August 2019 Board of Education Meeting

No discussion or questions.  Sent to vote.

The auditors were in the office today for their first day.  They will probably be in the office until Thursday and then gone until they are ready to finish up in October some time. This is our 10th year with Rea & Associates, so next year the State Auditor’s office will either take over our audit or put it back out to bid. If put out to bid Rea & Associates will not be allowed to bid on our audit.

Jefferson Health Plan notified us today that as a member of the Jefferson Health Plan, Pioneer participates in the Aggregate Protection Program. This program provides reimbursements to members whose claims exceed their aggregate claims limit for the fiscal year. The aggregate claims limit is established using historical claims date and reimbursements are made following the completion of the fiscal year. I have meetings set up with both Jefferson Health Plan and Mutual Health Services on August 27, 2019, for updates and discussions on our health plan.

We have one CDAR maturing this Thursday and we will be rolling that over into a 6-month CDAR at 2.33%. Rates are beginning to come down. Star Ohio is at 2.44% and Richland Bank MMS is at 2.24%.

All fund balances are normal and inventory will begin to decrease by October.

In July, we received a $944,000 advance in real estate taxes from Richland County and have received Morrow and Huron County real estate taxes and Ashland County PUPP taxes.

All other revenues and expenditures are normal for this first month of the new year.

Anne Kurtzman, Performing Arts Instructor.  Before the meeting, Anne gave a tour of the new facilities to any of the Board Members interested.

Mr. Kowalski reviewed the Board Goals approved in Item 4.2.

NEW SCHOOL YEAR

year is a bit unusual in that our August Board Meeting occurring on Returning Teacher Day. Our first day with Juniors is tomorrow. We will have all students in session on Wednesday. Our staff is planning a very exciting schedule of activities for our new students. These special activities allowed us to pay special attention to first year students and orient them to Pioneer. As I mentioned, our Senior students will attend their first day on Wednesday.

I’d like to thank Mr. Theaker, Mrs. Theaker, and Mr. Prater for taking time to address our new and returning teachers last week. As always, Mr. Theaker’s remarks were right on point and greatly appreciated by our staff as were the remarks made by Mr. Prater to conclude our opening meeting. Your support of our work makes our jobs so much easier.

PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAM MOVE

are so excited to move into this wonderful facility. Anne, Mary, and Kalyn have done a tremendous job and put in many hours to prepare their spaces for our students. This will be a state-of-the-art program that will be the envy of every program throughtout Ohio and likely around the nation. Unfortunately, we don’t yet have a Certificate of Occupancy from the City of Mansfield so we will be holding classes on the first floor and over in the Renaissance Theater until the inspection process concludes.

BOARD GOALS

We are asking you to approve the Board Goals for the 2019 – 2020 school year. You saw the nine goals that were formulated at the meeting on August 9th. Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Theaker, Mrs. Dixon, Mr. Prater, and Mr. Grady for attending and working to set the direction of the District for the 2019-2020 school year.

CALENDAR ITEMS

Central Region OSBA Fall Conference

Central Region OSBA Fall Conference will be held on September 25 at the Villa Milano Banquet and Conference Center in Columbus. Social hour will begin at 5:00pm, dinner at 6:00 pm.. To date, the keynote speaker has not been announced. If you wish to attend, we will have a sign - up sheet at the board meeting.

Also, we received notification last week that Doug and Mary Jean will be recognized for their years of service. Mary Jean for 30 years and Doug for an amazing 45 years.

OSBA Capital Conference

We need to have confirmation about accommodations for the Ohio School Boards Association Capital Conference will be held on November 10 - 12. We have a sign - up sheet for the dates you will be requiring lodging at the conference. We need to log into housing to make our reservations on September 10 when the housing website is available. It is extremely important that we have accurate dates of anyone that requires lodging because after September 10 there is a $100 cancellation fee for a reservation. If you change your mind, please notify us by September 9th so we can avoid the cancellation fee.

PERSONNEL ITEMS

I am recommending the employment of thirteen individuals to serve as Career Coaches in 15 different school districts. This is the Career Coaching model Pioneer was asked to implement to help area Districts meet their Career Advising Policy obligations.

All other personnel items are common for this time of year.

No discussion or questions.  Sent to vote.

No discussion or questions.  Sent to vote.