The Wapakoneta City Board
of Education met in regular session on Monday, April 3, 2006, at
7:00 p.m. at Wapakoneta High School.
The meeting was called to order by President Ron Mertz. Roll call was as follows: Sammetinger, aye; Copeland, aye; Kantner,
aye; Mertz, aye; and Frame, aye. Also
in attendance were Superintendent, Keith Horner; Treasurer, Susan Rinehart;
Business Manager, Don Arnett; staff and administrators; students and parents;
community members; and media representative.
The Pledge of Allegiance
was led by President Ron Mertz.
RECOGNITION
OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT
Bob Askins welcomed
everyone to the Board meeting. He noted
Devon Golden is being recognized by herself because when the other students
were recognized, Devon was in a basketball tournament. He congratulated Devon and thanked her
parents, Nelson and Julie Golden. He
then read the recommendation from Diane Dillman Elshire. Laura Frame then congratulated Devon and
presented a certificate of appreciation to her. Ron Mertz congratulated Devon and presented a student achievement
pin to her. On behalf of the Board of
Education, Ron Mertz congratulated Devon and her parents and said it is a great
honor for the Board to recognize great students, great citizens, and good kids
that we have in our school system, and we will continue this program.
REPORTS FROM THE BOARD
Laura Frame reported to the Board on the Northridge
Exploration Science/Math Night that was held Thursday, March 20. Laura said it was a great success and congratulated
everyone. It was a fantastic
turnout. Lots of positive things went
on (included is a synopsis from the Daily News article on the events that were
held that night).
Dave Copeland reported the Fast Facts for April for
Centennial School (copy to be included).
He said there are some really positive things going on at Centennial,
and he is proud to be the representative for that school building.
Willie then had the following reports:
§
He attended the FFA banquet at Apollo. He said it’s not the production that Ron
Brown has at Wapakoneta, but it was a very nice evening. The kids did a great job and received
different awards for their achievements.
§
Willie reminded the Board that April 19 is the
Franklin B. Walter dinner. He hopes all
the Board members will be there.
§
Spring sports have started and he hopes the
community and parents will show the same great support for the spring sports
and athletes that they did for the winter sports.
Dave Copeland had a
question for Mr. Askins. He had heard
some comments about a guest speaker, Mr. Lookadoo, that they had had at the
High School and Middle School. Bob commented
that this was a recommendation from Mark Koch and it was paid for by a citizens
group. He was a different type of
speaker. He said he could have probably
discussed more topics, but the important thing was the kids talked about
it. It is important to have the kids
discuss topics. He did not feel it was a
negative experience.
Keith Horner then
commented that not every speaker is for everyone, and this speaker had a
different message at each building. The
message he gave to the Middle School students was different from the one he
gave to the High School students. He
said the important thing is that it made the students think.
Willie Sammetinger
commented that the kids were impressed by the message. The message was for them to think
individually and make a personal effort, not to wait on someone else to make
decisions for them.
Ron Mertz then thanked the
PTT groups and volunteers. We like to thank
volunteers at each Board meeting. A lot
of the activities that go on in the buildings would not be possible if it
weren’t for our support groups. We need
lots of volunteers and supporters, and we really appreciate everyone who assists
our schools. They make our jobs a lot
easier.
REPORTS TO THE BOARD
Mike Watt brought to the Board’s attention the
annual contract for an athletic trainer is due again. Last year Memorial Hospital said they did not at this time have
the staff to put in a bid. We did
receive a bid from St. Rita’s Hospital.
They are offering to lock in their services on a 2-year contract at the
same price we paid this year. That
price is $4,250. Mike commented that
with a 30-day notice, we can void the contract if we are dissatisfied with
service. He would recommend that we
renew the contract with St. Rita’s Hospital.
He said at this time we are only having trainers at the varsity games
and not at all the J.V. events. The
additional cost is $75 per J.V. contest, and the athletic department does not
have the funds to pay for a trainer at every game.
Ron Kantner commented that he feels it seems very
reasonable. He asked Mike if we had
done any research on possibly hiring a full-time strength coach/trainer/teacher
for this program. Mike estimated it
would probably be around $50,000 for such a person, and at this time, it would
be great; however, the athletic department cannot support that type of
expenditure.
2005 Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year - Keith
Horner and Ron Mertz presented Elisha Smith a certificate of appreciation for
being selected the 2005 Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year. Keith commented that he worked with Elisha for three years at the
Middle School. He stated she is a very
positive teacher and engages the students in a learning environment. He was very proud to have worked with
her. Ron Mertz then congratulated her
on behalf of the Board.
