001[music] [clears throat] [snorts] We're going to recall the order at 5:00 pm. Mr. Markham >> here. >> Mrs. Mock >> here. >> Mr. Porter >> here. >> Mr. Sherwood. Mrs. Sme >> here. Everybody please stand for the pledge. >> Can we please stand for the pledge? >> I pledge algiance to the flag of America to the standy. >> Mr. Porter, would you read the vision and mission statement of the town schools? The Austin Town School District is united community with proud legacy and a progressive approach to education. We provide an inspiring education that strengthens and prepares our students for unlimited future opportunities. >> Thank you. Upon recommendation of the treasurer, approve the agenda for the 127 2025 board of education regular session. >> So moved. Second. >> Mrs. Smurk. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lock. >>
002Yes. >> Mr. Markhamm. >> Yes. >> Mr. Porter. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sherwood. >> Yes. >> Nobody signed up for public comment. >> Moving on to the principal's report. Mr. Sal Mariana. Welcome everyone to Fitch. Cool to see everyone here. I'm going to start off with AES. AES had a busy month in December with Santa's workshop, first grade Christmas programs, classroom parties, and Santa visit on our Polar Express on Friday. A huge thank you to our PTA ladies as AES makes this happen for all of our students. When we return, we hit the ground running with students taking the Dibbles benchmark for reading and I Ready Diagnostics for math teachers. will then assess this data and intervene and look at enrichment to adjust their classes. AES would like to extend a merry Christmas and a
003happy new year to our board of education members, Mr. Kelty and Mr. Carlovic. Let's go Falcons in 2026. Moving on to AIS. AIS will have three events in December. Thank you to thanks to our PTA. They just finished up their Santa's workshop. Students enjoyed shopping for their families. This Friday, the Grinch will be visiting and they will have their room parties. Again, this is all thanks to the PTA. The Fitch Jazz Band visited AIS today to perform some Christmas songs for the students and staff. Thank you to Mr. Mlan and the jazz band and a merry Christmas and happy new year from AIS. AMS is currently finishing up December with choir and band holiday concerts, PTA Christmas spirit week, a PTA staff lunchon, and midterm benchmarking, which will run through Friday, January 9th. AMS would
004like to thank the PTA for everything they do for us, but a special thank you for getting each AMS student a Falcon t-shirt to wear for Falcon Spirit Days. When we return from break, AMS will be uh sending 450 students to the YSU men's basketball game on Friday, January 9th as our second PBIS initiative. Our AMS sports teams have reached the midpoint of their seasons and all the teams have been very competitive this year. We have a lot to look forward to as we begin the new semester along with exciting planning ahead for the second half of the year. We wish everyone a safe and merry Christmas. Thank you for all that you do for our buildings. And then finally for Fitch, December is a very busy month here at Fitch. Thank you to our
005band and choir for putting on amazing concerts. We'll be wrapping up the holiday concert series tomorrow with the rock band performing at Westside Bowl at 700 p.m. Please come if you can. Fall testing is wrapping up with government students taking their exams today as well as makeups being made. Teachers and students jointly worked on door decorating competitions this week. Uh on your way out, please feel free to browse and see what they've done. Mr. Klein won for the second year in a row. And finally, Fitch would like to wish everyone in the district a merry Christmas and happy new year. And then on behalf of all the schools and all the administrators, we would like to say thank you for all your years of service to Kathy Mock. Um thank you very much. >> Thank
006you, Miss Marion. Upon recommendation of the treasur, approve the following items A through D by consent action. So move >> second. >> Mrs. Mock, >> yes. >> Mrs. Smeck, >> yes. >> Mr. Markham, >> yes. >> Mr. Porter, >> yes. >> Mr. Sherwood, >> yes. >> Upon recommendation of the superintendent, approve the following items A through G by consent action. So moved. Okay. Mrs. Smack, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mock, >> yes. >> Mr. Markham, >> yes. >> Mr. Porter, >> yes. >> Mr. Sherwood, >> yes. [clears throat] >> Excuse me. Upon recommendation of the superintendent, approve the following agreement with Pro-Forced doing business as business network team for the installation of additional cameras at Fitch High School as stated below. >> So moved. Second, >> Mrs. Smeck. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sherwood. >> Yes. >>
007Mr. Markham. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mock. >> Yes. >> Mr. Porter. >> Yes. >> Upon recommendation of the superintendent, approve the following agreement with Titan Trucks Manufacturing LLC for the production of a custom food truck and other equipment. Before we we move ahead, Mr. Kelty, could you explain a little bit about that? Certainly at Fitch High School, we we've had a goal of expanding our foods courses. Here are our electives. Uh upon many recommendations from local restaurant uh owners that came in and gave advice, we would have to install hood vents and and all those things that we wanted to pull off the best way for our fit students. uh that bill came extremely extremely high. Uh so we kind of tabled that that that thought and during a conversation with Mr. Carlo one day
008with Mr. Save, we found out that we had some grant money, some title money, not grant money, some title, extra title money that we needed to spend or we would lose it. and we felt no other better way than to spend it on a a food truck so we can expand our foods uh electives and we'd like to almost turn it into an entrepreneur class along with that. So, we're we're very excited about it. Um and I want you all to be as well. So, we're looking forward to it. Obviously, it's going to be something that no other school is doing and we're ready to take that challenge and accept it. >> So, >> thank you, Mr. Cy. >> So, moved. >> Second, >> Mrs. Smack. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mock. >> Yes. >> Mr.
