February 2023 Regular Board of Education Meeting

Bill Hope arrived late at 6:21 pm

Dennis Long arrived late at 6:28 pm

Superintendent Nickoli explained to new Board Members that items contained in the consent agenda are normal and recurring items throughout the year.

Treasurer Schumacher reported as follows:

Auditor of State, Keith Faber, announced on February 8, that Pioneer is once again the recipient of the Auditor of State Award for our clean audit.

We have all of the new Park National Bank accounts up and ready to use.  All of the County Auditors have been notified and all other ACH deposits have been notified or changed in our system.  We will be leaving the 2 Civista, operating and payroll, accounts open until tax collections are finished for this first collection period just in case a County Auditor might not get the account switched correctly or in time.

The OFCC project drags on.  We have now been notified that there is a storage box that was used to store evidence for the lawsuit.  No one knows exactly who it belongs to, but it is costing us money for storage.  Speer rented it initially, then Bruner took over the rental, then purchased it, now they’re out of business. Kip with Speer Mechanical said he would like to have it and will also dispose of the contents. I am checking with legal counsel to make sure this transaction is allowable and that we can do this without posting the sale on govdeals.com.  It seems this project is never going to end.

We are getting ready to potentially roll-out a new retirement planning instrument.  It is “Prime Choice Employer Plan”.  I have introduced it to the Administrators and they seem to be very interested.  The Plan may or may not include an HRA and/or a 403(b).  The plan makes termination benefits employer funded instead of employee funded.  Therefore, raising the contribution for the 403(b) potentially up to $66,000.  The plan can be structured however we want it to be, but once it is in place, the employee would either participate or take a cash payout (they would still be able to deposit into an employee funded 403(b) at $22,000. 

Our fraud case is still being investigated.  I have heard from Civista and last Wednesday they issued what they call a “provisional credit” for the entire $8,700.01.  Not sure what this means, but I think I bugged them long enough and contacted enough people, they knew they had to do something.

The Governor’s budget has been released.  It is very exciting for Career Tech.  His proposal includes continuing the phase-in of the Fair School Funding Plan.  It also includes a $300M one-time funding for Career Tech.  $200M for facilities renovations and improvements and $100M for CTE equipment.  When visiting with legislators 2 weeks ago, we also asked that the Career-Tech Weighted funding be changed to not include the state share deduction. For Adult Education, the Governor’s Budget also includes 3% increase on the line item for adult ed (per pupil) and doubling the line item for short term certificates.

It was decided the Board would discuss Senate Bill 1 in the Legislative Report.

As far as a report on our monthly activities.  It has been business as usual with nothing out of the ordinary going on.  I don’t believe we will have to fund Food Services out of the General Fund, but most likely will have to fund Adult Ed out of the General Fund at year-end. Our inventory went up $37,000.  We ordered about 3 years worth of paper.  This is the The General Fund is right on course for revenues and expenditures.  This first tax collection is always larger than the July tax collection.  We have a couple JE’s for your approval for some FCCLA club account monies that were actually school fees from Col Crawford and the last health insurance posting for NCOCC.  The only tie we have left with NCOCC is the State monies that were sent to us after we severed ties.  The State keeps saying they are working on reversing that deposit.  Andy Melick is staying on them.  I would rather they just let us pay NCOCC the monies directly out of the fund they deposited them to.

Director Frye reported as follows:

Sophomore Visitation has been completed and applications for the 2023 – 2024 school year are being processed.  We are slightly ahead of last year’s application numbers and a number of programs are full or filling up very fast. 

Pioneer hosted our first Sophomore Open House on Thursday, February 2^nd, 2023.  Students and parents filled the halls during the entire 2 hour open house.  Second Look Open House is scheduled for Thursday, February 23^rd from 6:00-7:30pm.  A Question and Answer session with parents is scheduled in the Cafeteria during the Second Look Open House.

Pioneer’s Threat Assessment Team has completed the required training by the Ohio School Safety Council.  Our School Threat Assessment Plan has been completed and will be posted to the State of Ohio’s School Safety Portal on Thursday, February 23^rd, 2023.

Pioneer students have competed at the regional contests for SkillsUSA, HOSA and BPA.  A number of students have moved on to the State Contests in their student organizations.  Congratulations to these students!

We are preparing for our Spring Job Fair for PCTC students.  The job fair is scheduled to take place mid-March.  Over 70 employers are scheduled to be on campus to meet with juniors and seniors. 

