July 2022 Regular Board of Education Meeting

Mr. Hope asked if there were any major changes in the Renaissance lease agreement and Superintendent Nickoli state there was a slight increase in the rent and that there were no other major changes.

No more questions.  Sent to vote.

Treasurer Schumacher reported as follows:

Year-end closing went well and we have closed the books for FY22.  We have begun the GAAP conversion and have sent most of the information needed to complete the GAAP financials to our GAAP accountants. 

Julian & Grube have been awarded our Audit for FY22.  We have not heard anything from them as yet, but we have sent an email to begin communications.  We hope to get started on the audit in August and have it completed by November.

We have continued throughout the entire fiscal year to have a healthy balance in the Jefferson Health Plan and the future looks to be the same.  Our largest claims have been reimbursed from the Large Claim Reimbursement Account with the total received for the year being $1,221,263.  We have paid $4,179,204 in Medical, Pharmacy, Dental and Diabetic Supplies.  Our revenue comes from Interest, Premium payments (Accruals), LCRP payments and Pharmacy rebates.  Therefore, all in all, our balance in JHP only went down $37,365.91.  We will continue to keep an eye on this.

Interest rates are climbing a little bit.  Park National went from .065% to .842%, PNC went from .1% to .38% and Star Ohio went from .10% to 1.59%.  I just looked at that last week and that seems really high, but this is what they had listed as their annualized yield.

All of the funds have been advanced and all have positive balances for year-end.  You will notice the 002 (Bond Retirement Fund) has a -0- balance.  We have made the entry to transfer those monies into the General Fund.

Year-end for the General Fund shows we are in the black again just as forecasted.  Our revenues were almost spot on and expenditures were less than expected, so we ended the year on a plus. Our revenues were only $14,400 off from the forecast.  After making the adjustment in May for the severance payments, many of those retirement severance payments got pushed into the next fiscal year, so our expenditures were not as high as we had thought. I ended up using all of the GEER monies this fiscal year instead of carrying them over into the next fiscal year and was able to use more of the SWSF funds than had been anticipated. All of this brought our expenses down more than we thought was going to happen and so we had a good year.

We have journal entries for your approval for year-end advances, SWSF expenditures, GEER entries and the journal entry to move the 002 Fund monies approved by the Common Pleas Court to be moved to the General Fund.

I have also attached to my report the Initial Certificate of the Total Amount From All Sources Available for Expenditures and Balances. This is the annual report to the County Auditor to issue the first Amended Certificate of Estimated Resources for FY23.

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Mr. Grady discussed the state of the State Board of Education and informed the Board there could be as many as 9 new members after the November election.  The State Board will most likely not begin their search for a permanent State Superintendent until after the November election.

Treasurer Schumacher informed the Board that the Nexuss Pipeline appeal has been resolved and the pipeline has agreed to 68% of the original valuation.  It is projected that the Rover Pipeline will most likely follow the same.

Mr. Prater lead a discussion on the impact that Intel might have on our area.  Congress must first pass the legislation intended to boost US based chip development and manufacturing. 

Superintendent Nickoli reported as follows:

Our staff has been working diligently getting the building ready for the 2022-2023 school year.  Mr. Kowalski has been especially pleased with the summer custodial staff.  They have all been and are ahead of schedule.  We always set a goal to be ready for Welcome Week which is August 9-12.  In addition to the work by our Maintenance and Custodial Staff we are quickly completing the exterior sealing project conducted by AMC Masonry out of Mansfield.

I am recommending that Pioneer enter into a shared services agreement with the Colonel Crawford Local Schools for the services of our Food Service Manager.  Jason Fortman has agreed to serve in that capacity for both Districts while remaining an employee of Pioneer.  He will ensure that both Districts remain in compliance with State and U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines.  Mr. Fortman will also manage the day-to-day activities here at Pioneer while those duties will be handled by existing staff members at Pioneer.

I am recommending that Pioneer enter into a Purchased Services agreement with Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center for the services of Workforce Development Coordinator.  That position replaces one of the Career Development Coordinator positions vacated by the January retirement of Jim Sorenson.  This person will work part-time for Pioneer and part-time for MOESC as the Richland County Coordinator of their recently awarded Career Development Grant.

I am asking you to approve a job description for the previously mentioned Workforce Development Coordinator.  Our Career Development Department will now include one Workforce Development Coordinator whose focus will be identifying and communicating specific workforce needs within our District and one Career Development Coordinator whose focus will be working with our Partner Districts to better educate students and teachers about local employment and educational opportunities.

The next step in closing out our renovation project fund is finalize the tentative agreement I shared with you at the June Board Meeting.  That requires the Board to authorize me to negotiate and sign, on its behalf, the binding Memorandum of Understanding with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission and the Settlement Agreement with Vaugh Industries. These documents are being prepared as we speak and will be reviewed by legal counsel prior to signing.

Doug Theaker, Board President, has asked me to place this on the agenda.  You will nominate a delegate and alternate for the OSBA Conference November 13–15 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.  We will be passing around a sign-up sheet for hotel reservations at the August Board meeting.  Reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis so it will be very important that we know if you want us to make hotel reservations.  Any cancellations result in a $100 cancellation fee.

You have at your place-settings, a “Save-the-Date” notice for the 2022-2023 Board of Education Goal Setting session.  It will be conducted the morning of August 12 from 9:00am until Noon at Legends Restaurant here in Shelby.  Legends is located at 63 West Main Street.  We look forward to Board Members joining the Administrative Team as we set the direction for Pioneer for the coming school year.

August 12                  - Board Goal Setting Session 9:00am (lunch will be served at 11:30am) at Legends (63 W. Main St., Shelby) and

                                    facilitated by Mr. Tom  Applegate

August 9-11              - Welcome Week

August 16                  - New Staff Orientation Day

August 17                  - New Staff Professional Development Day

August 18                  - Returning Teacher Day

August 18                  - First Day of School for Juniors

August 19                  - First Day of School for Seniors

Employment              Caleb Alt                    – Industrial Diesel Instructor

                                    Josh Broughton        – Technology Department, Field Technician

Resignations            Caleb Nolen              – 3^rd Shift Custodian

All other personnel items are normal for this time of the year

No questions or discussion.  Sent to vote.

No questions or discussion.  Sent to vote.

No questions or discussion.  Sent to vote.

No questions or discussion.  Sent to vote.

Superintendent Nickoli informed the Board this is a donation to keep one of the Pioneer scholarships active.

No questions or discussion.  Sent to vote.

Richard Prater nominated Mike Grady to serve as official delegate; and Bill Hope volunteered to serve as alternate for the 2022 OSBA Annual Business Meeting and Conference to be held in Columbus, OH November 13-15, 2022.

Entered into Executive Session at 7:55 pm and returned to Regular Session at 8:33 pm.