ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP — Buckeye Local Board of Education members elected Norah Anderson as president and Mary Wisnyai as vice president during the board’s organizational meeting Monday.
“Thank you for that vote of confidence,” Anderson told board members Wisnyai, Mark Estock, Jacqueline Hillyer and Sharon Schoneman as she took the president’s seat and continued the meeting. Hillyer served as president in 2008.
The next item on the agenda — setting dates, times and locations for regular meetings — hinted at the challenges facing the district in 2009.
“We try to get to each of the buildings in the calendar year, but I would be careful about scheduling (Pierpont and North Kingsville),” said Superintendent Nancy Williams as the board hammered out the schedule.
Last week, Williams announced that the board is proposing three options to deal with declining enrollment: close either the Pierpont or North Kingsville elementary schools or allow the district to run up a huge deficit. Accordingly, North Kingsville and Pierpont were not selected as meeting locations in 2009.
The board will need to act on the school closure by March.
The board is holding a community meeting on the school closure issue 7 p.m. Jan. 21 at Edgewood Senior High School.
The board’s regular meeting time of 7 p.m. on the third Tuesday of the month was altered for April, May and June to accommodate commitments of the board and superintendent. April’s meeting will be on the 20th at Kingsville. May’s meeting also moved up a day, to the 18th, and June’s meeting was moved to the 30th.
All meetings will be at Braden Junior High School, except Ridgeview (Feb. 17), Edgewood (March 17) and Kingsville (April 20). Locations of the last three meetings of the year will be announced later.
In other actions, the board:
n Voted to approve membership in the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA) for 2009 at a cost of $5,059, an increase of $160 over 2008. The board also voted to join the OSBA Legal Assistance Fund for $250;
n Approved a $10,000 appropriation to the service fund, used to pay expenses incurred by board members in the performance of their duties. The board’s actual use of the fund totaled $2,820 in 2008;
n Set the charge for copying requested materials for employees and school-related organizations at 10 cents per copy. The charge is 15 cents for citizens. Actual mailing costs for materials and agendas will be passed on to those who request them; and
n Elected to continue legal services with Squire, Sanders and Dempsey for educational issues, and Andrews and Pontius for local issues.
The board also passed a slate of organizational items dealing with the investment of interim funds; bonds for the board president, superintendent and treasurer; tax advances; payment of bills; adjustment of appropriations; employment of personnel and extension of contracts; supplemental moneys; and the tax budget.
Once organized, the board got down to business in a work session and executive session for the purpose of discussing negotiations with school employees.
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