June 2025 Regular Board of Education Meeting

No one addressed the Board. 

No discussion - moved to vote.

Treasurer Bazley reported as follows:

The fiscal office is busy as we prepare the final touches on FY25 and prepare to close the Fiscal Year as well as get ready for FY26 which will officially be here in a couple of weeks. Our interest earnings continue to be strong. Rate cuts seem to be pushed out later in the year, the Fed and futures market expect/show two .25% rate cuts are projected later this year (last rate cut was Dec 2024).

We have done drawdowns for our Perkins grant. Our ECE grant was finalized earlier in the year based on this year’s allocation. We’ll do another drawdown on the Perkins grant prior to closing the FY. This way we can avoid doing an advance and having to recoup that from the general fund next fiscal year. By law we can have a grant account be negative as long as we are actively trying to collect on it, which is what having a PCR in place will accomplish. After year end we’ll present the transfer of funds to Adult Ed to cover their deficit for the Fiscal Year.

The Yearly estimates on the GF report are updated to reflect the updated forecast approved last month for FY25. With one month to go our expenses are tracking a little under than expected at this point, but the salary line should be more in line with the annual amount after we pay contract payoffs and severance payments in June and the Benefits line should do the same.

For your approval this month we also are presenting the request for and Amended Certificate of Available Resources from the County Auditor’s office. This is to prove to the Auditor we did not over-appropriate or expend more than we have. We typically approve this every June to send to the County Auditor for certification for audit purposes.

The state has ended May, 11 months of the fiscal year, with a net bottom line of positive $1.033 billion. Due to a combination of receipts exceeding estimated revenues by $1.300 billion and expenditures exceeding estimates by $267 million. All the while the message from the General Assembly leadership is constantly about how fully funding the FSFP is too costly and the formula is unsustainable.

The Senate passed their omnibus amendment which continues the FSFP plan and appears to update inputs for JVSD to current year. The Senate version seems to be the most favorable and slightly higher than the projections under the Governor proposal for Pioneer. The Senate version of the bill would also include the carryover provision originally introduced by the House, but increased it to 50% of its operating expenditures. From everything I have read we would still be exempt from this provision. HB 335 was also introduced and would ultimately be eliminating inside millage for all local entities (except for townships) which is articulated in the State Constitution, it will most likely be included in the final State Budget which is now in Conference Committee as the vehicle for hopeful passage and will be among the debate in conference committee.

Also included in the Senate budget was a provision that would prohibit Boards of Education from paying the STRS and SERS employee share (pickup) on behalf of the Superintendent and Treasurer. This provision is new from the Senate and was not included in the Governor or House version and specifically targets these positions, I don’t believe it prevents this occurring for any other administrator or teachers.

The Senate Finance Committee I believe hopes to have a budget out of committee and to get on the governor’s desk around June 25th or so.

None. 

No EAP rep. 

Mr. Paullin introduced some Adult Education students, one that is currently in the LPN program and a student that is going to be a senior this upcoming school year that took CNA this past year to get that credential while being a High School student as it was a credential she wanted for her future. 

None. 

Director Frye reported on the Strategic Planning meeting that was held and talked about the great outside participation they had that would help the District continue to plan for the future. He also discussed the successful school year where we achieved 100% graduation. 

Superintendent Nickoli reported as follows:

YEAR-END REPORT/PLANNING FOR THE 2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR
Not only is it hard to believe that the 2024 – 2025 school year is over, it’s amazing to reflect
back on how well it went. We finished the year off in outstanding fashion with our Spring
Adult Education Graduation and our End-of-the-Year Staff Breakfast. Thank you to Mr. and
Mrs. Theaker and Mr. Long for attending the breakfast and to Mr. Theaker for providing
some concluding comments to an outstanding year. The administrative staff is now beginning
to prepare for next year. I appreciate their hard work in preparation for what I know will be
an outstanding 2025 – 2026 school year.

SUMMER CAMP
Pioneer staff, led by Mr. Kevin Vargyas, hosted our third Summer Camp for students in 4 th ,
5 th , and 6 th grades in our Partner Schools. Nearly 160 students got to experience hands on
activities in 8 different labs. Family and social media responses indicated that it was a
tremendous success.

CTE CONSTRUCTION GRANT
The majority of the expansion project is moving along as expected. Studer-Obringer and their staff continues
to do an outstanding job on the project and I think you’ll be very pleased with the outcome. Unfortunately,
we are still awaiting word on a projected arrival date for the bus bars and the electrical switchboard. Delays
of these components will likely delay our use of the facility until after the start of the 25-26 school year. Mr.
Frye and the high school staff have prepared for this eventuality and we will ensure a great start of the school
year for student in the affected labs.

JVSD SPECIAL EDUCATION MODEL POLICY UPDATE
I am asking you to approve the JVSD Special Education Model Policy. You might remember that we
approved the ODEW Model Policy in February and a revision in March. After that time, the JVSD’s
contacted ODEW about a JVSD specific policy that better reflected the relationships we have with our
Partner Districts. The policy update I am asking you to approve tonight is a result of that work and was
approved by ODEW just after our May Board Meeting.

PERSONNEL

I am recommending that you approve the employment of Troy Schwemley as our newest
member of the administrative Team. Mr. Schwemley comes to us after serving 7 years as the
Assistant Principal at Shelby High School. We are thrilled to have an experienced
administrator with a knowledge of Pioneer and level of familiarity with our staff. He will be
an outstanding addition to Pioneer.
A am also recommending the employment of Charles Curran as a Math Instructor. He comes
to us from Madison High School and stood out as the most outstanding candidate from a very
strong pool. He will be filling the position vacated by Leanne Bauerdick who retired from
Pioneer several years ago and returned to us after a year at NCSC.
I am also recommending that you accept the retirements of Kris Kowalski and Dan Burtscher
our Director of Business Affairs and Student Services Coordinator, respectively. They were
both affected by the change in STRS retirement eligibility in April. As was earlier referenced
in our Public Hearing agenda item, I will be recommending them for rehire at the July Board
Meeting.
We have identified a Home Remodeling Instructor who has accepted our offer of
employment and are currently interviewing for our Engineering Design, First Responders and
a instructors’ positions. We are also interviewing for a Construction Instructor at Lucas High
School/Middle School. I expect to bring those candidates to you at the July meeting.
All other personnel items are normal for this time of year.

EXECUTIVE SESSION
We will enter into executive session for discussing the evaluations of the Superintendent and
Treasurer and the self-evaluation of the Board of Education.

No discussion - moved to vote.

No discussion - moved to vote. 

No discussion - moved to vote.