January 2011

After taking care of the routine matters of the annual organizational meeting, we moved directly into our regular meeting for January.  Our regular meeting schedule is the third Tuesday of each month - the organizational meeting of the year is required by the Ohio Revised Code (O.R.C.) to be held prior to the 15th of January.  We decided to use the same evening for our regular meeting, which is why it was a bit earlier than usual.

One matter of business covered that evening was to elect our new officers.  Rick Ueberroth was selected as the new president, with Kris Oberheim as vice president.  Our meeting schedule was determined to remain on the third Tuesday of each month at our usual time of 7 p.m. , with the exception of September's meeting.  That one will be one week early, on September 13th. 

After an executive session to discuss the dismissal of an employee, we returned to go over the reports of the Treasurer including the budgets for the high school musical and prom.  Reports of the Superintendent were also discussed and accepted.

Under "New Business", we first voted to enter into a contract with the Swanton Police to have a uniformed officer present at all of our regular board meetings.  The cost to do so is $25 per hour. 

We then heard from transportation director Tim Walborn about software to be used to determine bus routes.  This process has been done with pencil and paper until now.  After checking into several options, Mr. Walborn recommended Transfinder be purchased.  The Board agreed to do so.

The Board approved tournament site agreements with the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA), membership in the Ohio School Board Association (OSBA) legal assistance fund, re-appointed Rheba Burtch to a 7-year term on the Swanton Public Library Board of Trustees, and approved contracts for High School Principal Steve Gfell and Steve Smith, High School Assistant Principal.  (these contracts are for 3 years with no salary increase)

Building reports from each principal had been submitted electronically to the Board, and were able to be reviewed by each of us prior to the meeting that night.  There were a few items discussed, and then we moved on.

Swanton Rec had submitted two sports budgets for our information, and the Superintendent reported on the current status of the Ohio Improvement Plan that our district has implemented. 

We had a final executive session at the end of the night.  Upon our return, the Board voted 3-2 to accept the resignation of Marianne Pearson.

We were adjourned shortly after nine o'clock.

November Meeting

The Board of Education met on Tuesday, November 16th at 7 o'clock.  After the Pledge of Allegiance was recited and a moment of silence observed, we moved into our business meeting.

Under Board Commendations, special notice was given to our Band for their qualifying in state competition.  Tom Krupitzer was recognized as "Coach of the Year", and the boys soccer team was congratulated on being league champions.  Other fall sports athletes were also commended.

No one from the public indicated a desire to address the Board, so we moved into the Consent Agenda.  The Treasurer's section included October's meeting minutes and several financial reports and the check register.  I have asked several times for more back-up information to be included with the check register - how can we know what we're approving on a huge Visa bill when we can't see what the money was spent on?  To date, no report has been created that includes a "memo" column where an explanation might be held.

The Superintendent's section was for Personnel items, such as volunteers and supplemental contracts.

The Consent Agenda was passed as presented.

The first new business item under the Treasurer was the Athletic Budget for 2010-11 (the current school year).   At this point, board member Kris Oberheim asked about basketball shoes - she had received a phone call from a parent thanking her (as a board member) for paying for basketball shoes.  Kris questioned what this was about?  Treasurer Cheryl Swisher and Superintendent Paulette Baz shared that the district had purchased shoes from Team Sports for both boys and girls basketball, 7th grade through the Varsity teams.  No exact figures were available, but the estimate given that evening was that close to $9,000 was spent on shoes - an expense that the district has never before incurred.  (Since then, I was told that we will learn the exact cost when we are asked to approve a Then and Now PO at our December meeting.) Some discussion was held on the matter, which you may listen to by going here to download the podcast. 

As the basketball shoes were not an item on the athletic budget, I voted "yes" to approve it.  The vote was split 3 to 2, with Kris Oberheim and Michelle Tyson voting "no".

Also approved were the amended certificates, an emergency purchase of a bus to replace #20,  and continued payments to bus driver Kelly Hartlet who was injured in the bus accident.

Under new business for the Superintendent, Stacey Parrish  (NwOESC education consultant) gave a presentation on our district report card.  Ms. Parrish also works with our district on the Ohio Improvement Process.