“Real Money, Real World” Project – Karen
Semple discussed a handout on “Real Money, Real World.” She started a new program the second
semester of this year for the 8th grade class she teaches on
consumer science. She had the students
basically randomly choose an occupation, a family, etc. They then went through real-life simulations
on making decisions for education, work, family, paying bills, balancing a
checkbook, etc. On the last day, 17
community members were in for a simulation day. The students had to decide whether they could afford to purchase utilities,
etc. It was a very good experience for
the kids. Karen Semple has received a
lot of positive feedback from the students.
She complimented the Wapakoneta Daily News. They did a very nice article on this program, discussing career
goals, how education affects the students on how much money they can make.
Ron Mertz then commented that he feels this is a
great program. He said he talked to Mr.
Wittwer and Julie Miars Golden three years ago about starting some kind of
program to assist our students in learning how to reconcile a checkbook and day-to-day
activities that they need when they graduate.
Karen Semple said she will continue this program. This year the first semester 8th
grade class did not participate in this program because she had not started it
until second semester.
Study Island - Darrell Heintz explained
Study Island and what it is. He gave
the Board a handout and discussed the successes they have had. They are very pleased with this program. Every student has passed the math part of
the OGT test to graduate. If the
students fail the OGT test, they can re-take it in the summer after they have
had 10 hours of intervention. This
program qualifies for intervention. The
students log on and actually work the programs. Staff and students are very pleased with this program. Kids can do it either at school or they can log
on at home.
Laura Frame then commented that her daughters have
logged on to Study Island and she felt it was a fun experience for them. She felt it was a very good program
too.
ROUTINE BUSINESS
Kantner
moved to approve the following:
Minutes of Facilities Committee meeting held
March 22, 2006.
Seconded by Copeland. Roll call:
Copeland, aye; Kantner, aye; Mertz, aye; Frame, aye; and Sammetinger,
aye. Motion passed unanimously.
PERSONNEL MATTERS
Employment to Supplemental
Contracts
Sammetinger
moved to employ Marc Dyrness to the supplemental position of Head Girls Soccer
Coach for the 2006-07 school year, Step 1, $3,646.89.
Seconded by Copeland. Roll call:
Kantner, aye; Mertz, aye; Frame, aye; Sammetinger, aye; and Copeland,
aye. Motion passed unanimously.
Willie Sammetinger reported Dyrness
was a unanimous recommendation from a four-person interview team.
Employment
of Substitutes
Frame moved to employ the following substitutes for
the 2005-06 school year at the appropriate rate on the salary schedule, pending
satisfactory completion of criminal records checks and proper certification
through ODE:
Tamara Laise Secretary
Tamara Laise Paraprofessional
Tamara Laise Teacher
Chadrick McNeal Teacher
Kerri Hart Teacher
Seconded by Kantner. Roll
call: Mertz, aye; Frame, aye;
Sammetinger, aye; Copeland, aye; and Kantner, aye. Motion passed unanimously.
MISCELLANEOUS
Advertising
for Storage Facility
Sammetinger moved to permit legal advertising to
begin for a storage facility for the district, according to Facilities
Committee recommendations (Facilities Committee meeting held March 22, 2006).
Seconded by Frame. Roll
call: Frame, aye; Sammetinger, aye;
Copeland, aye; Kantner, aye; and Mertz, aye.
Motion passed unanimously.
Ron Mertz reported we are losing our storage
facility and we need to replace it.
Also, we are still renting portable restrooms at the bus lot.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The next Board meeting is
Tuesday, April 18 – 7:00 p.m. – Northridge Elementary – Northridge Elementary
students will be recognized for achievements.
EXECUTIVE
SESSION
Kantner moved to go into
executive session for the purpose of discussing employment, discipline, and
compensation of a public employee or official; and preparing for, conducting,
or reviewing negotiations or bargaining sessions with public employees
concerning their compensation or other terms and conditions of their
employment, with no action to be taken except to adjourn.
Seconded by Sammetinger. Roll
call: Sammetinger, aye; Copeland, aye;
Kantner, aye; Mertz, aye; and Frame, aye.
Motion passed unanimously.
Upon returning from
executive session, it was noted that five Board members were present.
ADJOURNMENT
Kantner
moved to adjourn at 9:10 p.m. Seconded
by Sammetinger. Roll call: Sammetinger, aye; Copeland, aye; Kantner,
aye; Mertz, aye; and Frame, aye. Motion
passed unanimously.
_________________________________
President
_________________________________
Secretary