{"id":8883,"date":"2011-06-04T02:42:12","date_gmt":"2011-06-04T07:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/?p=8883"},"modified":"2011-06-04T09:47:54","modified_gmt":"2011-06-04T14:47:54","slug":"vantage-suspends-2-employee-contracts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2011\/06\/04\/vantage-suspends-2-employee-contracts\/","title":{"rendered":"Vantage suspends 2 employee contracts"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

Vantage Board of Education heard an update on the school\u2019s facility project and also approved a controversial personnel action during its June meeting this week.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Vantage Health Careers instructor Reesa Rohrs speaks in support of colleagues Cindy Krizan and Tammy Deitsch. (photos by Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite appeals from Vantage staff and following a lengthy executive session, board members voted 5-3 to approve a resolution suspending the employment contracts of guidance counselor Tammy Deitsch and assessment coordinator Cynthia Krizan.<\/p>\n

Several staff members talked about the importance both Deitsch and Krizan bring to Vantage.<\/p>\n

English teacher Teresa Ratliff-Dotterer addressed Krizan\u2019s in-depth knowledge of Vantage students and her dedication to her job.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lose all of this when we lose her services,\u201d Ratliff-Dotterer noted.<\/p>\n

Colleague Sonya Yenser-Hammon talked about the problems Vantage students have, with some homeless, others in abusive situations or addicted to drugs — or with parents with drug problems — and some even suicidal, including one \u201ccutter\u2019\u2019 — a self-mutilator.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how we can expect these students to come to Vantage and learn if we don\u2019t have someone who can help them get through these issues,\u201d she noted. \u201cBy eliminating a guidance position, we\u2019re eliminating a tremendous amount of support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yenser-Hammon said Vantage had a tradition of \u201ctaking care of our students\u201d and hoped the board would continue that tradition by maintain Deitsch\u2019s guidance position.<\/p>\n

American Studies teacher Peg Bollenbacher, who has a reputation for being outspoken, got a laugh when she noted this was not the first time she has addressed the board, but nevertheless stated her belief that one guidance counselor is not enough to handle 500 students. She added that many Vantage female students \u201cwould not feel comfortable speaking to a male counselor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Health Careers teacher Reesa Rohrs first began by saying she realized that board members had financial issues they had to deal with, but also noted she hoped they would reconsider eliminating Krizan and Deitsch\u2019s positions.<\/p>\n

Rohrs, who shares an office, with Krizan, talked about her incredible work ethic \u2013 stating that there many evening when Rohrs left the school long before Krizan did.<\/p>\n

She also agreed with Bollenbacher that girls — from what she knows of those in her Health Careers classes — would likely not go to guidance counselor Jim Fisher with certain problems, just because he is male.<\/p>\n

Rohrs said she felt Vantage risked alienating some of its students and overloading the remaining counselor if Deitsch\u2019s position was cut.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what you\u2019re losing is far more than the money you\u2019ll save,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Larry Mengerink, president of the Vantage Teachers Organization, agreed with Rohrs. \u201cWe feel the two positions they are eliminating are probably critical to our student population \u2026 especially the female population,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mengerink also challenged the administration to provide more information on why the positions are being eliminated. \u201cThey say they\u2019re for financial reasons,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to see the financial reasons. They haven\u2019t shown us there is a financial hardship in keeping them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former graduate Nicole Sterling also spoke during the meeting about how Deitsch had helped her get through school, while former student Bobbie Kleman, a successful hair stylist in Las Vegas, sent an email talking about how Deitsch was instrumental in her success.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Former Vantage student Nicole Sterling also spoke on behalf of Deitsch during the meeting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For her part, Superintendent Staci Kaufman said elimination of the two positions would provide funding to hire special education teachers — an area especially needed because of an increase in students with learning disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cReducing two positions allow us to put resources where we need them, which, in our case, is special education population, which is 12 percent,\u201d Kaufman said. \u201cWe also were understaffed in special education before.\u201d<\/p>\n

The superintendent also noted the Vantage administration was careful to ensure the positions eliminated would not be in the instruction area, and noted that one problem with hiring new special education positions was a cut of over $100,000 in that area over the past couple of years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe identified two positions that, if push came to shove, we really had to do without,\u201d she added. \u201cThey certainly provide valuable services and the employees have done a great job \u2026 but this is financial issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also Thursday, Kaufmann noted that work on the school\u2019s facility project is beginning in earnest, with work occurring in a number of areas of the current building, as well as an area that was formerly the staff parking lot.<\/p>\n

In other<\/strong> news, the board:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Accepted the resignations of math instructor Mike Knott and Pamela Hickey, Ottoville Family & Consumer Science teacher, effective the end of the 2010-2011 school year.<\/li>\n
  • Employed the following Adult Education instructors, as needed, as scheduled: Vicki Bidlack, Katie Ashbaugh, Melynda McCormack, Jean Steele, and Annette Klinger, Health Careers; Jim Grant and Sara Ricker, ABLE instructors; Ricker, transition coordinator; Steven Stechschulte, Police Academy; and Margie Hubert and Annette Klinger, Computers.<\/li>\n
  • Accepted, with thanks, the following donations: $250 to the Vantage Preschool Program from the Beta Delta Chapter of Psi Iota Xi sorority; and racks and steel worth $4,500 to the Trade and Industry Program from Hoosier Pattern Inc.<\/li>\n
  • Approved a rental agreement with Kriegal Company for $800 a month for storage space during the construction project.<\/li>\n
  • Approved Vantage Preschool fees for the 2011-2012 school year as follows: half-day Monday-Thursday, $80; full day Monday-Thursday, $185.<\/li>\n
  • Amended Ashley Cline\u2019s contract for 2011-2012 to be special education coordinator, rather than special education instructor.<\/li>\n
  • Approved courses of study for all six CTE programs and also approved the student handbook for 2011-2012.<\/li>\n
  • Authorized the purchase of a three-tower frame machine from CJJ Inc. for an estimated $53,335.<\/li>\n
  • Approved memoranda of understanding with Penta Career Center for ABLE services for both FY 2011 and 2012.<\/li>\n
  • Approved a change in hours for the Adult Education secretary from 2-10 p.m. to 4-10 p.m., effective July 1.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Vantage Board of Education will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 30, in the Cup and Saucer dining area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor Vantage Board of Education heard an update on the school\u2019s facility project and also approved a controversial personnel action during its June meeting this week. Despite appeals from Vantage staff and following a lengthy executive session, board members voted 5-3 to approve a resolution suspending the employment contracts of guidance counselor Tammy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 10:39:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8883\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}