A VarTek change order was approved (at no additional cost to the district), and then we had a discussion on fund raising activity in the district.  It is the intent of the Superintendent to consolidate fund raising efforts in the community so that residents and businesses are not being "hit" for donations or raffle tickets etc. over and over and over again.  The Superintendent requested permission to form a committee to meet with booster groups, athletic groups and extra-curricular organizations to determine how to minimize the number of fund raisers.  The Board gave its permission for the committee to be formed.

Next, a resolution was passed to approve the ranking of the top 3 architect firms who had interviewed earlier that day as part of the process through OSFC.   The top 3 are:  Munger & Munger (a local firm which includes Swanton resident Kevin Young on its staff of architects),  Bielharz and Buehrer.    The resolution passed.

A short discussion on board development was held, and then reports on various items:  Swanton Rec, Ohio Improvement Process (OIP), OSBA Capital Conference, Athletics, Building reports from each principal, and Drug Testing. 

Our final order of business was an executive session, after which the meeting was adjourned.

Building "Green" and Adaptive Re-Use

On Tuesday, November 16th, I was one member of an interview team that heard the presentations of firms interested in being involved in a possible cooperative building project with OSFC in our district.  We were supposed to have had time between each group to discuss among ourselves our impressions of pros and cons of each firm relative to our situation.  Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way and it was a "rush job" at the end to bring a recommended top 3 to the board meeting scheduled that same night.  It was not the best way to do business, frankly, although it was simply a matter of circumstances.

Anyway, each one of the teams included a short mention of their experience with re-using existing school structures as well as building something new.  A couple of them incorporated pieces of historic buildings into new structures built, as a way of compromise between the past and future. 

Back when the Swanton Enterprise headline read "Buy One - Get One" over the article concerning the building proposal for a new high school, one item discussed by the school board in office at that time was to save the 1904 structure and use it for district offices and possibly a senior center, etc.  The 1904 section was a huge undertaking for the small community of Swanton way back when it was built in a field.  It stood for decades as a tribute to the importance residents had for the education of their children.  People of that time made huge personal sacrifices to build the structure that was a crowning jewel in the community.  It was the legacy of many whose family names remain part of the Swanton community to this day, and possibly this fact contributed to the thought process of saving it at the time discussion took place on the new high school.

Possibly those who remember these discussions assume that saving the 1904 building remains part of the district overall goal.  But all I have heard is talk of plans to save architectural pieces of it for possible inclusion in a new structure.  That is not what the community was promised. 

I had been under the mistaken notion that the OSFC program required old structures to be bulldozed if the school district expected to receive any state funding assistance.  That impression was WRONG!

Here is an excerpt taken from "Renovate Ohio's Historic Schools" dated Feb. 2010:

During the initial years of the OSFC, a “2/3rd’s Rule” was created to determine if a building was to be renovated or replaced with a new school. If the cost to renovate an existing school was over two-thirds the cost to build an equally sized new building, then the OSFC would say the facility was to be replaced. The OSFC has since changed the “rule” to be more of a “guideline” and will now co-fund the cost of renovation up to 100% of the cost of an equally sized new building. The OSFC staff and consultants will not actively promote this option and it is up to those interested in renovation, within the local community, to advocate for a more in depth cost analysis for historic schools. If the local district’s facility assessment for renovation costs are greater than 2/3rd’s the cost of an equally sized new building and the district chooses to renovate the existing building, then a waiver needs to be submitted to the OSFC for approval.

Twenty-first Century Education

While not all facilities are candidates for continued educational use, many schools could be remodeled and upgraded. The National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF) published document, Historic Neighborhood Schools Deliver 21st Century Educations, provides the proof that “well-renovated, well-maintained historic schools can support a first-class twenty-first century education”.

Feasibility Study

The only accurate method to determine the condition and future usability of an older or historic school is to conduct a feasibility study by an architect, engineer or design professional that has experience with this type of facility. The document Renovation vs. Replacement & the Role of A Feasibility Study provides more details. After completing the proper studies, many school districts even find it less expensive and a better overall value to renovate existing buildings than build new schools. In most cases, schools constructed prior to the 1950′s were built to last indefinitely. These buildings did not have projected lifespans, while newly constructed schools are built to only last an estimated 35-40 years. By reusing an existing building envelope (foundation, walls, roof), total project costs can also be between 25%-40% less than building new.


Schools located in the center of town provide students with a tangible connection to the greater community. Across the country, the trend has been to abandon older, walkable schools in favor of a consolidated “educational campus,” usually closer to the edge of town. This practice has been shown to be detrimental to children’s health and welfare. Schools are not isolated from the communities that they serve. Now more than ever, children need to feel connected to the social continuum of past and future generations.


The recently published report from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Renee Kuhlman (Director, Special Projects; Center for State and Local Policy), “Helping Johnny Walk to School“, outlines the many consequences of abandoning/demolishing existing neighborhood schools for new “mega” schools located on the outskirts of a community. State-level policies enforcing minimum site requirements and negative biases toward renovation within funding formulas are some of the main reasons why established historic schools are being lost. Ohio is a prime example of one state that invokes educational facility policies. Most importantly, the report provides conclusive evidence that “neighborhood schools” are more beneficial than the alternative for both the students and the community.


Consequences


The “greenest” building is the one already built. Renovation of existing buildings can be considered one of the single most important contributors towards sustainable architecture and building design. Every building has something called “embodied energy”, which is the total amount of energy used to produce the materials and construct the structure. The embodied energy unit of measurement, the British Thermal Unit (BTU), is not very telling, but it can be converted into a more understandable format; like number of recycled aluminum cans, gallons of gasoline or barrels of oil.


The amount of embodied energy within an existing 100,000 sq./ft. school, the energy used for the demolition of the existing school and the energy used to construct a new equally sized facility would be equivalent to the misuse of one or a combination of the following items:


- 2,427,826 gallons of gasoline


- 224,476,800,000 recycled aluminum cans

- 34,900,000 barrels of oil


* environmental costs were calculated at TheGreenestBuilding and are only estimates

Given the chance to utilize existing buildings is about doing what’s right for our communities, our children and their future. It’s part of what students are being taught in school everyday, for them, it has become a way of life.

“The truth is that in numerous cases, older school buildings can be renovated to 21st century standards with everything we’d expect in a new school.”


- Royce Yeater, school facilities architect and head of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Midwest office

The Pennsylvania Department of Education in cooperation with the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Institute of Architects has put out a 28-page brochure outlining the benefits of saving historic school buildings.

Lest anyone think that re-using historic school buildings might not qualify under Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), I direct your attention to this example in Lansing, Michigan where you may learn about the 1928 building that is the world's first to achieve "double platinum". 

So what is the point of my article today?  That IF the Swanton community wants to save and re-use its historic school buildings, it can be done - but you cannot assume it will be done.  Those to whom this is important need to speak up and let the school district know their opinion on the matter.  I have never heard of a community anywhere in the USA that has torn down an historic structure and then felt "good" about it afterwards.  Never.  But it takes vision and work to make it happen.

I just pray that Swanton is not one of those places that allows their iconic structure to be bulldozed down and then regrets it forever afterwards.



Regular October Meeting

Did you know that all of our agendas are available to the public via the district website?  Agendas for upcoming meetings are posted several days in advance, so that you may see what will be discussed ahead of time.  To find them, go to the district website here and then click on the "Board of Education" tab at the top left.  This takes you to the BOE "page".  To find the agendas and other meeting information, click on the "BOE Meetings" link, which is one of the purple links immediately under the tab section, at the top of the white part of the page.  (this link is the one on the far right)  This pulls up a page with meeting summaries, as well as meeting agendas.  The link you'll need is the first one:  "Board Docs", with a picture of a little tree beside it.  This will open a new screen, and you'll be able to see the available agendas listed on the left.  Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Our regular October meeting was attended by four board members, as Kris Oberheim was sick that night.  After the standard procedures, the meeting opened with a presentation by Jake Brehmer on his attendance at the Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership conference held in UCLA this past July.  Jake had a PowerPoint presentation which he had recently shared at Rotary, and Superintendent Paulette Baz had requested that he share it with us as well.  Jake did a fine job, and we're all very proud of him and his accomplishments (as are his VERY proud parents!). 

