VWCS board approves school day extension

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

The Van Wert City Board of Education dealt with the district make-up day situation and also heard an update on the Eggerss Stadium project during its February meeting on Wednesday.

Van Wert students’ school day got a bit longer after board members unanimously approved lengthening school days a half-hour between March 4 and April 30 to make up the 12 days of instructional time the district has lost to inclement weather so far this year.

Superintendent Vicki Brunn said each individual school would implement the additional 30 minutes into its school day in a way that staff members feel most benefits class instruction at that school.

Because of state testing, Brunn said staff members felt it would not benefit students to add days at the end of the school year after testing was already completed. 

“This will give us a lot more time as we’re going into testing to actually work on intervention with our kids and get them ready,” the superintendent noted.

Unfortunately, Brunn added, any additional days missed from this point on may have to be added to the end of the school year.

The board also approved an addendum to the memorandum of understanding with the Van Wert Federation of Teachers and with classified staff to handle the extended instructional time.

Assistant to the Superintendent Bill Clifton also updated the board on the Eggerss Stadium renovation project, noting that the project has been scaled back a bit, as it pertains to football locker rooms.

Although the original plan called for construction of free-standing locker rooms, as well as a concession stand, Clifton noted that attempts to bring the cost of Phase 2 of the project (Phase 1 was the installation of new visitor bleachers) has meant the elimination of the free-standing locker rooms.

Instead, current plans are to renovate the locker rooms under the stadium, with the locker room at the south end of the stadium for the home team and the one on the north end for visiting teams. The existing restroom under the stadium would be enlarged and renovated as a women’s restroom, while a men’s restroom would be built behind the stadium.

A new free-standing pressbox would also be built that would then attach to the stadium. Clifton said the planned pressbox would be much larger than the current facility and would allow for two rows of seating to better accommodate media members.

“We’re going to compare the cost of these renovations with what the committee’s work was a couple of years ago, and then we will present the best plan moving forward,” he noted. “Obviously, none of this can be done without the help of the community.”

Clifton also provided the board with tentative plans related to a new baseball and softball facility at the school property on Ohio 118.

Also Wednesday, Clifton said a fiber optic project at the site of the Van Wert High School-Middle School complex would be starting soon. Independence Fiber Network will be installing fiber optic lines and a large hub for the system on school property to serve the Van Wert community. The district received $5,000 for the use of school property, with another $600 annually to cover maintenance costs around the hub.

Ruth Ann Dowler, district special services coordinator, and occupational therapist Janine Warnecke made a presentation to the board on the district Sensory Project, a program to deal with students’ sensory needs.

Van Wert Mayor Jerry Mazur was also at the board meeting on Wednesday to present Brunn with a proclamation designating the week of February 20-March 1 as “City of Van Wert Education Appreciation Week”, while the superintendent noted that State Representative Craig Riedel would be touring the district on Monday, March 4, starting at 3 p.m.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, the parents of a school athlete who were concerned about whether coaches were allowed to force students to attend practices or games during inclement weather. Both Brunn and Clifton, the former high school principal, assured the parents that neither they, nor any other parent, was required to send their child to practice or a game if school was canceled for inclement weather and the parents thought weather conditions remained unsafe.

In other action, the board:

• Approved three then-and-now certificates, as follows: $4,800 for the Northwest Ohio Area Computer Services Cooperative for Internet service for St. Mary’s School, $3,831.37 to Music Theater International for royalty and rental fees for the VWHS play, and $7,253 to Northwest Ohio Welch Trophy for boys’ basketball gear and supplies (mostly reimbursed by parents, Treasurer Mike Ruen noted).
• Accepted the following donations: Cooper Family Foundation, $1,000 to the VWMS Renaissance program; Van Wert Federal Savings Bank, $1,000 to the VWHS Robotics Program; $125 from Van Wert Federal Savings Bank, $125 from Strategence Capital LLC, and $125 from Wayne and Mary Kilton for the Van Wert City Schools Endowment Fund for Educators; $200 from the Van Wert Service Club, $50 from Rauch Law Office, $100 from Van Wert Vision, $500 from Federal-Mogul Corporation, $3,000 from Van Wert Health, $250 from Van Wert Health, $100 from Strategence Capital, $25 from Tisha Fast Insurance Agency, and $100 from Sean Kelly, DDS, for the VWMS Renaissance program; Devin and Samantha Webster, $500 to the Wrestling Athletic Account; Jinzhong Li and Qing Cen, $200 to the Boys’ Tennis Athletic Account; and Robin Craner, $100 to the Cross Country Athletic Account.
• Accepted the resignation of Adam Tussing as truancy attendance office, effective February 15.
• Approved Becky Scheidt as a VWHS paraprofessional, effective January 22.
• Approved Thomas Arnott as a volunteer high school wrestling coach.
• Approved a leave of absence for fifth-grade teacher Ashley McElroy, effective after her accrued leave and FMLA leave time have been exhausted, through the remainder of the 2018-19 school year.
• Approved a memorandum of understanding with the Van Wert City Federatioin of Teachers to add a robotics advisor to the supplemental pay scheduled, effective this school year.

The next meeting of the Van Wert City Board of Education will be at 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 20, in the First Federal Lecture Hall of the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio.