The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

Survey calls for rehab of Eggerss Stadium

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Although it is likely no surprise in a conservative, tradition-rich community such as Van Wert, the more than 2,000 people who completed a survey on the future of Van Wert City Schools’ Eggers Stadium overwhelmingly voted to restore the 80-year-old athletic facility.

Cheryl Ryan of the Ohio School Boards Association reports on the findings of a survey conducted on the future of Eggerss Stadium during Thursday’s Van Wert City Board of Education meeting. Dave Mosier/Van Wert independent

Chery Ryan of the Ohio School Boards Association, which conducted the survey, reported during Thursday’s Van Wert City Board of Education meeting that 71.28 percent of the 1,330 registered voters living in the school district who took the survey chose Option 1, which calls for renovating the existing stadium and adding a concession stand and locker rooms/restrooms to the stadium’s West Crawford Street site. In addition, more than 60 percent of all those who took the survey also chose that option.

Option 3, which called for building a new stadium at the current high school-middle school site, received the second-largest vote, while Option 2, which called for demolishing Eggerss Stadium and building a new facility on the Crawford Street site, came in third.

Ryan said the large survey sampling means the results have a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percent, which is almost unheard of, she noted.

“As a percentage of the voting community, this is the largest survey response we’ve ever had,” she said. “We’re quite used to a 3 or 4 percent margin of error, which is still pretty strong, but with 1 percent, I feel like what you’re being told here is how people feel.”

Pat Jackson, speaking on behalf of the Stadium Committee, a group of local residents chosen to research what to do about the aging stadium, officially made a recommendation at Thursday’s meeting to renovate Eggerss Stadium.

Now, the hard part begins: Coming up with a strategic plan to build and pay for the project.

Board President Debby Compton said the board wanted to meet with the committee to further understand the information before coming up with a plan to complete and pay for the project.

The survey also had good news in that area, though, with more than 80 percent of district voters saying they would vote “yes” on a bond issue to either renovate Eggerss Stadium or do any of the three options presented.

Also Thursday, Director of Curriculum Chris Covey provided an in-depth report on the district’s State Report Card results. Noting that the Gap Closing area of the program is one of the hardest for the district because of the relative lack of diversity in the community, Covey did note that all the scores improved from the year before, but higher standards led to a lower grade this year in a couple of areas.

In addition to going through all of the State Report Card grades, Covey also provided a comparison between Van Wert and 20 other similar districts, as identified by the Ohio Department of Education, that showed Van Wert tied for second with a “GPA” of 2.33. The district outperformed Celina, St. Marys, Paulding, Bryan, and Kenton schools, as well as other similar districts across Ohio.

Covey also did a comparison with other Western Buckeye League schools that showed Van Wert ranked fourth behind Shawnee, Ottawa-Glandorf, and Lima Bath. The district again outperformed Celina and St. Marys, as well as Wapakoneta, Elida, Kenton, and Defiance.

In other action, the board:

  • Acknowledged the following donations: Van Wert High School Robotics Club — Miller Precision Manufacturing Industries Inc., $250; StateWide Ford-Lincoln, $500; Eaton Corporation, $250; CBJ Farms, $100; Alliance Automation, $1,000; Citizens National Bank, $500; Central Mutual Insurance Company, $2,500; Advanced Biological Marketing, $500; Elementary School Wellness 100 Mile Club — Van Wert County Hospital, $1,500; Early Childhood Center — StateWide Ford-Lincoln, $500; Collins Fine Foods, $200; GLM Transport Inc., $500; Family and Children First Council — United Way of Van Wert County Inc., $1,195.50.
  • Created a Martha Holden Jennings Books and Beyond Grant Fund to purchase books for the elementary school.
  • Approved the following supplemental contracts: Melissa Bloomfield and Julia Reichert, Chamber Choir (50 percent); Jeremy Kitson and Bob Spath, VWHS ECHO administrators (50 percent); Zane McElroy, VWMS ECHO administrator; Mark Bagley, head varsity boys’ basketball coach; Chris Covey, boys’ varsity assistant coach; Ben Laudick, reserve boys’ basketball coach; Jeff Hood, freshman boys’ basketball coach; Rob Adams, varsity girls’ head basketball coach; Tom Baer, girls’ varsity assistant coach; Hannah Phlipot, girls’ reserve basketball coach; Ben Collins, head varsity wrestling coach; Mark Collins and Colton Royer, assistant varsity wrestling coaches (50 percent); Austin McIntosh, assistant wrestling coach; Megan Hurless, head swimming coach; Martha Martin and Keith Rydell, assistant swimming coaches; McKenzie Ray, basketball cheerleading coach; Jeff Kreischer and Kevin Decker, boys’ head bowling coaches; Nate Hoverman, seventh grade boys’ basketball coach; Kerry Koontz, eighth grade boys’ basketball coach; Erika Wise, seventh grade girls’ basketball coach; Eliza Dickinson, eighth grade girls’ basketball coach; Terrin Contreras and Brad Allmandinger, VWMS wrestling coaches; and Devyn Rodriguez, VWMS basketball cheerleading coach.
  • Approved the following volunteer coaches: Brandon Miller, VWHS boys’ basketball; Jared Loughrie, VWHS girls’ basketball; and Seth Blackmore, boys’ bowling.
  • Approved the following Ohio Teacher Evaluation System administrators: Mark Bagley, Lori Bittner, Darla Dunlap, Dave Froelich, Justin Krogman, Bob Priest, and Tracy Wehner.
  • Approved a new tryout policy in the District Athletic Handbook.
  • Authorized a contract with the Western Buckeye Educational Service Center to operate Synergy Learning Center, and approved a three-year lease of space at the S.F. Goedde Building for the center.
  • Approved a three-year agreement with The Village Network to train teachers and other educators in the Neurosequential Model.
  • Approved a memorandum of understanding with the Van Wert Federation of Teachers to clarify Senate Bill 3 information that year-3 resident educators are “exempt” from OTES evaluations.

The next meeting of the Van Wert City Board of Education will be at 5 p.m. Wednesday, November 15, in the S.F. Goedde Building conference room.

POSTED: 10/27/17 at 8:27 am. FILED UNDER: News