001Regular meeting of the Board of Education of the Perry Local School District was called to order at 5:45 p.m. in the Tarbox Center Conference Room. Mrs. Yowell is here. Mrs. Yowell is here. Here. Mr. Hayden. Here. Mrs. Grega. Here. Mrs. Jackson. Here. Please stand for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the United States of America. And to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Welcome everyone. Nice to see a full house. Um Mr. Porcello. Superintendent Scott. Sure. We're going to start tonight off by recognizing some of our student athletes. Another winter season has come and gone and you know, it's been almost become a tradition now to have a lot of our winter athletes here recognizing them. Takes a great deal of work and dedication
002and we're we're extremely proud of our student athletes and the coaches and the amount of time that it takes and uh we're super proud. At this time, I'll turn over to TJ Rockwell who's going to recognize our coaches and our athletes. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Porcello. Appreciate it. And I would echo um what Mr. Porcello said. We're extremely proud of our all of our athletes, but we're here to recognize our our winter sport athletes tonight and we had another banner season. Um so, we're going to uh recognize all of our athletes that achieved All Ohio status this year in in their various sports. We have three different sports to uh recognize this evening. We'll start off with um our swim team and Brody Hicks once again, for the third year. COME ON UP, BRODY. WE
003ALL KNOW ABOUT BRODY. THIS IS HIS THIRD YEAR AS AN ALL Ohio swimmer. Um multi-year state qualifier as well and he pretty much owns all records for Perry swim at this point in time. Um all individual records. We have eight individual records and then there's uh four relays. Three. Three. He owns He owns two of the three. So, he's going to go down as the most decorated swimmer in Perry history. Um so, we want to recognize not only for this year uh but for all of the years he has really come in and just dominated the sport for the Perry Pirates and I'm excited to just found out a little bit ago he's going to be attending Harvard. Um so, CONGRATULATIONS ON THAT ACCOMPLISHMENT. GOOD JOB, MAN. I JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU TO
004MY COACHES AND THE athletic department as they are able to accommodate uh completely different levels of the sport. People starting out and people like me who've been doing it for 13 years now and like putting together some some relays. I mean you can't yeah Don't sleep on our relays. Uh last year we were 25th. Uh one spot out of state. This year it was the same case, but some school records from that and it really shows that we are a whole team. Absolutely. We we are our boys team almost doubled in size this year. I think we're actually getting to those relay teams as he mentioned. So, congratulations on a great UH GREAT JOB. THANK YOU. THANK YOU SCOTT. THEY'RE THEY'VE BEEN EXTREMELY hard working and flexible with with Brody. He's somebody who likes to
005go at it and swim twice a day morning and evening workouts and things like that. So, they've been extremely uh gracious there. So, congratulations to our swim program. Um we'll move on to our wrestling program here uh at Perry and we have five state placers this evening um to recognize two on the girls' side and three on the boys' side. They all competed at the state tournament at the OHSAA state tournament and one big uh thing there at the Schott Center. It's quite an event. If you've never been, I'd highly recommend it. We have 10 mats going at one time. It's pretty intense environment. Uh and we had some kids um really show up this year to get five on the podium uh is amazing. So, come on up when I call your name, please.
006On the uh girls' side at 110 lb um Abby Cornwell, FIFTH PLACE. DOMINISH, FIFTH PLACE AT 115. MOVING OVER TO THE BOYS' SIDE, Anthony Trentanelli, EIGHTH PLACE AT 144. THIRD PLACE 150 lb UH CHANCE SCHLAUD. AND HE'S PLAYING A BASEBALL GAME FOR US right now, so he's not here. Uh in seventh place at 285 lb is Trent Taylor. So, congratulations. AND I COULD TALK ABOUT EACH ONE OF THEM THAT ARE here this evening. GG is a two-time as a sophomore, two-time state qualifier, two-time state placer. So, uh in both of the years she's competed at the state tournament, she's in and up on that podium. So, a tremendous We're excited about the next two years for GG. Um Anthony had quite a story. If you didn't follow it, he didn't wrestle until the sectional tournament.
007So, he was injured in the in our one of our end of the season soccer matches uh and uh I don't think I'm doing anything HIPAA-wise. He tore his meniscus and everything like that. It was a pretty serious injury. We really questioned whether or not he was going to be able to even compete at all. And to come out with a zero and zero record at the sectional tournament and make it to the state tournament. Quite One of the best things we've seen here in a long, long time. So, congratulations to Anthony. He's got another year left and we're excited about that. Getting him healthy and seeing him uh the entire year. So, congratulations to Anthony. And Chance um back-to-back state placers for Chance's junior and senior years. He was our district champion at 150
008lb and you know, just the way wrestling goes sometimes, a little bit of a unlucky draw to to start the state tournament. The kid he beat at the district tournament ends up in the state final. That's just the way things work out. Uh but I'm excited. He is um extremely passionate about the sport. A picture on my phone that I'm sure it's going to go up on the wall. It's a pretty awesome picture after he won his third place match. And he's going to continue his wrestling career at Cumberland University in Kentucky. So, we we wish Chance nothing but the best of luck as he graduates AS WELL. COACH NOWLIN, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANTED TO SAY ANYTHING, COACH DOMINISH, but I wanted to thank our our wrestling coaches uh for running a fantastic