Mr. Grady reported that Senate Bill 1 has had three hearings in the Senate committee.  He reminded the Board this is a re-introduction of a similar bill from the 134th Assembly.  This Bill would rename the Department of Education as the Department of Education and Workforce (DEW). § Create the position of the Director of Education and Workforce, who is appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is the head of DEW. § Establishes within DEW the Division of Primary and Secondary Education and the Division of Career-Technical Education, each of which is headed by a Deputy Director appointed by the Director with the advice and consent of the Senate. § Transfers most of the powers and duties of the State Board of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to DEW. § Retains the State Board’s and state Superintendent’s powers and duties regarding educator licensure, licensee disciplinary actions, school district territory transfers, and certain other areas. Workforce Development § Requires DEW to develop informational materials for seventh and eighth graders about available career opportunities. § Requires DEW to participate in the process to identify in-demand jobs. § Requires the Governor to appoint the Deputy Directors to the Governor’s Executive Workforce Board.

Mr. Grady also reported that the "Backpack" Bill has also been re-introduced in the 135th Assembly.  No one is sure where this bill will go especially since the Governor made provisions in his budget proposal to increase finding for vouchers.

Superintendent Nickoli reported as follows:

This year approximately 1,375 sophomore students from our partner schools, Goal Digital Academy, and the Ashland City Schools visited Pioneer for Sophomore Visitation on January 25^th & 26^th.  This number is a bit lower than past years due to a decrease in enrollment of our Partner Districts.  Our Annual Open House on Thursday, January 30th, was a huge success with many potential students and their parents visiting our program and learning more about what we have to offer.  As in the past, we have decided to offer a Second Look Open House on February 26^th from 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm for those students who did not have a chance to visit or who would like to make another visit.  Currently, we have about 20 more student applications compared to last year’s number at this point which would generate an enrollment well over 1,250 students next year.  I cannot commend Student Services Department, our staff and our students enough for their hard work and a job well done!

The Ohio Association for Career-Technical and Adult Education (ACTE) hosted the annual legislative seminar this year.  Royden Smith, Linda Schumacher, Clay Frye and I met with Richland County Representative Marilyn John, an Aide for Huron County Representative Dick Stein, and Sentator Mark Romanchuk.  I, along with several other JVSD Superintendents also had a conversation with Lt. Governor John Husted.  Additionally, I will be arranging another visit with Crawford County Representative Roirdan McClain. They are all very supportive of Career Technical Education and our district and are very understanding of the impact that Career and Technical Education has on the economy. 

I am providing you with a draft copy of the proposed 2023-2024 calendar for the high school.  This proposal is in compliance with both the Ohio Department of Education requirements and our current Negotiated Agreement.  We have met the requirement to provide public input into the calendar and I will bring it back to you at the March Board Meeting for your approval.

I am asking you to approve Policy 8400 which is a part of our School Safety Policy and Plan.  This past Fall, the Ohio Department of Public Safety released the details mandated by 2021 legislation that created School Threat Assessment Teams.  That was followed up by training modules and a NEOLA policy update that was released in January.  We are required to have the Policy approved and our updated plan approved by the 24^th of March.  I am asking you to approve the Policy this month and will be asking you to approve the Plan next month so that we can submit both by the March 24^th deadline.

I am asking you to approve Clinic Observation Agreements with both OhioHealth and Avita Health Systems.  This allows our Medical Technology students to do observations in both healthcare settings, a practice we had in place prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.  It’s an outstanding educational experience for our students and we are excited about resuming these visits.

As is the practice of this Board, I am asking you to approve a resolution recognizing a donation over $5,000.  Arcelormittal has generously donated $10,000 to cover the costs of our Community Service Day activity.  In past years, we have received a similar amount but it came from several local donors. 

February is Career-Technical Education Month

OSBA Central Region “Virtual” Spring Conference – March 8

Pioneer All-Board Dinner – March 29

I am asking you to approve the transfer of Chef Seth Weibel to our Hospitality Program.  In the near future, we will be asking you to transfer this program to a Culinary Arts Level 1 Program, similar to our Auto Tech Level 1, Construction Level 1 and Horticulture Level 1 Programs.  Chef Weibel will be working with the traditional Culinary Arts Program to run the Pioneer Room.

I am also asking you to approve an additional Leave Without Pay for Nita Walsh.  She is recovering from a medical procedure and has not been released to return to work yet.

All other personnel items are common for this time of 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.

No questions or discussion.  Sent to vote.