January 2026 Regular Board of Education Meeting

No discussion - moved to vote.

Treasurer Bazley reported as follows:

We are officially halfway through the fiscal year, which feels like it has flown by. The calendar year has been closed out and I picked up the physical copies of the W2s and 1099s from NEONet at a meeting this morning. W2s have been available in Employee Self Service since last Friday. Interest continues to pay pretty well even with a few rate cuts, I’ve talked with Meeder and we’ve discussed keeping our portfolio diverse but putting a little more in long term investments with more rate cuts in 2026 on the horizon. Our revenues/expenses are a little under what we expected at this point in the fiscal year, but the general fund is still healthy at this point in the year. Revenue wise this is a slow time cash flow wise during the year, things will start to pick up in a month or two when we start receiving our real estate settlements. We made our COPS principal & interest payment in December and the final interest payment for the fiscal year will be made in June which is normal. Our audit is complete and has been filed. It was a clean audit with a Management Letter in reference to some capital improvement funds, we essentially will need to transfer some funds with a balance to the general fund and can then turn around and transfer them back to a capital project fund, we’re only supposed to hold those funds in that specific fund for up to ten years, then if they’re not spent we can do the same thing and restart the clock. This was the only comment/issue found during the audit, so again it is still a “clean” audit.

January is the month to submit our County Budget.  We also have received updated tax rates and valuations from the County Auditor at this point. Our Class I effective rate stayed the same and our Class II effective rate slightly went up. As for the valuations they also increased slightly, and are in line with what was forecasted in the October forecast. As we go through the assessed valuations/rates it’s important to remember that these valuations are based on 100% collection rate, while we forecast at 95% and the county factors a 92% collection rate. We also forecast PUPP on about 601,000,000 valuation due to the difference in Rover’s valuation and what they’re actually paying on with their appeals.  

The county budget is our annual submission to Richland County for their approval at their Budget Commission meeting.  As mentioned when we went through the assessed valuations slides, the real estate number on this document is factoring a 92% collection rate as well as the lower PUPP valuation amount. If we submitted it based on our forecasted 95% collection rate the auditor would most likely give me a call and ask me to change it as they’d view it as too high. The tax budget is also showing a transfer of $13 million from the general fund to the 070 capital projects fund. This is to help us get our cash balance in the general fund to just about 50% in response to some of the legislative changes with their property tax trinity as they call it. It should hopefully alleviate any issues with the County Budget Commission.  

With the legislative changes to the Forecast timing, we’ll have an updated forecast for you at the next Board meeting in February, but most of the updates/changes will have to do with the expenses forecasted in the fall and where we think we will end up at the end of the fiscal year. With all the legislative changes to property taxes calculations/collections, right now my plan is to bring another forecast to you in May that should hopefully actually capture these changes. We don’t have to file that one with the state, but it will at least help you to get a more accurate picture of what these changes will look like financially.

January is Board Appreciation Month, I just want to thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to serve Pioneer Career & Technology Center. Some of you serve on other Boards which means two meetings a month away from your families. It can be a thankless job and not one you’re going to get rich doing, but it is much appreciated and I think I speak for Greg and myself when I say how much we appreciate your support and commitment.

Colton Penwell was in attendance representing the EAP.

No public input.

No correspondence.

Director Frye reported as folllows:

Mr. Frye also mentioned that January is Board Appreciation Month and expressed his gratitude for the Board of Education Members on behalf of himself and the rest of the admin team.

Sophomore visits and open house are next week, the staff is busy preparing the labs and the building for the sophomores to visit, especially with the impending weather this weekend. Mr. Frye stated they had contingency plans in place to push back the visits and open house if needed.

Mr. Frye highlighted a recent School Safety Team Meeting in light of some recent events at East Knox he said those meetings have been important to make sure the school has an ironclad safety plan in place and everyone knows what to do in case of an emergency event.

Mr. Frye highlighted many students contests that have recently occurred or will be occurring soon. 

Superintendent Nickoli reported as follows:

WELCOME TO OUR RE-APPOINTED BOARD MEMBERS

I would like to congratulate our re-appointed Board Members. I’d also like to welcome Mr. Mike Grady, from the Shelby City Schools and Mr. Ben Blubaugh from the Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center as they both return for new three-year terms. Congratulations and thank you for your service to the students and staff at Pioneer.

BOARD APPRECIATION MONTH

January is Board of Education Appreciation Month, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your continued support of our students and staff. You are to be commended for the progress that Pioneer has made toward increasing student learning and improving student achievement. Also, in recognition of that service is a certificate presented by the Ohio School Boards Association signed by Sally Green, OSBA President and Dr. Kathy McFarland, OSBA Chief Executive Officer.

AGREEMENT WITH AKRON CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

I am asking you to approve an agreement with Akron Children’s Hospital allowing us to provide clinical experiences for both our High School and Adult Education students. As you know, these experiences are a highlight of the training we provide for our students and this is a great opportunity for our students interested in caring for pediatric patients.

CAFETERIA EXPANSION UPDATE

We met on February 9th via Zoom with representatives from Fanning-Howey regarding the progress on our proposed cafeteria expansion. The process is moving along and we are awaiting information from their cost estimators so that we can then put together bid documents for the competitive bidding process.

CALAMITY DAYS

To date, Pioneer has used four (4) full Calamity Days and five (4) Delays. Given our student day length of 5.75 hours (6.25 minus a thirty-minute lunch) we have used 31 hours meaning that we have one (1) Calamity Day and four (4) two-hour delays available to us. This is actually one (1) less two-hour delay than last year at this time. Should we exceed our Calamity Days, we will implement the three (3) Online Learning Days permitted by the July Board Resolution. We will be communicating those plans this week to both teachers and students.

CALENDAR ITEMS

January 27 & 28 - New Student Visitation

January 29 - Open House

February 4 - Ohio ACTE Legislative Conference

February 5 & 12 - Parent-Teacher Conferences

February 11 - Pioneer Business Advisory Committee Meeting

PERSONNEL

I am asking that you approve the Unpaid Leave for Ms. Susan Cooper, Pioneer Math Instructor. I am also asking that you approve Unpaid Leave for Ms. Ellie Beach who is out of Sick Leave.

I am also asking that you approve a supplemental contract for Mr. Dan Slaughter, who is leading our CTE Alternative Licensure Program. Mr. Slaughter created and is implementing this program for new Pioneer Instructors and new Career-Tech Instructors from our Partner Districts. This is an initiative from the Ohio Legislature and ODEW that Career Centers were encouraged to offer beginning this year. We are the only area Career Center offering this program to new instructors.

All other personnel items are common for this time year.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

I will be asking you to enter into Executive Session to consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion or compensation of a public employee or official.

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No discussion.- moved to vote.