August 2021 Regular Board of Education Meeting

No questions.  No discussion.  Sent to vote.

Treasurer Schumacher reported as follows:

Displayed is the Park National Bank Portfolio.  Just wanted everyone to see our holdings again.  Our current yield is 1.17%.  Luckily, we still have CD’s through 2023 that are yielding 2% or better and our average yield on the CD’s is still 1.92%.  Our corporate bonds are averaging 1.07% and our US Govt Agency State Exempt Obligations are yielding .62% while the non-exempt are averaging .48%.  We just purchased some FHLB Agency Obligations at 1% and 1.125%.  Those are up from last years market of .55 to .68.  I am thankful that we decided to expand to an investment portfolio with Park National a few years ago.

As we talked about last month, the JHP reserve is up quite a bit and we are keeping an eye on that balance.  While we have had a lot of claims, many have been large claims that are above our $50,00 stop loss.  I am waiting to see if in August they post an aggregate amount for prescription reimbursements that will lower that balance.  If not, we will have another discussion in September.  According to our negotiated agreement, we must have $1.648M in our reserve before a Holiday Premium can be taken.  So, even at the $1.9M reserve, a premium holiday would still put us under the minimum we need to keep as a reserve.

Fund balances – We had one full-time retirement in Food Services and three part-time resignations.  These positions have been filled with 3 part-time. 

Nothing out of the ordinary with the General Fund. We collected a couple counties’ taxes already. After the September meeting, we will have the new appropriations updated so we can watch the percentages with current numbers.

I attended the BAD Seminar on August 4.  Really did not find out a whole lot different than we already knew. A couple tidbits of info – Juneteenth is a holiday, but not required to be a paid holiday (just like Columbus Day), schools are now allowed to use public or private non-profit entity, city or other political subdivision for transportation of grades 9-12, but must ensure the route contains no more than 1 transfer, and we must develop a new plan (just like the Student Wellness and Success Fund) for the DPIA ( Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid funds we will receive through the State Foundation funding.   Aaron Rausch from ODE gave a great presentation and the Career Tech Treasurers have scheduled a webinar with him and the folks from Forecast 5 Analytics for tomorrow.  We are also trying to schedule a follow-up Q & A with Aaron.

Mr. Kowalski, Mrs. Young and Mr. Clay.  Also attending was Trudy Tilton, observer.

None.

None.

A note from Pat Keen, retired Pioneer secretary letting us know she is thinking and praying for Pioneer to have a wonderful school year and thanking the staff for all they do.

Mr. Grady discussed HB244 which prohibits schools from mandating vaccines that are not approved by the FDA.  Also, brought to the Board's attention SB166 which has passed in the Senate and is now in the House which states that whatever % the Home School receives in a CRA agreement, also pertains to the JVS.

Superintendent Nickoli reported as follows:

This is once again an unusual year. Our maintenance staff is finalizing the cleaning process for the year and the Administrative Staff has put together what I believe to be an outstanding return to school protocol.  We hope to return to a near normal school year with students here five days a week with minimal interruptions to the school year.  I have provided you with our 2021-2022 Return to School plan and will discuss it later in the agenda.  Last week we had an outstanding Welcome Week that was attended by 936 students.  I believe that may be an all-time high.  We brought our new staff in Friday for some Professional Development and again today for a meet-n-greet and additional training.  All staff will be returning tomorrow, followed by our Juniors on Wednesday and all students on Thursday.

Earlier this month, Tom Applegate facilitated our Board Goal Setting Session at the Ontario Event Center.  We generated an outstanding set of Goals and I would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Theaker, Mr. Hope, and Mr. Prater for joining us and their outstanding contributions.

I hope you had a chance to review our Reopening Plan for 2021-2022.  The 3 most critical points are that:

1. We are recommending but not requiring masks, except on school transportation where masks are required by CDC Order.
2. We will be conducting cleaning protocols similar to the 2020-2021 school year.
3. We will be cooperating with our local Health Departments related to Isolation and Quarantine.  Each Health Department has somewhat different protocols in place so, as we did last year, we will be working closely to ensure that we are following the varied guidelines.

I am recommending that you employ Christina Phelps as our Satellite FCS Instructor at Galion High School/Middle School.  She comes to us from Mansfield  St. Peters where she served as a 5^th grade teacher but more importantly, she was our 2012 Caremean Award Winner.

I am also recommending that you approve Maternity Leave for Kelly Jung.  Kelly is our Shelby High School FCS Instructor.

All other items are common for this time of year.

• • August 17  - Returning Teacher Day
  • August 18-21        - Professional Development Days
  • August 24  - 1^st Day of School for Juniors
  • August 25  - 1^st Day of School for Seniors

No questions.  No discussion.  Sent to vote.

No questions.  No discussion.  Sent to vote.

No questions.  No discussion.  Sent to vote.

Treasurer Schumacher explained that this is a CRA with Next Gen in Lexington OH and that Lexington Schools had already approved the CRA.

No questions.  No discussion.  Sent to vote.