C’view looks at school safety, insurance

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

CONVOY — The Crestview Local Board of Education talked about school safety, as well as health insurance increases, and the district’s permanent improvement levy campaign during its October meeting on Thursday.

Crestview High School Principal Mike Biro talked about a Safe School drill at the school on October 3, noting that school officials and staff later met with Van Wert County Sheriff Tom Riggenbach and his staff to talk about what went right, and what needs to be improved.

“The biggest thing is, we can practice, but you’re not practicing for what really happens,” Biro noted. “We’re trying to plant some future seeds for teachers and students to think.”

Biro and Board President John Auld also attended a recent seminar on school safety, with Auld saying he felt the seminar provided some valuable information.

Biro also reported that all Crestview juniors will be traveling to Defiance next Tuesday to take a practice ACT test. He noted that taking the practice test would hopefully give juniors a better idea of what the actual test will be like when they take that in November.

Superintendent Mike Estes talked about a recent meeting of the Van Wert Area Schools Insurance Group (VWASIG), noting that health insurance premiums will be going up 20 percent, while dental premiums will rise 18 percent for the coming year. Deductibles were also increased, as well as out-of-pocket expenses for school health plans.

Estes talked about concerns raised about maintaining an adequate reserve fund for the insurance consortium, noting that, there were no premium increases for several years during the last decade, while increases were minimal for other years.

With the reserve fund decreasing, Estes said, the need for larger increases also developed, with premium increases steadily growing the past three years in an attempt to build the reserve fund back up.

The superintendent said he feels that, if VWASIG had just increased premiums 5 percent every year during that same period, the reserve fund would have been maintained at a proper level.

The plan now is to build the reserve back up and then maintain it at a comfortable level, although Estes said he wasn’t exactly sure what that level will be.

“I’m reluctant to sit on a number,” he said, noting that would probably depend on claims experience.

The superintendent also reported on the permanent improvement levy renewal campaign, noting that information on the levy would be distributed during tonight’s football game, while brochures will also be mailed out on Monday to district residents.

Estes said enrollment was up a bit this year, although he said that number tends to be fairly fluid throughout the school year. “We have plus 59 in open enrollment, which is very good compared to years before,” he said.

The Crestview superintendent also talked about a meeting he scheduled with State Senator Cliff Hite to talk about maintaining funding guarantees. Estes noted that, without the guarantee, Crestview would likely lose all the benefits of wind farm PILOT payments.

In other action, the board also approved overnight trips by the band to Orlando, Florida, March 16-21, 2017, and a government class trip to Chicago March 13-14.

The next meeting of the Crestview Local Board of Education will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, November 17, in the district boardroom.