009Markham. >> Yes. >> Mr. Porter. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sherwood. >> Yes. Upon recommendation of the superintendent, approve the following agreement addendum with the Mahoning Valley Regional Council of Governments as stated below. >> Second, >> Mr. Sherwood. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Smeck, >> yes. >> Mr. Markham, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mock, >> yes. >> Mr. Porter, >> yes. Upon recommendation of the superintendent, approve the 2026 2027 Austin Town local school district calendar as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Mrs. Smerek. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mock. >> Yes. >> Mr. Markham. >> Yes. >> Mr. Porter. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sherwood. >> Yes. Upon recommendation of the superintendent, approve the child nutrition procurement plan for Austintown local schools in compliance with two CFR part 200, 7 CFR parts 210 through 250 and state law. >>
010So moved. >> Second. >> Mrs. Smeck, >> yes. >> Mr. Sherwood, >> yes. >> Mr. Markham, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mock, >> yes. >> Mr. Porter, >> yes. Upon recommendation of the superintendent, approve the early graduation of Charles Pike from Austintown Fitch High School, class of 2026, pending the completion of all requirements as set forth by the Austin Town Board of Education in the state of Ohio. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Mrs. Smerek. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mock. >> Yes. >> Mr. Markham. >> Yes. >> Mr. Porter. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sherwood. >> Yes. Upon recommendation of the superintendent, approve the early graduation of Cameron Villers from Austintown Fitch High School, class of 2026, pending the completion of all requirements as set forth by the Austin Town Board of Education in the state of
011Ohio. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Mrs. Smerek, >> yes. >> Mr. Sherwood, >> yes. >> Mr. Markham, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mock, >> yes. >> Mr. Porter, >> yes. Upon recommendation of the superintendent, approve the new student managed activity club at Austintown Fitch High School, Austin Town Baking Club, and the following policies, procedures, and guidelines. >> Second, >> Mrs. Mock, >> yes. >> Mrs. Smerek, >> yes. >> Mr. Markham, >> yes. >> Mr. Porter, >> yes. >> Mr. Sherwood, >> yes. Approve the selection of the president prom for January 2026 organizational meeting. The selected member would be Fred Markham. >> So move. >> Second. >> Mrs. Mock. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sherwood. >> Yes. >> Mr. Markham. >> Yes. >> Mr. Porter. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Smerek. >> Yes. >> [clears throat] >> The
012public meeting for January 2026 will be January 13th at 5:00 pm at the board office and following immediately following at AMS at 6 p.m. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Mrs. Smerek. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sherwood. >> Yes. >> Mr. Markham. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mock. >> Yes. >> Mr. Porter. >> Yes. [clears throat] treasurer's comments. >> Uh Kathy, I'd like to congratulate you on your 16 years of distinguished service to the Austin Town local schools, its staff, its students, and its community. And good luck to you and Tom, and enjoy your grandkids. >> Mr. Kelty, >> I do. I have two. The first thing I would like to congratulate Tina Kabaki for her 30 years of service. Uh she taught in no other building but Fitch High School. She was a Fitch student. She's
013a a lifetime resident, I believe. Grew up on Dehoff. So >> yeah, Hall of Fame member. >> So she will be greatly greatly missed. Moving along, um I'd like to honor Kathy Mock for 16 years of service to Austin Town Schools. And I always like to put that in perspective. What does that look like? That's well over 200 meetings, right, in 16-year career. So countless hours of dedication along with commitment. Um she had great enthusiasm and for that she's being commended and I wish you all the best for you and Tom Walk. Happy retirement. Moving on to board comments. >> I'll go first. I'll echo what Bla1 and Tim said, Kathy. I think a lot of folks don't realize the commitment and the amount of time that this role can can oftenimes take and you've
014uh you've led the charge on a lot of things here. So, I appreciate your guidance in the beginning for me. I learned a lot from you and I hope that you and Tom get to enjoy your grandkids. You've been showing off pictures all day today. So, I think you got a pretty good plan once this is over, but I wish you the very best. >> Thank you, D. >> Mrs. Smith, >> I also want to congratulate and wish you the best in the future. I want to thank you for everything you've done for our school district and what you will continue to do. We're not letting her go fully. Um, enjoy those beautiful grandb babies and keep sending pictures. Um, I want to echo what Mr. Kelty said, um, and congratulate Tina Kabaki on her
015retirement. Um, she is really going to be missed. She was a phenomenal teacher and I want to wish all of our staff, our students, everybody at the Austin Town School District a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Stay safe. Mr. >> Porter is on the board. I've had her right beside me. Um, I appreciate all the help that you've done um for the schools and for for me for especially the first couple years. Um, like Kim said, she's not going anywhere. We're still going to be using her. Um, but thank you for all your years of service. I'm jumping ahead of you. >> Oh, we're going to save the best for last. So, a lot of things have been happening. Uh, the first thing I'd like to touch on tonight is November 22nd
