Vantage board reviews upcoming events

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Vantage Board of Education hired a number of Adult Education instructors and summer help and heard about two upcoming events being held at Vantage during its June meeting Thursday.

Superintendent Staci Kaufman talked about Vantage’s mandated attendance and disciplinary report, noting that the school did have two bullying incidents, and a dating violence incident, adding that the number was high for the school, which hadn’t had any incidents to report over the last couple of years.

The board also heard Vantage Director Ben Winans provide a report on the school’s graduation rate and also talk about an upcoming Technology Summit that will include 200 area educators and a representative from tech giant Microsoft Corporation.

“It’s an event we’re kind of looking forward to hosting, and, hopefully, it’s something we can do to provide training yearly for not only our staff, but also staff from the area,” Winans added.

Kaufman noted that, following completion of its facility project, Vantage now has the technology to offer educators attending the tech summit, which will be held Monday and Tuesday, June 15-16, at Vantage. “We have outstanding technology and we know there’s a need to make sure teachers understand how to use that technology for students’ benefit in the classroom,” the superintendent said.

Winans also talked about Vantage’s upcoming Summerfest event, to be held at Vantage on June 17. The new event is for incoming juniors and will include a number of activities designed to get juniors back to Vantage during the summer to re-acquaint them with the school. The event will be a good opportunity for new students to meet with instructors prior to school starting, the Vantage director said.

Adult Education Director Pete Prichard talked about a reverse job fair being held at Vantage on Tuesday, June 9, and a boot camp held this week for job seekers to prepare for the event. Reverse job fairs, which allow job seekers to make presentations on their qualifications and employers to interview only those in which they are interested, are generally more successful than traditional job fairs, which only have a success rate of approximately 2 percent, versus approximately 30 percent for reverse job fairs, Prichard said.

Also Thursday, the board accepted the resignation of longtime Senior Health Careers instructor Reesa Rohrs, who retired, effective May 31. Kaufman said she has seen some strong interest in Rohrs’ position, and noted there should be several good area candidates for the job.

The board also hired a number of Adult Education employees, including a number of Police Academy instructors, and several administrative positions.

Those hired included Pete Weir as Trade and Industry programs manager; Diane Meringleo-Dirksen as enrollment coordinator; Kristie Jones as instructional leader; Bradley Barton as transitions coordinator; Shirley Jarvis as Health Careers/STNA coordinator; Ron Schumm as FBPA coordinator/instructor; Pam Knodel as Resource Center attendant; Pat Vogel and Brent Wright as certified welding inspectors; Bruce Showalter as Police Academy coordinator; Robert Black, Keith Williamson, Ted Tumbleson, Kevin Taylor, Glenn Schenk, Robert Miller, Matthew McDougal, James Loughrie, Edward Klausing, Jeffrey Hammons, Kevin Gehres, Kyle Fittro, Mark Figert, Brian Christopher, Chad Cupples, Shawn Cook, Gary Dilworth, Michael Dirr, James Haggerty, Ronald Joseph, Robert Garcia, Virginia Hammons, and Jackie Brandt as Police Academy assistants; Theresa Mengerink and Sarah Wurth as proctors; and Kevin Hirschy, Amelia Miller, Patti Rodman, Gary Cearns, Jean Steele, Kari Casto, Jarvis, Mike Miller, Larry Ray, Linda Hartman, Lisa Bradley, Tonya Bunch and Michael DeMoss as Adult Education instructors.

In other action, the board:

• Approved the following Ohio Teacher Evaluation System certified evaluators for the upcoming year: Winans, Student Services Supervisor Mike Knott and CTE supervisors Mary Ann Hall and Ted Verhoff.
• Approved a resolution of necessity to place Vantage’s 1-mill permanent improvement levy renewal on the ballot. A second resolution is needed to complete the process.
• Waived the district’s 45-day notice for a Tax Increment Finance agreement between Vantage and Keber Cattle LLC.
• Accepted the following donations: two $100 donations from the Beta Delta Chapter of Psi Iota Xi Sorority for Vantage’s preschool and media center; and a donation from Jeff Duncan, Vantage Automotive Technology instructor, of automotive parts valued at $1,170 to be used by the class.
• Approved the Vantage Preschool manual and Avantage Salon & Spa price list for the 2015-16 school year.
• Approved the 2015-16 Vantage Adult Education catalog and student handbook.
• Went into executive session to discuss personnel issues, with no action taken afterwards.

The next meeting of the Vantage Board of Education will be 7 p.m. Thursday, June 25, in the district conference room.