009program and and giving these kids the opportunity very much similar to swimming the the opportunity to compete at a very high level year in and year out at the state level and um we're we're extremely proud of all of your accomplishments as coaches as well. So, thank you very much for your time and your dedication. TJ, you covered everything. Okay, good. All right, thanks. Hey TJ, can ask me for a picture after we leave the meeting with staff get some pictures? Definitely. Let's do that. One more athlete. She's not here. Um Emily Meckembyer was our state champion at the indoor um track meet this uh this past winter. Uh she is our defending state champion at the outdoor meet in Columbus. So, she is she achieved that as a freshman. So, um she is uh
010about a foot away from breaking the Division Two state of Ohio record in the shot put. We had actually go out and buy a special tape measure that doesn't stretch. Uh Dr. Bass is probably knows all about that. So, it's one of those things that we're excited about. Obviously, what she accomplished this winter, but I know she's got bigger, loftier goals ahead of her as well. So, we're excited to go spend some money on a steel tape measure. So, hopefully she's our Division Two all-time shot put uh record holder. So, uh that's it. But, she's not able to be here with us tonight. But, congratulations to Coach Richards, Coach Thomas, um um who are indoor track coaches that Emily had a fantastic uh winter looking forward to a fun spring. So, hopefully we're back here
011in June with some better, bigger news there. Yeah, we wanted to do some pictures. Sure. Yeah, let's make sure we get some pictures after Right. They don't want to see me on here. Yeah, right. Congratulations to everyone. I know it's it's a it's a big accomplishment to do as much as you guys do and succeed at such a high level both academically and athletically. So, congratulations. Um if you guys do want to head out, you're more than welcome to go. You're welcome to stay as well. Congratulations. Make sure they get all the Yeah, maybe just one more. I don't want to show your poster. Yeah. Squish. One, two. And do one more. Done? All right. Coach is All right, good. Who do you want to stay? All right. Coach. Yeah. Yeah, okay. I'm going to
012have you Okay. One more. Hey, everybody get their photos? Okay. All right. Great job, guys. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congrats. Congratulations. Great job. Okay, that's fine. I don't know if I could do it now or later. I just didn't So, you're good. Yeah. Okay. Good job. All right. >> Are there any committee reports? We uh we met Kathleen and I met with um the wellness committee to go over the uh fifth grade and sixth grade programs that they're going to deal with puberty and health and wellness and you know everything that state requires that we make sure we do. Talked about those. We talked about bringing in and working more with the school of thriving threads. Um trying to see if we could either get them possibly an extra classroom over in Manchester and then maybe also
013doing some combined drives not to to work with not to step on PSL but to work with at different times for things and needs that they use. Um they support our nurses with donations but also to try to ask the community maybe to donate instead of like private pay. Is there anything else that you'd like to add? Just that as far as um a wish list or something putting a link on our website and even being able to do like Amazon yeah QR code where they could either purchase off of an Amazon list or they could purchase gift cards something to go towards the needs of the center itself. And we said we'd work with her. I'm going to work with Sam uh specifically to get a Canva up and that kind of a QR
014code and the link and then to put it on the page. Anytime we do that and also Mr. Chisholm said that they he would blast that out to the school for us when we do have a specific drive like if it's undergarments or school supplies or something that the school would need through thriving threads. And they do a $500 um scholarship uh to one of our PSL students. Um and so that's that's like one of the advantages to our students among many others and what they can receive from the thriving threads closet. Um that's another one of those benefits. So wherever we can support as far as providing needed items uh we want to partner with them. And we were very thankful Sam our thriving threads already donates so much in the way of winter
015clothes to have kids be able to go outside with the boots and the hats and gloves and snow pants but we want to try to let the entire community know how great of a resource that is. So maybe this way spreading it through in smaller ways um Kathleen and I said anyway we could help and then we started kind of snowballing on different ideas and different ways. So too if anyone has any suggestions or things that they have seen we figured once a quarter so that people aren't getting constant emails from us or anything of that nature but adding it on our page and then through parents word. That sounds thank you. Any other committee? Uh yeah we had a distinguished alumni hall of fame committee meeting. Uh I believe there were 18 nominees this
016year. Um five of those nominees will be inducted come fall. It'll be exciting. Yeah. It's uh it's Is that every other year right? Every other year? Yeah we're doing that every year. Awesome. And the 18 individuals that were nominated they're all impressive individuals. So it was it was it was tough to get through but uh came out to five people and they uh should all be probably know it by now but not they should be fine. Well I'm not saying anything. I'm not saying a word. Well I'll announce it in conjunction with our athletic hall of fame and about another month. Okay good. At the May meeting hopefully. That's all. Um anything else? Uh administrative update Mr. Chisholm. Thank you. Uh congratulations to the cast and crew of Legally Blonde. Several weeks ago our high
017school students put on a musical performance of Legally Blonde. Uh once again our students did an amazing job and it was highly entertaining. Uh there's a great deal of talent in in the area of fine arts and it was truly on display. I'd like to give special thanks to Jen Hunter uh who has directed our plays and musicals for many years now and will be retiring at the end of of this of this school year. So that was her final production and we're thankful for the time and effort that she's put forth with our kids over the past years and supporting them something that they love to do. Uh next up thank you to the athletic boosters. Um I know several of us had attended uh the event this past weekend for the reverse raffle.