016was a pretty dark day in this township. If you all recall, that was the day that the apartment building blew up on Meridian Road. as a member of the fire department that was there for four days. And on day one, what this school system did for not only those residents, the firefighters, EMS personnel, and police so commendable. What this school pulled off with very little notice is amazing. From the time of the alarm, the fire department and multiple fire departments around the two counties showed up and we had that entire building of mostly handicapped people evacuated in 53 to 54 minutes. If you can imagine, parking lots aren't usually very big and there was a lot of residents and a lot of fire personnel, emergency responders there. And it was it was very chaotic. one
017phone call to the school, everything was organized, set, and by 7 pm, we had everybody on their way here. Even before that, um, so Mr. Kelty, staff of the Austintown School District, thank you on behalf of the board of education, on behalf of the fire departments of the Mahoney Valley, thank you. That was such a huge help. Um along the same lines, uh a couple shifts ago, we had a surprise visit from the Fitch High School Christmas uh choir, and they came for about half an hour and sung us Christmas carols. Now, if you can imagine all these class or type A personality firefighters and big burly men that just finished eating dinner um with nothing but smiles like they were 5-year-old boys on their face was truly a fun sight. It was a great
018time to have our kids there. Um, after they were done carolling, we gave them a small tour of the firehouse and let them climb all over the fire trucks and uh, they also turned into 5-year-olds. So, it was a it was a great time. It's a great interaction between the safety services of our community and our school system. Mr. Superintendent, I'd like to commend you on that. So, thank you very much, Tina. over 30 years. What more can you say and what more can you ask for out of of of out of a human being? So, I want to congratulate you on your retirement. Enjoy your time off. You've welld deserved it. Congratulations. [clears throat] Now, on to Mrs. Mock. 16 years is a long time to be sitting up here and I want to
019personally thank you for that and the guidance that you've given me over my time as president. I want to truly thank you from the bottom of my heart. On behalf of the board of education, we got you a proclamation of which I'd like to read. Says, "Honoring Kathy Mock and you have to bear with me between the lights and the glass. It's hard to read. honoring Kathy Mock for 16 years of service to the Austin Local School District. Whereas Kathy Mock has faithfully served the Austintown local school district as a member of the board of education for 16 years, demonstrating unwavering commitment to the students, families, staff, and community of Austin Town. And whereas throughout her tenure, Kathy Mock has exemplified dedicated leadership, thoughtful decision decision-making, and a deep belief in the value of public
020education. And whereas her service on the board of education has helped guide policies and initiatives that support academic excellence, student well-being, and the continued growth and success of the Austin Town School District. And whereas Kathy Mock has generously given her time, insight, and energy to ensure that every student is provided with opportunities to learn, grow, and succeed while always placing the best interests of the school community at the forefront. And whereas her years of dedicated service reflect a steadfast dedication to educational advocacy, fiscal responsibility, and community collaboration, leaving a lasting and positive impact on Austin Town Schools. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that the Austin Town School District proudly recognizes and honors Kathy Mock for her 16 years of distinguished service on the Austin Town Board of Education. And be it further proclaimed that sincere
021appreciation and gratitude are extended to Kathy Mock for her leadership, commitment, and devotion to public education with best wishes for continued success and fulfillment in all future endeavors. Adopted this 17th day of December, 2025. Yeah, we got to stay. [applause] >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Give you one more. I just want to close out by saying I want to wish everybody a merry Christmas, happy holidays, and enjoy your time with your families. Deep breath. After 16 years and this being my final board of education meeting, I want to say thank you. Thanks to the Austin Town community for the relationships and experiences that I will forever treasure. The imagination and the Falcon Way have all helped to shape our district into the best district in our region. From the early years of my tenure
022that saw the buildup of our central campus to the mid and later years that have produced academic, artistic, and athletic achievements. All of this has been made possible by the people of Austin Town and our talented and devoted staff and yes, our motivated and caring students and alumni. To my fellow board members, past and present, thank you for supporting our students and staff on their road to achievement. To my family, friends and supporters through the years. Thank you for your guidance and generosity. A may God bless. I wish everyone health, happiness, and a merry Christmas with a peaceful and productive new year. And always go Falcons. I'm looking for a motion to adjourn the meeting. >> So moved. Second, >> Mrs. Smeck. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sherwood. >> Yes. >> Mr. Markham. >> Yes. >>
023Mrs. Mock. >> Yes. >> Mr. Porter. >> I'm doing it.