Ruen ends 12 years as VWCS treasurer

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent writer

After 12 years of overseeing the finances of the Van Wert City School District, Treasurer/CFO Mike Ruen is stepping down to take the same job with Hicksville Local Schools.

The Van Wert City Board of Education accepted Ruen’s resignation during Wednesday night’s monthly meeting. Afterward, he called it a bittersweet moment.

“It’s been a very memorable time for me here,” Ruen explained. “A lot of great relationships have been formed within the school district and in the community as a whole, so there are a lot of people that I’ll be missing.”

“I hope I kind of left my mark in a good way,” Ruen continued. “For five years we’ve operated in the black and I’m hopeful for the figures that come out in the new budget and hope we’ll see some significant increases over the next two years.”

Ruen’s resignation will take effect September 1, and Board President Scott Mull said the search for a new treasurer is underway. Mull added the board hopes to find a permanent replacement before Ruen’s departure, but if that doesn’t happen, other options will be considered, including an interim treasurer.

In other business, Superintendent Vicki Brunn updated board members on the progress of the district’s energy savings project.

“It’s moving along well,” Brunn told the board. “We were caught up in the trade wars and our flat panels were not coming and that was holding up part of the project, but we did get 370 flat panels already installed.”

Brunn noted that the remaining flat panels should be on site by Monday and she added that the project remains on schedule.

“Everything in the classrooms will be complete before school starts but we may have some odds and ends to tie up,” Brunn said. “Anything that is not finished will be in the hallways and areas where there’s not teaching going on.”

Any work not finished by the start of the school year will be done after hours and on weekends, she added.

Brunn also told the board that HVAC upgrades are in progress, but workers found some of the pumps in chillers aren’t working properly. They’ll be inspected later this year and, if necessary, repairs will be made at a cost of up to $20,000.

The superintendent also talked about a lengthy list of new graduation requirements that are slated to take effect in 2023.

Board member Anthony Adams praised the work done so far by incoming Athletic Director Trent Temple, noting that he’s worked hard to prepare for the upcoming athletic season, and Adams gave a brief update on the Eggerss Stadium renovation project.

“We’re still waiting on the final renderings on what the renovation would look like and I’m excited to see those,” Adams said. “Once we get those, that will allow our feasibility study to continue.”

The board approved a number of personnel moves, including Tracy Wehner as Van Wert Elementary School assistant principal; Bryce Crea as a sixth-grade math teacher; Larry McCauley as a seventh- and eighth-grade career connections teacher and paraprofessional; and Alison Springer as a second-grade teacher. The board also accepted the resignations of sixth-grade math teacher Katelyn Lloyd and second-grade teacher Zachary Bates.

The resignations of boys’ head soccer coach Tim Brown and Ata John Ochil were accepted, then Ochil was named as head coach, while Brown was approved as a volunteer coach, along with Gary Espinoza. Brad Camenisch and Matt Miller were hired as paid assistant soccer coaches.

Other athletic personnel moves included Bryce Crea as assistant varsity football coach; Tristen Wehner and Jordan Danylchuck, freshman football coaches; Nathan Murphy and Brandon Lintermoot, middle school football coaches; Kendra Goodlin, seventh grade volleyball coach; Sarah Vogt, middle school fall cheerleading coach; Joshua Kueneke, volunteer assistant cross country coach and Demond Johnson, volunteer varsity assistant football coach.

The next meeting of the Van Wert City Board of Education will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday, August 21, in the First Federal Lecture Hall of the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio.