L’view board hears report on Marsh

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Lincolnview Local Board of Education members heard a report from Marsh School Principal Roger Salisbury as the board met Thursday in the library of The Marsh Foundation for its October meeting.

Salisbury noted that the Foundation was currently at full capacity, with 30 youth residents on campus, with a waiting list of children waiting to enter the program.

The Marsh School principal also noted that there a number of challenges educating Marsh Foundation residents, with 21 of the 30 youths under Individual Educational Programs (IEP), usually considered as “special needs” students who are emotionally disturbed. That has changed significantly, Salisbury said, from when he came to Marsh more than 20 years ago, when there were only one or two special needs students.

Educating the students is also an expensive and complex process, he said, noting that The Marsh Foundation overall budget is $4.5 million annually, with $273,000 of that amount just for education, not including operation of the Marsh kitchen or the group home operated by the foundation.

“Working with troubled youth is very rewarding, but also time-consuming and draining,” Salisbury said, noting that the size of the main Marsh residential group was a little higher than he would like at this time. The principal said there were currently nine students in the main class, while he felt a maximum of eight students was a better size for the number of teachers and aides on staff. “Once we get to 9 or 10, it gets a little more crowded,” he explained, adding that it is often challenging to find educational materials that engage the children, especially since many of them don’t read at grade level.

Salisbury said residents come to The Marsh from all over the western portion of Ohio, including Miami and Clermont counties, as well as area students, and stay from 1-1½ years, although they can stay longer.

He also noted that not all youngsters do well in The Marsh Foundation program.

“We’re very patient here, we go the extra mile with kids, but if they’re not working here (they) might need a more restrictive environment,” the Marsh principal noted.

Interim Superintendent Doug Karst also reported on the search for a new superintendent to replace Doug Fries, noting that preliminary interviews have been held, and that it is hoped a final decision can be made in the near future.

The board also heard from Treasurer Troy Bowersock, who provided an update on the district’s five-year forecast, while also giving the board details on the Lincolnview transportation census, used to estimate the amount of governmental funding to help pay the cost of busing students. Bowersock said an average of 495 students were bused on a daily basis for an average of 700 miles a day.

High School-Junior High School Principal Kelly Dye reported that fall sports awards banquets will be held individually, instead of all together as was done in the past.

Elementary Principal Gordon Stemen talked about this year’s sixth grade trip to Washington, D.C., which was held the week of October 6. He noted that two students chosen as “students of the week” were given American flags that flew over the Capitol building.

In other action, the board:

• Approved employment of Nikki Fetzer as a substitute cook, Tracy Sill as a substitute education aide and Tommy Sandefer as a substitute custodian for the remainder of the 2012-2013 school year.
• Supplemental contracts included Calli Coppus and Kinsey Dobbelaere as Junior Class co-advisors, Kent McClure as girls’ assistant basketball coach, Seth Evans as boys’ eighth grade basketball coach; Kevin Longstreth as head baseball coach; Crystal Cully as class play advisor and Laura Longstreth as Drama Club advisor, and Tara Gustwiller a eighth grade girls’ basketball coach.
• Entered into a transportation contract with Becky Smith and Brittney Calvelage for the current school year.
• Approved Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreements with Ridge and York townships.
• Accepted a $7,000 donation from Pepsi Cola Bottling Group for the all-weather track project. The money is a final payment on a contract that expires at the end of the current school year.
• Approved the 2013 sixth-grade Washington, D.C., trip for October 7-13, 2013.
• Authorized an overnight trip for Lincolnview Cross Country Coach Matt Langdon and assistants Trina Langdon and Ben Cowan to take the boys’ cross country team to the Division III Regional Cross Country Meet in Tiffin on October 26-27.
• Accepted Kent McClure’s resignation as eighth grade girls’ basketball coach.
• Accepted, with thanks, a donation of $2,000 from the Cooper Family Foundation, within the Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund.
• Accepted, with thanks, a MAC Grant from Jerry Lewis’ McDonald’s Restaurants in the amount of $272.21.
• Approved hiring athletic events workers on an as-needed basis.
• Authorized retroactively, the Lancer girls’ golf team overnight trip to the District Golf Match in Findlay on September 30-October 1.
• Approved a contract with Jeff Krugh as the district’s Class I domestic water systems operator, to run from November 1 through October 31, 2013.

The next meeting of the Lincolnview Local Board of Education will be held at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, November 20, in the district conference room.