018Uh we appreciate the time and effort that it takes to to make that event possible. A lot of details a lot of work a lot of effort showing up setting the place up on a Saturday morning uh and all that money goes to benefit our students and athletes and I think Mr. Apple tells me it was rather successful event and that it takes a community to come out and support those type of events. So special thanks to our community as well um for always coming out to to do um and donate money uh for our kids. Uh next up district art show. Please consider joining us next Thursday April 23rd for annual district art show and student uh learning showcase at 5:00 p.m. Also that night our fifth and sixth grade concert will take place
019in the Goodwin Theater at 7:00 p.m. Um and now we are entering official concert season. Uh April 16th is the PHS PMS jazz uh buccaneers concert. Here for 21st is the high school spring concert and the April 22nd is seventh and eighth grade spring concert. So a lot of opportunities come out and see our students perform and uh watch their growth uh from the winter season to now. Um we also look forward to commencement on Sunday May 17th at 1:00 p.m. as we will recognize and celebrate the uh the accomplishments of the class of 2026. Um scoreboard you will see this later on tonight's agenda. I know we've talked about it in many work sessions and in different opportunities that we've had. I'd like to give special thanks to TJ Rockwell and Jim Smith um
020as it takes a lot of exploring conversations with vendors and really trying to get the best option for for our district. Our current score scoreboard as a reminder is 20 years old and many parts are no longer supported for replacement. Um it also takes up a large chunk of the brick wall that's behind it uh which we have to take into consideration when looking at replacement options because you don't always know what's behind that board. Um I do have good news. Uh Mr. Rockwell over the last 45 days has received over $20,000 in commitments each of the first 3 years and the total right now stands at $63,000 of uh donations through sponsorships that would appear on a video board um which is only possible if you have a video board um and a lot
021of the vendors that he has talked to are excited to be be part of that and report back that um advertising at high school events um is really beneficial to their business. Uh so at that pace uh the scoreboard would be expected to last 15 to 20 years. The cost would be fully covered by donations if we maintain it at that similar pace and uh we would also then be able to exceed that and create revenue that could go back and help um different student athletes um as we try to look at the different funding sources to offset uh all of our extracurriculars and make make sure that we maintain those opportunities well into the future. Uh the other good news about the scoreboard is that it does provide an uh an instructional and academic
022opportunity for our students that are interested in broadcast um and while that's not a part of the recommendation today uh we'll be working with current grant funds that we have and potential other grant funds that we could seek to purchase that equipment uh to provide that opportunity for kids uh which once again can happen if you have a video board. Also uh ongoing conversations with Auburn Career Center as we look at different partnerships with them uh to provide uh additional learning opportunities and offset any cost where they may be able to help. Shifting gears here to different postings uh we now have close to I think we're at 10 retirements for next year um and we will certainly recognize all of our retirees and and the accomplishments and everything that they've done for the students
023of Perry at the May board meeting um but we do have those positions out there and our administrators and directors are working through um numerous candidates. We're always fortunate to have a lot of quality candidates to hope to find uh the next great level of teachers and staff members that we can have to carry on the tradition here. Um last a couple weeks ago in March we wrapped up our shared visioning process. I'd like to give special thanks to the parents and committee members who joined us in March. Uh we met in the media center uh and that concluded our 11th meeting of different stakeholders that we met with um including students staff members community members and parents um as we look to our future and they help guide as we set visions and priorities
024and promises uh for the next steps at Perry schools. So special thanks to everybody that participated in that staff students and the parents and community members as we were able to learn a lot. Uh we took detailed notes thanks to Mr. Kellogg at all those meetings and the next step is to break down all that information and try to gain clarity around what we learned. And finally uh the data center remains a topic throughout our community. I want to thank the board of education for their ongoing dialogue and advocacy for our students of Perry schools uh in all areas but specifically the topic that continues to rise to the top in a lot of our conversations is the data center. We are now reaching 2 years of that ongoing dialogue and advocacy and I would
025recommend anybody that is interested to look at past meetings uh where we've invited different experts in to share on on those topics and um and we'll continue to do that to advocate for the well-being of our students and the financial impact that it could have um on our district both short-term and long-term. Um and that concludes my administrative update. Thank you Mr. Chisholm. Public participation. Mr. Tharp. I'm going to set the timer just because it's easier to keep track of so Sure. Sorry. It's all right. We're just going to sit in our practice. So welcome and >> Thank you. Please just state name and and your address. You want to do that? Yes, that's fine. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Excuse me, Daniel William Tharp. 3119 Parmley Road here in Perry. What I'd like to say
026is just uh from January 1991 till October 2008, I was one of the finest custodians Perry schools ever have had or will have. I'd probably still be here if it wasn't for a certain few individuals that I won't name here now, but when I was kind of like forced out previous to my wanting to be leaving Perry schools at the time, I really had no choice, okay? My life was threatened. Things are going on in this community that and I could write a horror story book and have a best-selling movie. But, neither here nor there, when I departed, they failed to give me my sick days. I never missed a day, okay? 300 days I had sick days built up and never got a penny for them. On my heart, would you ask anybody that
027was here in them years and they'll tell you who I was and how I acted and how I went about my position in this in this school system. So, I've asked the two previous administrations and they laughed in my face. Michael Sawyers and Luke Lantz. And then Mr. Jack Thompson, Luke Lantz, okay? I don't know, you know, it's not their money, it's my money, okay? So, I'm going to leave it at that. Please consider. You know, think about it and see what you can do and maybe uh have a different decision than the two other administrations and I appreciate it and thank you for your time, all right? Thank you, Mr. Tharp. Um Mrs. Keebaugh would be the resource for that, so she would be the one that would probably be able to find the
028records, so Mrs. Keebaugh, if you could look into that, that'd be great. Um hopefully we can find a resolution and find if anything is there. Um okay, and then we have Mrs. Rusnak. Sure. >> Hi. Uh Maria Rusnak, 3975 Barber Road, Perry, Ohio. Uh I'm going to read because I need to read from in order to keep myself on track. Uh good evening. My name is Maria and I'm here as a parent who cares deeply about this district. I was born and raised here. I graduated from here. And the children who learn here currently and will learn continue to learn here um in the future. I understand that the school district does not control whether a data center is built. But, in my view, the district does have the responsibility for understanding how changes in
029the environment around our school affect students, staff, and long-term enrollment. That responsibility doesn't disappear just because the decision is made by other people. For my family, this is personal. Both of my children have immune-related conditions. Their bodies react more strongly to environmental stressors like noise, air quality changes, disruptions to routines. They're not alone. Uh national data shows that nearly one in three young people now live with a chronic condition such as ADHD, asthma, autoimmune disease, or anxiety and that these conditions have risen significantly over the last 20 years. Recent national surveys also show that mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders in children, including ADHD, anxiety, and learning differences have increased in recent years, now affecting more than a quarter of children. ADHD alone now affects one about one in nine US children and that means a
030growing share of our students are more sensitive to noise, stress, and environmental change than in past generations. A data center next to a school introduces constant low-frequency noise, generated uh generator emissions, construction dust, heat output. Even when these meet regulations, they can still affect children who are medically fragile, neurodivergent, or anxious. These are student impact issues, not political ones. We've also learned that the developer has removed the promised cross-country path. Um and while that is a direct loss of opportunity for our student athletes and I'm I'm a cross-country parent, so it is what it is. Um and for PE programming, in a closed enrollment district, losing amenities that support student health and extracurriculars makes it harder to attract and retain young families, especially when you have this six well, six independent six and a half-story
031buildings. I'm not here to oppose development. I'm here to ask the district to take an active role in monitoring, study studying, and communicating how this project affects learning conditions, outdoor safety, and student health, especially for those who are medically and neurologically vulnerable, and long-term enrollment. Um my concern on the long-term enrollment is um I know as a parent, I would not want to bring my family to a school that houses a data center across the street. Um that's something that we can't figure out here and now, but it's something in 10 years, where's our tax base going to be? Are we going to have more young families in in our population? Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Rusnak. Um just to give a little bit of history on this, is anyone have a problem with going
032into this little bit right now? I don't mind it at all. Okay. We do still have the walking path easement on the property. It wasn't necessarily listed as a cross-country easement, but we have a 50-ft easement around the perimeter of the Champion Farms property. That isn't anything that the developers given up or anything. We still we still hold that easement. Um back since in in 2017, we purchased the property in a lease agreement and immediately leased it back to the township, the Jed, and the village. Um that was paid off in 2022. So, they completely own the property and anything that that happened beyond that is out of our our purview. We we have since 2022 done a number of things and been actively involved in advocating for our students both financially and and health-wise.
