personnel actions, including members of the district’s various leadership teams, and also heard a presentation from the district Special Services area.

Board members approved a list of members on the District Leadership Team, as well as individual building team members, during its October meeting held Tuesday in the S.F. Goedde Building conference room.

Members of the District Leadership Team include Nikki Adams (elementary team representative), Jenny Ainsworth (middle school team rep), Superintendent Ken Amstutz, Jen Arend (elementary team rep), Lori Bittner (elementary team rep), John Butler, High School Principal Bill Clifton (high school team rep), Chris Covey (high school team rep), Brett Dorsten (elementary team rep), Darla Dunlap (middle school team rep), Kevin Gehres (elementary team rep), Doug Grooms (high school team rep), Arlene Hurless (high school team rep), Kathy Mansfield, Elementary Principal Beth Runnion (elementary team rep), Bob Spath (high school team rep), Tiffany Werts (middle school team rep), Cayla Wise, Bill Wisher (elementary team rep), Charlie Witten (high school team rep).

Individual building teams include the following:

Elementary Building Leadership Team – Jessica Small, Michelle Hoffman, Ashley Sinn, Marty Hohman, Amy Honigford, Nate Hoverman, Deb Nedderman,  Betty Holliday and Christine Heizman.

Middle School Building Leadership Team – Principal Mark Bagley, Travis Guggenmiller, Zane McElroy, Marie Markward, Julie Reichert, Bonnie Thatcher and Melissa Utrup.

High School Building Leadership Team – Katie Bowersock, Connie Ainsworth, Tom Brown, Dave Froelich, Bob Priest, Chuck Rollins and Jen Trittschuh.

The board also heard from the district’s Special Services department, which is headed by school psychologists Doug Grooms and Brett Dorsten. Grooms, Dorsten and Lori Bittner also provided information on the department’s work in the district, which encompasses an area formerly known as “special education,” as well as other services.

Bittner, a special services coordinator, noted that the program has a staff of 34 teachers in grades Pre-K-12, as well as a staff of nine therapists in various areas (occupational, speech, etc.). There are currently 368 students in the district are currently on IEP (individualized education programs), a number she said is approximately 17 percent of district students — a bit higher than the state norm, but lower than it was a few years ago, Bittner added.

While a good part of what Special Services does falls into the area of special education coordination, the program is also involved in data collection and assessments, and also provides resources and development opportunities to teachers on legislative and other issues, as well as administering Medicaid filings for the district, as well as grants received in the special education area.

Dorsten, the school psychologist for grades preschool through fifth, talked about student evaluations and assessments conducted to determine what students fit into the special education area, while Grooms explained how special education is now thoroughly integrated into the district’s regular education curriculum.

The department also is involved in testing and test score data collection and evaluation.

Grooms also talked about the district’s involvement in the Ohio Improvement Process, and praised the opportunities district teachers now have for collaboration with their peers, especially now that the new elementary school is completed and the prekindergarten and kindergarten grades are now together in one building.

Amstutz also spoke highly of the program, noting that the district is working hard to ensure that all students have the opportunity for educational growth.

During his report, the superintendent noted that problems with the roof of Jefferson School has put that building renovation project between 10 and 20 days behind schedule, but also said that additional workers will be put on the job to get the project back on schedule. “It’s nobody’s fault,” Amstutz said of the delays, which came when workers found additional problems while installing a new roof on the 1962 portion of the building.

Also Tuesday, Board member Mike Morrow, who is also a member of the Van Wert Area Performing Arts Foundation (VWAPAF) board, reported that the three most recent shows (Bob Knight, The Lennon Sisters and Nunsense Boulevard) resulted in a profit for the foundation of approximately $13,500. He said he expected the two “Shrek: The Musical” shows to also sell out, or nearly so, and added that the evening performance has been moved back from 7 to 7:30 p.m. on December 22. The afternoon show begins at 2 p.m.

Morrow also said he was excited about Roddy Mack’s Philadelphia Big Brass Band performing with the VWHS and St. Marys High School marching bands this Friday at Eggerss Stadium during halftime.

The group will also perform at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center on Saturday evening, starting at 7:30.

Local resident Kent McMillen spoke briefly at the end of the meeting about his talks with local residents about whether Eggerss Stadium should be restored or a new stadium built, and he said those he talked to were “overwhelmingly” in favor of renovating the stadium. Morrow asked for a list of those McMillen had talked to, noting that those he has talked to are more balanced between those who want to renovate the stadium and those who want to build a new one at the high school-middle school site.

In other action, the board:

• Approved a number of construction changes, including an additional $30,000 for problems uncovered while installing the new roof on the 1962 portion of the Jefferson School building.
• Approved Fiscal Year 2013 permanent appropriations of $20,675,000 (General Fund) and $35,027,405.69 (all funds).
• Accepted, with thanks, the following donations: $2,375 from the Klein Fund of The Van Wert County Foundation, $1,500 from the Cooper Family Foundation (Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund) for the high school Renaissance program and another $2,000 for an education grant, $400 from the MAC Grant program for David Walker’s Make Activities Count program, and $500 from Eaton Corporation-Community Action Commission for the Van Wert High School Robotics Club.
• Approved the following supplemental contracts: Shad Foster, athletic trainer; Lori McVaigh, seventh grade girls’ basketball coach; Tom Baer, eighth grade girls’ basketball coach; Pat Jackson, VWMS girls’ basketball volunteer coach; Laura Foster and Amy Smith, Early Childhood Center multimedia advisors; Sara Pugh, ECC student rewards coordinator; Jessica Small, ECC Rtl manager; Jeannie Ditmeyer, ECC Aimsweb manager; Kim Fleming and Kathy Mansfield, grades 3-5 Student Council advisors; Tracy McCoy, second grade multimedia advisor; Marty Hohman, third grade multimedia advisor; Ashley Holden, fourth grade multimedia advisor; Nate Hoverman, fifth grade multimedia advisor; Sara Royer, 1-3 grade student rewards coordinator; Ben Laudick, grades 4-5 student rewards coordinator; Amy Covey, first grade Rtl manager; Chrstine Heizman, second grade Rtl manager; July Mosier, third grade Rtl manager; Ruth Ann Dowler, fourth grade Rtl manager; Drew Bittner, fifth grade Rtl manager; Donna Clark, first grade Aimsweb manager; Cindy Etzler, second grade Aimsweb manager; Kathy Long, third grade Aimsweb manager; Kim Werling, fourth grade Aimsweb manager; Ed Jacob, fifth grade Aimsweb manager; Donna Clark, first grade multimedia advisor.
• Approved Mike Dowdy to teach AP psychology and psychology/sociology on an as-needed basis.
• Learned of additions to the certified and classified substitute lists.

The next meeting of the Van Wert City Board of Education will be at 5 p.m. Wednesday, November 12, in the First Federal Lecture Hall of the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio.