Lincolnview board hires 2 new teachers

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

The Lincolnview Local Board of Education hired new teachers, accepted the resignation of one veteran teacher and approved the purchase of more than $90,000 in new textbooks during its June meeting Wednesday.

The board approved contracts for Melissa Stork as elementary art teacher and fourth-grade teacher Kristen Harden, while Brenda Eickholt was issued an administrative contract as district program/services coordinator. The board also accepted the resignation of Shay Sheets, a seventh-grade language arts teacher with 10 years of experience who recently was hired by the Crestview Local School District.

Board members also approved extended contracts for the following: Tony Campbell, career tech vocational agriculture, 59 days; Anna Baker, instrumental music, 20 days; Jay Hoersten, industrial tech, 5 days; Brenda Leeth, junior high-high school guidance counselor, 20 days; and Deb Stetler, high school librarian, 10 days.

Kevin Longstreth was also employed as a substitute custodian for the upcoming school year.

Seven different textbooks were purchased for math students in grades K-12, with K-5 math books from McGraw Hill Education Group the most expensive at $51,290.76.

The board also discussed the upcoming teacher evaluation changes, as well as new state report card grading system.

Superintendent Jeffrey Snyder first talked about the new state teacher evaluation system, noting the new system is focused on individual student growth, with 50 percent of teachers’ evaluations based on how well their students do in class, while the other 50 percent will come from observation and evaluations.

That doesn’t mean that teachers with low-performing students would be at a disadvantage, he stressed, adding that teachers of both high- and low-performing students have to show that students have made academic progress during a school year.

Snyder added he feels Lincolnview teachers will see little difference between the current district evaluation program and the new evaluation system.

“If you are a great teacher, you will be a great teacher, with or without this tool,” the superintendent said.

Snyder also reported on the state’s proposed district report card evaluation system, noting that, instead of designations such as “excellent,” “excellent with distinction,” and “continuous improvement,” the new system will give letters grades (A, B, C, D, F), to Ohio school districts.

Depending on the criteria for the new grading system, the superintendent said, districts may not receive the kind of grades they think they deserve, noting that districts rated “excellent” under the old system may not receive an “A” under the new system.

“It could become much more difficult to get the ‘A’,” Snyder said, while adding he doesn’t have much of a handle on what the new report card system will mean to Lincolnview.

Also during the meeting, the board approved supplemental appropriations to the current fiscal year budget, while also approving temporary appropriations for the coming fiscal year. School handbooks for the 2013-2014 school year were also approved.

Treasurer Troy Bowersock noted in his report to the board that revenues for the current fiscal year were approximately 1.7 percent under estimates, but also noted that expenses were also down 1.7 percent from what he had estimated. He also discussed with the board the possibility of paying down some of the district’s bond debt, noting that paying off the district’s smallest bond, at approximately $2.5 million, would save district taxpayers approximately $3.6 million. He recommended that, if the board decides to pay off the bond, it should be done on the bond call date in 2015.

“It probably makes the most sense to do that, if we’re going to, on the bond call date,” Bowersock noted.

Cafeteria Manager Carol Williams also attended the meeting to give her annual report to the board. Williams noted that, due to federal guidelines, cafeteria prices would show a nickel increase in the coming school year. Lunch prices for elementary students would increase from $1.80 to $1.85, while high school and junior high school students would pay $1.95, up from $1.90 this past year.

Williams also recommended that the board approve the purchase of a new commercial mixer for the cafeteria, noting that the current mixer, a 1946 model, no longer functions. Later in the meeting, board members approved Williams’ recommendations to accept bids from Perfection Bakery for bakery products and Dairymen’s for dairy products.

In other action, the board:

• Learned from Elementary Principal Gordon Stemen that enrollment for the elementary currently stands at 471, two under last year’s ending enrollment of 473. “We’re holding our own,” Stemen said of enrollment figures.
• Heard Junior High-High School Principal Kelly Dye note that Skyway cardholders would likely receive an early release from school on holidays, instead of test exemptions, which state regulations now prohibit.
• Authorized a program to offer student accident insurance underwritten by Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company, through Purmort Brothers Insurance Agency.
• Accepted, with thanks, the following donations: $1,500 from the Van Wert County Foundation for the Lincolnview music department; $1,017.50 as a first-half Klein Trust donation for needy students through the Van Wert County Foundation.
• Accepted the annual advertising agreement payment of $5,000 from Van Wert Federal Savings Bank to benefit the athletic department.
• Approved a part-time summer school substitute contact to Glen Hicks.
• Adopted end-of-course examinations in American History and American Government classes that comply with requirements of House Bill 165 and its amendments.
• Approved a list of open enrollment students who will be attending Lincolnview in the fall.
• Approved a fixed-pricing agreement with First Energy Solutions Corporation to supply electricity from October 1, 2013, through December 1, 2014.
• Authorized members of the high school choir to attend the University of Toledo High School Honors Choir Festival on November 8-9.
• Granted the following supplemental contracts: Calli Coppus and Sandy Dowdy, junior class advisors; and Dowdy, sophomore class advisor.
• Approved the following bids: Scott Equity Exchange to supply gasoline and diesel fuel to the district, and 4-K Tire of Delphos to provide tires for school buses, vans, the band truck and a trailer, as needed.
• Approved Hollie Ford as the Lincolnview employee representative on the Van Wert Area Schools Insurance Group for the 2013-2014 school year.

The next meeting of the Lincolnview Local Board of Education will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 16, in the district conference room.