033I mean, like we have their best interest always in every aspect is always in in the forefront of our minds. So, in 2022, they came to us to lift the deed restriction and that was really the only ask that they could have of us at the time cuz we don't they own the property and we have a 50-house top restriction and we have a deed restriction for 50 ft around the perimeter of the property. Um they completed the payment and they approached us to to reduce the easement. We went back and forth at that at that time back in this going into 2024 now. We went back and forth a little bit about what we would like, what a what compromise could be if we wanted to lift the easement, what they could give us.
034And there was offers that went back and forth, but we really never could come to an agreement. And we were told repeatedly like, "Fine, we'll just go ahead without you. We don't need you to lift the walking path easement. Let's proceed as is." And so, we said, "Okay, because you don't need our permission to proceed as is because everything nothing's changing." So, um that's where it that ended for us. I mean, until more recently when we've been requested again to lift the walking path easement, but nothing has been decided on as of now. Um not not more recently. Not in the last couple I don't know. A little bit. Um so, we have been meeting with the village monthly for a while, a couple of the village officials to express our concerns and to make
035sure that, you know, we want to be able to be brought to the table because anything you mention that we're going to have to do to look out for our students is going to cost money. So, we want to obviously make sure it's not all about money, but we want to make sure that we have the means and stability to take care of our students as long as the future. Um it's not about an immediate, you know, payout or an immediate, you know, playground or anything like that. Like it's long-term stability for our students and being able to do what we need to do to keep them safe and their best interests in mind. Um so so, we have gone back and forth and and as it stands right now, I mean, we've advocated as
036much as we can, even having a meeting in the last 2 weeks. I mean, we just continue to go we've actively gone to meetings. So, rest assured, we are advocating and doing what we can and we are keeping our our students' best interests in mind. Um a lot of the concerns are concerns that it's really on the village and what they decide to do moving forward and we can advocate for it as much as we want to, but sadly we we just don't have any control over it. So, does anyone have anything else to >> Just the only time that we would is if the developer would ask for anything beyond 75% tax abatement, then it's required by law that was changed a few years ago, right, Mrs. Keebaugh? That then the school board would
037be asked to whether they want to approve that or not, anything above 75%. Make sure I'm saying that right. But, that's only an approval of the abatement. Of the abatement, correct. Nothing else that they're doing. Um and the only other two things that you mentioned would be the easement and the deed restriction that we own. Yes. So. And back at the time with the the deed restriction, we we talked about this in our meetings several times. The back then, we weren't getting additional dollars for any students. So, having a large influx of students back then would have put a financial burden on the district without any financial income. So, that was a little bit I think part of the reason I wasn't here then, so I wasn't a part of that decision, but I believe
038that that that factored into why that that decision was made. Everything changes in school financing about every year, so so, there's a lot to keep up with. So, that's no longer the case, but nobody's asked us to lift the restriction on the rooftops. Um that's that's all we have, really. I mean, stay informed and and advocate for your position and and we you know, we're not against development. We understand the need for development. We just want to make sure it's responsibly done and in the best interests of our students and our kids. I mean, we moved to Perry for good schools. So, we want to make sure that that kids are looked after. >> I do want to reiterate um that we have been involved in these conversations for 2 years. Um very involved. We've
039been to several meetings. We've had several conversations with the developer, with tax experts, with village, um multiple people. We've we've had our part of our due diligence to do as much research and as much homework as we can. As Mr. Forcella mentioned and maybe Vicky mentioned that if anybody wants to go back and review the meetings, they're all on YouTube and they're viewable and it's very clear um uh that the what the developer said in his own words and it's not our words, it's his words. We asked a lot of questions and we also asked a lot of questions of the tax expert that came in November of 2024 to be exact and I believe that that meeting was October of 2024. So October meeting? Yeah, October 4th. And we've been updating continuously. Yeah, we've
040been updating in our own meetings throughout that time because of the closing costs and the closing deals cuz you know, with closing with the easement and and going through all that. So there's been continuous updates cuz we've had a lot of back and forth with trying to come to those agreements. So So as it stands right now we advocate, we do what we can, but we don't have authority to stop anything or or push anything forward either way. And do you think the environmental aspect what you mentioned was critically important talking about the construction because through all of the meetings that I attended as a member of just the community and then also at the village meetings and the village meeting of the senior center, none of that addressed the actual construction environmental costs and
041and really when I say costs, I'm talking about like the respiratory issues, the ADHD issues you mentioned, the noise pollution. When they talk about it, I feel like we hear about the New Albany data center, but when we're talking more about this company, they're going to have different uh ways that they build and and materials that you use. So I thank you. I took a bunch of notes on what you said. I do think that would be critically important. So maybe we could add that with the things that we do when we do mention to them looking at those environmental aspects and those environmental studies cuz I have not heard at least in the things I've noted from the village that specific component be mentioned. I think that was important to think of. >> And
042yeah, and as of right now, we really don't know what to prepare for cuz we don't know what it's going to look like yet. So we don't we don't know what's coming. We don't know anything really. There's no We haven't seen a site plan. We don't know really anything about it. So as the time comes, we'll be prepared. We just continue to ask that people come to us for information regarding the school for financial information. Mrs. Capo is the best source. Things change often. So something that was the case 6 months ago may not be the case today. So she stays up on all the fun financial information. Don't know how she does it. >> And just to piggyback, um yes, very much. Um as far as the proximity, we hear a lot about New
043Albany and but this is right in our backyards in residential areas across from the school. And so that needs to be taken into consideration that this is not just a developmental project that's out in the middle of nowhere. We are putting it right across from the entrance of our school. Um and so I think that that's really important for us all to keep in mind. And then going back to the tax abatements, it's it's very concerning to us to not know what those could look like. And in order to be able to support this particular development or not, that is a crucial question to us understanding what are the financial impacts. And we just we just don't have those answers yet. So we do have Tippie and Nikki are on the committee that goes to