As no one from the public desired to speak, we moved on to the consent agenda, which included two sets of meeting minutes, various reports of the Treasurer, and personnel recommendations of the Superintendent.  Included in the personnel recommendations were stipends for three Swanton Rec positions, which continues to be a personal irritant to me, but I did not request that they be pulled out - I recognize that I am in the minority on this, and grandstanding serves no useful purpose.

By having all of this information available to us several days in advance, the board is able to look over the detailed supporting documentation for the consent agenda and ask questions or clarification well ahead of the meeting itself.  Not only do we save paper and printing costs by using Board Docs this way, we also are able to save time.  If you see something on the agenda and have questions on it, please contact a board member or the Superintendent or Treasurer and any one of us will be happy to answer it or pull the particular item in question out of the consent agenda for further public discussion. 

The consent agenda was passed unanimously.  

Our first item under "New Business" was the 5 year forecast, which was discussed in detail at our special meeting of Oct. 12th.  The board passed the forecast as presented, and it will be filed with the state of Ohio no later than Oct. 30th as per state requirements.  This concluded the new business for the treasurer.

Under the superintendent's new business, we first approved a change order to our contract with VARtek, the company that handles our computer-related needs.  This change order was an update to the number of computers that VARtek maintains in our district.

The Ohio School Board Association puts out a newsletter called "CommunicationPlus" that has a lot of helpful information.  Mona Dyke had checked into seeing whether we could get this online, or via email, but was told it is a print publication only.  The board therefore approved our standing annual subscription for $325.

Our choir has the opportunity to go to Orlando for a national competition, and Mrs. Judy Zedlitz presented her desire and plan for them to make the trip.  Our choir does not take a trip every year and this trip is scheduled during spring break 2011, which means no school days would be missed.  It is a great opportunity for our choir kids, in grades 9-12, and the board approved it unanimously.

We then had short reports on:

*Swanton Rec (which is working to collaborate with the Village in some fashion);

*the Ohio Improvement Process, which is moving forward well;

*the NWOhioESC 21st Century Grant which is a HUGE success thus far - we even have a waiting list for kids who want to participate in the after-school lessons and activities;

*and the Drug Testing committee, which I reported on.  We received the results of our survey from last May of 8-11 grade students, and the good news is that certain substance abuse has gone down.  Of course, until we have 0% of our kids involved in substance abuse, we need to keep working - but it was nice to have an encouraging word to share.  The committee will re-convene on Nov. 3rd to discuss our next steps.

We also had a short discussion on the building reports submitted by our administrators: 

*Crestwood principal, Angie Lutz, has created a schedule to be in each classroom on a regular basis - not as an evaluator, but as an extra pair of hands to assist the teaching staff. 

*Park principal Jane Myers is planning to do the same.  Both she and Mrs. Lutz are very pleased with how well the 21st Century Grant "Dawg Pound" is going.  They even have short field trips planned for the after-school kids, e.g. to Sadowski's Corn Maze and similar things. 

*Middle School principal Ted Haselman has instituted a "Caught You Doing Something Good!" program, to recognize and reinforce positive behaviour by his students.  What a great idea!  Also, he is extremely pleased with how well the 21st Century Grant program is working at his building.  Along with the homework help, the fun things are creating excitement among the students and the after-school program is growing.

*High School principal Steve Gfell has created a Facebook page for the high school.  He is able to post schedules of upcoming events, pictures, and links for people to keep abreast of all that's happening at the high school, and has received a lot of positive feedback on it already.  In addition, the high school has instituted a new thing this year:  the 5th Quarter, where the high school is opened up on Friday nights to students for fun social activities and food.  Donations from community businesses and Parents' Club pay for the drinks and food, and thus far this has been a resounding success!  Kudos to Mr. Gfell and his staff for these great ideas for our kids.

The board had hoped to discuss a self-evaluation that night, but decided to wait until all 5 members are present.

We had a short executive session, and then our meeting was adjourned. 

Special Meeting and 5 yr. Forecast

Last night was a special meeting of the school board.  We had five items on our agenda for the evening.  After the initial preliminaries of opening the meeting, roll call, etc., our first item of consideration was personnel recommendations by the Superintendent.  One was a resignation; the others were all related to the Swanton Rec program and included payments for three positions:  $10/hr as needed for a Recreation Coordinator 2010-11; $1,200 stipend for a 2011 Baseball Director; and $700 for a 2010-11 Basketball Cheerleading Director.  

A short discussion was held before a motion was made.  I asked Kris Oberheim, fellow board member, what progress was being made by Swanton Recreation toward becoming its own entity, and thus be removed from under the school district umbrella?  She said that meetings with the Village, the Sylvania Rec group and the Anthony Wayne group were scheduled to discuss options, but that no change was imminent.  

I continue to be concerned that the original intent and plan for the Swanton Recreation program is not moving forward.  That intent and plan was to assist with a transition for the new program to become self-funded and out from the control of the school district.  While no new tax dollars are being collected and spent on rec programs, and we no longer have a levy undercutting our education funding from the state of Ohio, we continue to have people spending their time administering this program that could be spent, instead, on things related to the education we provide to our kids.  

Maybe I am just incredibly naive here, but I honestly believe that we have people in our district who are willing and able to volunteer their time for the rec programs.  Why do we continue to pay people?  Hopefully our rec personnel will have good discussions with Sylvania (whose successful rec program is funded by a levy) and Anthony Wayne (whose successful rec program does NOT use tax dollars) and will do what it takes to move the Swanton Recreation program away from the school district so that we can focus on education.

Mrs. Floyd and Middle School principal Mr. Haselman gave a presentation on the proposed 8th grade trip to Washington, D.C.  Their informational meeting was well attended, and they asked the board to approve moving forward with plans for this trip, which is scheduled for next Spring.  Materials were passed out to board members, that gave information on trip specifics as well as funding options available to the kids.  As Mr. Ueberroth mentioned, it is important to us that every child be able to attend this field trip.  With the planned fund raisers and other suggestions, no child should have to be left behind because of finances.  Mrs. Floyd reminded everyone that it would take effort by each 8th grade student to reach their trip funding total, but as long as they got busy and didn't wait until the last minute, it would work out fine.  The Board approved the 8th grade trip to Washington, D.C.

Back in the dark ages, when I was still in school, it was the Seniors in high school who had opportunities to take amazing field trips like this.  What a blessing for our kids today that they have these options available to them!

A short presentation from the F.A.C.T. was given by Mr. Bill Pilliod.  Members of this group are Mr. Pilliod, Larry Herrick, Steve Trudel, Rick Lederman, and Dick Perkins.  During their organizational meeting this past August, FACT examined our 5 yr forecast from May 2010, and discussed district deficit spending beginning in 2011 and our negative fund balance by 2015.  They reviewed per pupil expenditures of our district as well as those of other area districts, and noted our 18% increase over the past 3 years.  They also adopted a mission statement: "Provide our students with the highest quality education at the lowest cost to the taxpayers of the School District." and suggested that the Board adopt a similar mission statement.

Sounds good to me.

Following Mr. Pilliod's presentation, we then moved on to our discussion of the updated 5 yr. forecast which is required to be filed with the state by the end of October.  Treasurer Cheryl Swisher went over the forecast line by line, and our audience was able to follow along by watching the large screen that held the various spreadsheets and formulas involved in the forecast.  Mrs. Swisher reminded everyone that many pieces of this forecast are her "best guess", given the uncertainty of state funding - especially with a gubernatorial election looming on the horizon. 

The good news is that property tax revenues have been coming in better than had been projected.  But with unemployment numbers increasing, our income tax revenue is suffering.  

Although no one mentioned it last night, we also have union negotiations coming up in a few short months.  In this forecast, Mrs. Swisher has included a 1% wage increase for the next five years.  Only time will tell if the district is able to keep this large expense under control.

There was general discussion about various pieces of the forecast, and Mrs. Swisher reminded the Board that we will vote on it at our next regular meeting, scheduled for next Tuesday evening, Oct. 19th.  The 5 yr. forecast must be submitted to the state of Ohio no later than October 30th, although we may revise it at any time it is deemed appropriate, and the state will accept those revisions.

Last on our agenda was an executive session for Employee Employment.  Following that, we were adjourned just before 9 o'clock.