Special board meeting called for Wednesday
In the wake of school violence around the country, Benjamin Logan Schools is examining measures to increase school security, including an option allowed under the recently enacted House Bill 99 that enables boards of educations to choose to have an armed presence in school buildings if certain procedures and requirements are met.
Board members tabled at their regular rescheduled Thursday evening meeting a resolution to consider a volunteer response team in the district.
Instead, the board has called a special meeting for 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 6, at the Benjamin Logan High School auditorium, inviting district residents to attend and provide public comment regarding the possibility of implementing an armed response team in the schools.
Superintendent John Scheu said at the special meeting, there will be a sign up sheet for anyone who would like to speak on the issue.
“Everyone is in agreement that parents should not have to worry about their child coming home safe at the end of the school day. There are different views as how best to make sure this happens,” he said.
“Those individuals who want to address the school board on this topic will have a maximum of 5 minutes to talk, and must sign in on a provided notepad if desiring to speak. Everyone will be expected to be civil and respectful of different opinions.
“Again, we all want the same result — safe schools.”
The district has been consulting with the Logan County Sheriff’s Office on this potential measure, and school resource officer Deputy Matt Robinson and Logan County Sheriff Randy Dodds were in attendance at Thursday’s meeting. At the end of the meeting, members also convened in executive session for the purpose of discussing security measures.
Scheu noted that a number of schools in Shelby County have already implemented an armed response team, consisting of trained staff and administrators.
House Bill 99 was signed into law in mid-June by Gov. Mike DeWine after it passed both the House and the Senate. The law now allows Ohio schools to arm teachers or other individuals who undergo a minimum of 24 hours of training.
Each member of a school defense team would be required to meet the minimum training and have yearly criminal background checks.
Further information about the district’s armed response team proposal are included on Benjamin Logan’s Facebook page as well.
Also during the meeting, members recognized Deputy Robinson, who has served in the district for four years, for completing the Professional School Resource Officer Level through the SRO Accreditation Program, as previously detailed in the Examiner.
He also was acknowledged for completing the advanced school based law enforcement training at OSROA’s Annual Conferences that took place during June at the Kalahari Conference Center in Sandusky.
During the superintendent’s report, Scheu updated the board on summer projects taking place around the district, including the paving and resealing project that is “99 percent” complete, he said.
Two other summer projects also are underway with the help of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds – roof repairs at several of the buildings and a tile flooring project at all three of the school buildings, both of which were previously approved by the board.
Related to the new flooring, members also approved the purchase of cleaning supplies from the Powell Company in an amount not to exceed $42,236.69, for several pieces of equipment that will be used to care for the new tile floors. Federal ESSER funds will be utilized for the purchase.
During the treasurer’s report, Treasurer Jennifer Sudhoff also presented year-end financials and a snapshot overview of the 2021-22 school year. According to this overview, district employees totaled 213 and students totaled 1,669. Building square footage maintained by district custodians, maintenance and grounds staff is 1,172,370, and district grounds cover 273 acres.
Bus routes and food services also were highlighted on the report, including 714 students bussed daily, 34 buses in the district fleet and 1,759 miles logged daily by district buses.
Lunch meals served totaled more than 170,000, along with 117,646 breakfast meals. The 2022 attendance rate was 93.4 percent.
In other action, the board:
• accepted the following resignations: Jeff Amspoker, high school assistant principal, effective July 31; Tabetha Lewis-Slobota, middle school music, effective July 31; Gage Parmer, custodian effective June 1; Larry Parmer, custodian, June 10; Ashlee Phillips, bus Driver, effective July 31;
• approved the following new hires: one-year certified contracts to: Margaret (Maggie) Bowlby- middle school music; and Renae Deardurff, elementary school teacher; and two-year classified contract to: Randi Buffkin, food service;
• extended supplemental contracts to: Ashley Solano, head girls golf; Brooke Smith, technology assistant elementary; and Kelly Gibson, National Honor Society;
• approved the following summer maintenance help at the rate of $12 per hour: Trey Miracle, Ian Scheiderer and Yale Scheiderer
• approved EPC as the property, fleet, and insurance liability provider effective July 1 through June 30, 2023, in the amount of $89,547;
• approved the treasurer’s request to attend the ASBO Conference pursuant to the contract, subject to a maximum reimbursement of $2,500; and
• accepted the following donations: $500 from Chris and Kristy Daniels to the middle school to off set the eighth-grade school fees; $525 from Fines Circle of Kings Daughter to the eighth-grade trip account to help support Camp Willson; $5,500 from Honda for the support of STEM to Bloom, High School Robotics Club, and Elementary Science Fair.
The next regular meeting is 6 p.m. Monday, July 18.