044those and they bring the information We've been talking with the village and they've told us that they will bring us into the meetings and let us, you know, that's what we've been advocating for is a seat at the table. So and we've been told that we will have that. So we're looking forward to hearing what is to come with uncertainty as everyone else. So Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And again, if anyone has questions, our numbers are all listed. Mrs. Capo is a great resource. Let's give you that on a full time. She would rather have people call and give the facts out than have misinformation out there that we're constantly correcting. Like for instance, like I think somewhere it says on the on the village's website that the school will get $10 million,
045but it doesn't indicate that that's in a bubble without outside factors kicking in. So she's the one that can tell you actually what that looks like. So we can't even do it. We try really hard to understand it, but it's complicated. No valuation and no math. You kind of can't. Some kind of a unit. So um is everyone good? That concludes the public hearing. Uh board president's report. Item A, approval of out of state professional development in Michigan. The board president recommends approval for the superintendent to attend the Dream Team field experience in Dearborn and Rochester Hills, Michigan on April 29th to 30th, 2026. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Second. And uh Mr. Forcella, this is typical for us, correct, to approve any out of state travel for Any out of state
046overnight has to be approved by the board. So normally I would be recommending it, but because it's me, it comes from the board president. Okay. Dearborn, Michigan. Sounds like a plan. Uh roll call, please. Mrs. Foley? Yes. Mr. Gregus? Yes. Mrs. Lighty? Yes. Mrs. Texter? Yes. Mrs. Yoder? >> Yes. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? Motion. Second. Any discussion? As always, thank you for all the donations for those who choose to donate and and be so generous to our children. Um roll call, please. Mr. Gregus? Oh, I'm sorry. Are you sure? Yeah. Okay. Roll call, please. Mr. Gregus? Yes. Mrs. Lighty? Yes. Mrs. Texter? Yes. Mrs. Yoder? >> Yes. Yes. Mr. Forcella, superintendent's report. Thank you. Item A, approval of paper pencil test resolution. Board is asked to approve the assessment resolution
047below as recommended by the local superintendent and director of innovation and learning. And I would note here that this is for reading only, uh not math. Item B, personnel approval of appointment. Board is asked to approve the employment for the individuals noted for the position indicated as recommended by the local superintendent. Item C, personnel approval of appointment. The board is asked to approve the employment of the individuals listed for the position indicated pending successful completion of required employment paperwork, certification, training, and background check as recommended by the athletic director, transportation supervisor, and local superintendent. D, personnel acceptance of resignation. The board is asked to accept accept the resignation from the individuals listed for the positions noted as recommended by the local superintendent. E, personnel approval of leave of absence. In accordance with the terms and
048conditions of the collective bargaining agreement, Ohio Revised Code, and other applicable leave matters, the board is asked to approve leave of for the individuals listed below as recommended by the local superintendent, director of student services, and building principal. F, personnel approval of contract extensions. Board is asked to extend the contracts for the employees listed as recommended by the local superintendent and chief financial officer. G, personnel approval of change of in hours. The board is asked to approve the change in hours of the individual of the employee listed as recommended by the local superintendent and director of transportation. H, personnel approval of extra time. The board is asked to approve extended time for the individuals listed for the maximum number of days indicated at the respective daily rates of pay for the positions specified for the
0492026-2027 school year as recommended by the local superintendent and director of innovation and learning. I, personnel approval of appointment, independent study. The board is asked to approve the employment of the individual listed for the second semester independent study supplemental position and rate of pay indicated for the 2025-2026 school year as recommended by the local superintendent and building principal. And I will note that we this is in addition to a student independent study that we approved on the March 16th, 2026 with the same teacher here. J, personnel approval of appointment, 21st century CCLC. The board is asked to approve the employment of the individuals listed for the PHS 21st CCLC grant positions and rate of pay indicated as recommended by the building principal and local superintendent. Funds for these positions will be paid out of federal
050grant funds awarded to the district as indicated and verified through a time sheet for the dates indicated below. K, personnel approval of appointment, summer stretch. The board is asked to approve the individuals listed for the summer stretch position noted as recommended by the local superintendent and building principal. L, personnel approval of appointment, non-athletic supplemental. The board is asked to approve the individual listed for the 2025-2026 non-athletic supplemental noted as recommended by the local superintendent and building principal. M, personnel approval of appointment, athletic supplemental. The board is asked to approve the employment of the individual listed for the 2025-2026 athletic supplemental position and rate of pay indicated as recommended by the local superintendent and athletic director. N, personnel approval of appointment, summer cleaning. The board is asked to approve the individuals listed for the summer 2026
051position and rate of pay noted pending successful completion of required employment paperwork, certification, training, and background check as recommended by the local superintendent and director of maintenance and operations. O, personnel approval of appointment, event supervisors. The board is asked to approve uh the employees noted for the positions listed as recommended by the local superintendent and building principal. P, personnel approval of appointment, substitutes. The board is asked to approve the individuals noted for 2025-2026 daily substitute positions listed uh listed pending successful completion of required employment paperwork, verification of proper licensure, training, and background check as recommended by the local superintendent and director of innovation and learning. Q, approval of second approval of policy, second reading. The board is asked to adopt the new / revised board policy listed as recommended by the local superintendent. R, approval
052of policy, first reading. Board is asked to consider the following revised board policy as a first reading for future action as recommended by the local superintendent. draft policy is available for review below. And this concludes my superintendent's report. Thank you, Mr. Rockwell. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Lighting? Yes. Mrs. Kistler? Yes. Mrs. Yoder? >> Yes. Mrs. Foley? Yes. Mrs. Yes. And Mr. Rockwell, thank you. A. Approval of financial reports. The board is asked to approve the financial reports from March 2026 as recommended by the chief financial officer. B. Contracts and agreements, payment to CCP 2026-2027. The board is asked to approve the 2026-2027 CCP related service agreement as recommended by the chief financial officer and building principal. C. Contracts and agreements, Exceptional Kids Therapy 2025-2026.
053The board is asked to approve an agreement with Exceptional Kids Therapy Services. Physical therapy services to be provided for identified students at a rate of $72 an hour for the 2025-2026 extended school year program as recommended by the chief financial officer and director of student services. Duration of services will be determined by each student's ESY team meeting. D. Contracts and agreements, Exceptional Kids Therapy 2026-2027. The board is asked to approve an agreement with Exceptional Kids Therapy Services for physical therapy services to be provided for identified kids at a rate of $72 per hour, 8 hours per week, plus up to 4 additional hours per week as needed for the 2026-2027 school year a maximum of $31,104 as recommended by the chief financial officer and director of student services. E. Contracts and agreements, Panorama. The board
054is asked to approve a 1-year service agreement with Panorama Education for MTSS services effective July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 in the amount of $21,679 budgeted from student wellness funds as recommended by the director of innovation and learning and the chief financial officer. F. Contracts and agreements, Ohio School Council. The board is asked to authorize the chief financial officer to enter into an agreement regarding the electricity purchase program of the Ohio School Council to secure competitive procurement of electricity as recommended by the chief financial officer. G. Approval of expenditure, scoreboard. The board is asked to approve an expenditure to Rockwell in the amount of $244,888.20 for the purchase and installation of the new Rockwell scoreboard for Alumni Alumni Stadium as recommended by the by the director, chief financial officer, and superintendent. H. Approval of
055expenditure, sound system. The board is asked to approve an expenditure to hire RSC Audio Systems LLC in the amount of $52,268.36 for the purchase and installation of a new sound system in Alumni Stadium as recommended by the athletic director, chief financial officer, and superintendent. I. Resolution, school Ohio School Council bus purchase. The board is asked to approve a resolution below regarding the purchase of one school bus in the amount of $148,260 as recommended by the chief financial officer and the director of transportation. J. Approval of expenditure, corrective action, Camp Fitch. The board is asked to approve an expenditure to Camp Fitch in the amount of $16,120 previously approved at $16,616 on November 11, 2025 for the 2025-2026 sixth grade camp trip as recommended as recommended by the chief financial officer, local superintendent, and building principal.
056And this concludes my superintendent's report. Superintendent Oh, my. All right. Okay, you can switch. Thank you, Mr. Uh is there any discussion? Uh Mickey, we need to remove We just finished that one. Oh, um can we amend Who made the motion? I don't I don't think I'm pretending to be moving. Okay. All right. Is there a motion to approve everything except for item E? So moved. Second. Is there any discussion on any of the >> I have I have a lot. Okay. So, let's remember to come back to item E. Somebody don't let me forget to come back to E. Yep. E. Um back to your original when you were talking about the scoreboard and and securing those um contracts. Thank you, Mr. Rockwell, by the way, for that. That's very helpful. Um so, as
057we do talk about purchasing that, our goal then, financially, is to get enough um donations is if I'm not if I'm not if I'm understanding correctly, that eventually over time the scoreboard would be paid for. It'd be paid for. Right? Sometime throughout the life of the scoreboard, it'll be break even at some point. >> If we continue the pace that Mr. Rockwell's on right now, by year 12 it would be Yeah, we expect it to last 15 to 20. Is that a Yeah. Is that a good expectation? Our current scoreboard is rated 20. Okay. Good. Thank you. That's what I wanted to make sure that it's clear to everyone that we're this will end up being paid for at some point. And um the the same with the bus question. Um what my I would
058go to the bus cuz that's obviously another significant purchase. Um the lifespan of a bus. Um we've been getting about 20 years. They recommend higher lifespan. But our mechanics will be able to get that 20 years. Thank you. It is I think it's important to point that out because it's not something we purchase very often. So, We do purchase one a year >> Yeah. but >> But to replace Exactly. >> There's a cycle that happens. >> There's a cycle and we're on the cycle like we were projected to be. So, I just want to make sure we're clear cuz you just pointed that out. And and to we we did get a new bus this year. This is actually a bus that will be coming for next year. It's just to order it so far.
059>> any works you have to do it now to get it ordered. Um the other thing was the um the self-guided piece on the Panorama. Who is the self-guided piece for? I'm noticing um it's under the technical support or Panorama support services. So, is the self-guided piece directly to staff or is that to students? Self-guided survey survey tool. Um The student-facing survey goes 5 through 12 and then teacher-facing survey goes K through 8. So, students students themselves are in fifth grade or up through Fifth grade up through 12 is student-facing survey and then the teachers do a teacher-facing survey that's kindergarten through 8. So, learning and resources 24/7 access. Is that staff then that that's for under the Panorama support services? Yeah, that would be for staff that are picking instructional tools that go with
060the So, that's Forget the survey side. That's the RTI the RTI warehouse side where staff are creating like tier two and tier three plans for students, let's say like reading, and there's resources instructional resources that they choose as part of the intervention where they assign the intervention that is part of their plan. So, that's like the progress monitoring side, which really the way we use this at the now is is the much more important of the tool is the whole warehouse for progress monitoring. Okay. Panorama once started as the the survey piece. I believe that was our initial introduction to it. But the MTSS tools out there are are probably the best that we've seen. Um in in addition, back to the surveys, I know our middle schools our middle school and high school administration
061does utilize the results and it it really is a um it helps us get kids connected with the right adults in the building and and it's a good way to get feedback of sort of the unspoken kid, you know, the request that's out there, the issue going on, and allows us to dive into and support kids on that front as well in addition to um all the MTSS Now we've been using it for a number of years. So, it's interesting now you can see a student dashboard over time like how that progress monitoring has been charted over time. Like a kiddo that lives in tier two for a number of years, you can see all those plans and contracts over time. Not just academic, though, right? Well, um the student success side, you see a
062number of factors. It's why we made that original switch from Branching Minds over to Panorama because Panorama talks specifically to the campus. So, in like the student dashboard, that's sort of like an at-risk predictor. It takes their attendance data, their current levels of their um of their standards and grades, their report card, takes their state testing data, their district testing data, and the survey tool that they have. We're good. Okay. So, Thank you. going back to what Tiffany said about the scoreboard just so nobody misinterprets. We have the money allocated for the scoreboard. Um it was budgeted. This would be to replenish those funds. So, not that we can't pay for it. Just wanted to clear that up. But that's not what we're relying on solely to pay for it, but we want to replenish
063those funds through those advertisements. And I would like to thank Mr. Rockwell because we in the current state of finances and knowing what's happening with school funding throughout the state, we did make him go above and beyond to make sure we were getting And I don't know that anyone really knows like how much time and effort went into, you know, making sure that we were getting the best deal and the best product and the best value. And and I think it's you know, I've asked some people in the community like what do you think a scoreboard costs? And and if the numbers were all over. So, I think it's it's you know, it's important to note that like if if we had looked at the ones that were the pretty much bare minimum, they were
064around $100,000 installed. And I think that most of the community would have been unhappy with that we spent that much money and got that kind of product when we're used to having really like we're used to having nice things. And we know that we can't always like in the current state we we're not always going to get the best of the best like we have to be careful with our funding. So, I I'm confident that I think that this is a a good product that is a good solid option for us. And I think people will be happy with it. And I think that there's sometimes a perception that this is a football thing, but let's remind remember there's soccer and especially track. There's a lot of use for track especially with the the divisions
065moving in there they added more divisions to a lot of the sports. And so now we have a chance to be a host site for for more different events which concessions brings in money and and other things too. So thank you Mr. Rockwell for knowing probably more than the average person does about every kind of scoreboard. And I really appreciated your willingness when we we originally started talking about this. We knew it was already on the budget. We knew we had been accounting for it and it was in Jim's reports as well with the campus maintenance. But when we when we had suggested and said how can we brainstorm a way to one with the sound system bring it so that our kids can learn from it. We can tie in that learning goal. Bring
066something with technology for how fast it goes. This would be huge for someone who wants to be in any type of media development. But then when we all started brainstorming, okay, how can we use this to the best of our advantage? Not just the cool ads that we see on scoreboards like at Menasha or Kaukauna where this is very similar to. But you really did take the next step when we said how about sponsorship and let's run with it. So I thank you very much because it takes what we do to try to be fiscally responsible to the next level because we have partners in it all through the community. So thank you very much. Yeah, thank thank you. >> These conversations people don't realize happen because they're happening in our work sessions. So when
067we ask Mr. Rockwell to come in and present to us where Mr. Rockwell spends a couple hours in every work session showing all these and then we hammer with questions. So Come on, you can do it. He's going to get tired of seeing all of us. Like we talked to you a bunch of times. So the the timeline to begin this would be we expect that it would start On June 22nd is the estimated city you know, pending approval we'll we'll get the PO rolling and it's about a 10-week lead time to get this equipment in. So that would put us on a June 22nd to July 3rd time frame to get get it the old board off the wall and the new board onto the wall. Um so that's a good two-week window. It
068shouldn't take that long but obviously with weather and potential delays by I'm not going to wait till July 4th we should be everything should be installed and then we will start the uh the next phase of you know, getting kids involved in learning and and all of that kind of thing. It's it's Mr. Smith's schedule. It does. It does. Is he still involved in our meetings? >> I I would like to thank Jim publicly for his his time. We worked on some projects over over our years together and uh if you don't know Jim he's extremely detailed and he's a great asset to our school district because of that. Just going through this process I learned firsthand that if it's not on there they're not responsible for it. So he really was one to hold
069uh both we really got it out of the two companies uh both of their feet to the fire so to speak to make sure that we got exactly what we wanted and that it is a turnkey operation that uh our our maintenance staff is extremely busy as you all know in the summertime and there's going to be little to no interaction from our maintenance staff. It's going to be a turnkey operation from Rockwell. Good. Thank you. Good. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you Mr. Chief of Facilities. Thank you. Thank you. Any other discussion? On letter E. Oh yeah, we'll do that. Thank you. Okay, roll call on everything but letter E, please. Mrs. Treska? Yes. Mrs. Seiler? Yes. Mr. Bowie? Yes. Mrs. Gregor? Yes. And Mr. Wright? Yes. Is there a motion to approve
070letter E? I I do. Is there a motion to approve letter E? So moved. Second. Any discussion? We had a little bit of discussion. Um roll call, please. Mrs. Treska? Yes. Mrs. Seiler? Abstain. Mr. Bowie? Yes. Mrs. Gregor? Yes. Mr. Wright? Yes. Unfinished business? New business? Um I was wondering if we might be able to move the June 8th meeting to uh May 15th possibly? If that'll work with that one schedule. Is the whole week open for you? Uh every day but Friday. Well, let's meet Friday night. That's fine. That's fine. That's a scoreboard. I would see how that is on the 15th. Is that our regular That's our regular meeting. Is it Okay. From financial perspective or anything like that usually at the end of the school year we're pretty wrapped up on things.
071Do we need a meeting at the beginning of the month or can we do a meeting and work session together on the 22nd? Um I think we have it scheduled for the 29th. Oh, that's May 15th. Sorry. And that is that would that would be Is that okay with with the financials? Does anyone have any concerns with that? Well, we could just do No, well we can move the the board meeting to the 20th because we have a lot we do in May. Right. And then the school year is kind of wrapped up. So if we did a board meeting and work session on the 29th, would that be From a standpoint of like what we normally do do we need a meeting? >> So just one meeting in June on the 29th. Well, it'd
072be two that like a work session and board meeting but the same day. Or we can do back-to-back weeks. It doesn't really matter. I had it on the 22nd for a reason. If we need to drop the work session we can and just do the regular board meeting. It just depends on where we're at. Usually that's usually a kind of kind of quieter time. You can just change the time. Yeah, but you have to have one by the end of June. Yeah, and then the further into June the better for And if there's something you need to call quickly because where you have to either approve something or deny it we've called those short quick meetings where we only have one item. Could we just pencil in the 22nd and the 29th in case we
073need that and then we can drop I thought the 22nd was when we moved off the 22nd. I think we moved the 22nd because if we had the 29th that's like the latest we could go in in the month of June so then I could get everything closed. So would everyone be okay with just doing both on the 29th? If we don't have any work session items we can drop the work session and do a board meeting. But we can hear you either way. Okay. While we're on the topic of moving meetings We need to vote on it or we just discussed it in the open? I think you just discussed it. While we're on the topic of moving meetings um the 13th July 13th. If I can't make it I can't make it. Um
074I'll be gone for two weeks starting on the 13th. So I would miss Are you missing both meetings? >> That's what I'm trying to figure out. I think I'm back the 28th. And that's the only week that we have in the summer that's the 28th. She said I could do the 29th and do it. That's when you're running away. No, that's not me. I think anyone else who has kids in sports runs away from home that week because that's the only week of the whole summer that's off. So if we can move even one of those so I'm not missing both for the month. When? The last week of July? No. Do you want to do July 6th? No. Okay. It's a holiday weekend. It's a holiday weekend. It's a holiday weekend. Okay. No. The
0757th? I'm open that week so it's fine. I'm I'm open that week. I just prefer not the 6th. Yeah, and I'm sure most people wouldn't just because we're coming off a holiday weekend. So do you do the 7th? Is that what you said? Then does that work for you? That works for me. I I'm not sure we can make the 27th. 27th? Yeah, it's our we're scheduled tentatively for our leadership retreat. Okay, so just do the 7th. Is that okay? Then I won't miss them both. I was actually going to make a suggestion and maybe this would be obviously for a work session but instead of us having our session here in a as a meeting that it's a scheduled work session meeting but we actually as a group tour the campus and the facilities.
076That's a great idea. To look at all of our spaces and how we're utilizing them. Just a thought. Just throwing that out there. I like that idea. What if we Let's talk Can we talk about that May and and get some schedules from Mr. Smith and stuff and see what his schedule is like and see if we can do maybe a weekday uh tour of the building with him there so he can guide us through and then if we need to move a work session or do a special meeting for that weekend. I'm actually thinking of it as a um what is that? Like what's this classroom used for? What's this space used for? Just going through the whole campus. An idea. Can you have a rotating meeting on campus? As a work session? Or
077you can just schedule a time to come in and Or Jim can walk with a GoPro and um He can fly a drone inside and use the technology. I mean I'm just because I know when I toured the elementary building a couple years ago you and you and I did that and it was interesting. I mean I learned a lot. And I also toured other parts of the building. Not that I haven't been on the whole campus but just going through and seeing how we utilize our space and what we do with classrooms. Not just a Jim Smith for facilities update. I don't want them to panic and think he's It'd be great for that building and maintenance committee to do a tour of our community. I think the whole board needs to. The whatever
078board members have it in May. Yeah. Jim and I just had a very lovely tour of the whole campus. Very lovely. And we got to the building and everything. Yeah, that's the idea. Can we I We have to let's check and see how that works with the moving meeting. And let's check and see if we can do it like there's a weekday that Mr. Smith is available so we can lump in like the you know, the actual classrooms and then also see Are you thinking while so my initial thought goes to if you did it in May this like cuz once summer hits like there's carpet going in at the elementary like everything is going to be a construction zone a little bit in parts of May, right? Or in August and the school's ready
079for the the to come back and it's set up nicely. So, May 11th is our big board meeting where we have everything. Sure. Is that going to be a different location than this one again? And really, it was just an idea. I'm not asking you to figure it out. I was just thinking about it. Something like that being Yeah. We can we have the work session on the 27th, and we can talk that through and try to figure out what that looks like. Does that work? And then we can But like now we go to the Can you look into it? Sure. Yep. The rules. Make sure we can. The work session on July 20th April 27th. It's on 20th May 27th, isn't it? Right. The April 27th. Okay. Is there anything else under business?
080I'm sure there's old business, new business. Correspondence and announcements. We have not really had any communications to us, have we? Have we had any letters or anything? Yeah, not to the board. No. Um The district art show and student learning showcase is Thursday, April 23rd, 5:00 p.m. The next regular Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 11th at 5:45 p.m. in the Trauger Center conference room. Is there any other public participation? Can I Can I jump in here on the location of the May 11th meeting? You can. With I think nine or 10 inquiries. Oh. Where what setting would you like? Um media center is usually where we go. Okay. Does that work well, do you guys think? We usually do the high school media center. So, cuz then they did the little
081reception outside and then we just go inside. Does that work for everyone? Okay. We Yeah. Yes. And you can do the reception out in the cafe area. Okay. Um any No other public participation? And then we are going to adjourn to executive session. Oh, I'm sorry. Pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22 G1, I hereby move that the board go into executive session for the purpose of considering the appointment of a public employee or official of the school district and for the evaluation of a public employee. Is there a second? Second. Roll call please. Mrs. Seelie? Yes. Mrs. Foley? Yes. Mrs. Greiner? Yes. Mr. Vader? Yes. Mrs. Tressel? Yes. And we do intend to have um action after that. As on the agenda. Depending on what they'd like to say.