The Tecumseh Local Schools Board of Education (BOE) met in a regular session at 7:00 pm on July 26 in the Arrow Conference Room at Tecumseh High School. Members Mert Christmann and Dan Studebaker were absent. District Superintendent Norm Glismann, Assistant Superintendent Paula Crew, and District Treasurer Debra Schock were present.

Mrs. Karyl Strader from Park Layne Elementary School opened the meeting by presenting the BOE with several reasons the district should move the Kindergarten registration cut-off date up from September 30 to August 1. Under the current policy, children entering Kindergarten must turn five by September 30.

Citing lack of maturity, the third-grade reading guarantee, the higher expectations of Kindergartners, and even the age limit for the schools’ playground equipment, Strader told BOE members that it would be in the best interest of children for them to be a bit older before beginning the rigors of Kindergarten.

According to Strader, if a child starts later it’s easier to sort out what may be causing any academic concerns because maturity becomes less of an issue. She also explains that research has shown that retaining students is actually harmful, so an extra year of maturity can help lessen the possibility that a student would need to be retained.

The BOE will make a decision about changing the Kindergarten registration date by the next BOE meeting in August.

It was reported that the State Department has approved the district’s application for its 2016-17 free and reduced-price lunch policy, which contains guidelines for approving free and reduced-price lunches, reimbursement rates, application guidelines, and income eligibility scales. Copies of the application will be available from the Child Nutrition Office. The Board is required to approve the Free and Reduced-Price Lunch Policy on an annual basis.

BOE members approved the ala cart, catering, breakfast and lunch price lists submitted by the Tecumseh Local Child Nutrition Services for 2016-17 school year.

Glismann reported after some setbacks with the new bus routing software, the school bus routes should be done soon. The software should help make creating the bus routes more efficient in the future.

The BOE approved Glismann’s suggestion that a change be made to how the district handles teachers’ requests to attend special professional meetings and conventions. In the past, the district paid the costs associated with approved, non-mandated events. Glismann recommended that teachers be given a professional day to attend approved events, but at their own cost. District-mandated events will continue to be paid for by the district.

The district approved a five-year beverage contract with Coca-Cola, marking a change from its long-standing contract with Pepsi-Co. Higher estimated income for the district was the main reason for the change.

BOE members also approved a maintenance contract with Waibel Energy. The board accepted a Performance-Based Agreement that includes higher energy savings, tech support, software updates, and equipment maintenance. The contract will be paid from the 034 Maintenance Fund. The fund holds 1.6 million dollars that can only be used for maintenance of buildings used in state building projects.

Changes to the bus fleet were recommended. Crew reported that the oldest bus in the district’s fleet is seventeen years old. The recommended threshold for a school bus fleet is 10 years-old. Busses cost around $85,000 each. In response, the BOE resolved to advertise and receive bids for the purchase of two school buses via a partnership with the Southwestern Ohio Educational Purchasing Council. The Council will advertise and receive bids on the BOE’s behalf for the purchase of two school busses. However, the resolution does not obligate the district to purchase busses.

Glismann reported that the district’s attempt to increase the technology available to students is going well. The district purchased 120 virtual desktops for the middle school during the 2015-2016 school year. The district will also be using Google classroom, which has a lot of resources that will help teachers and cuts costs by saving paper. The district is also saving money by turning old Mac laptops into new Chromebook for around $70.00 each. Using Chromebooks is cheaper for the district versus using Mac.

BOE members voted to enter into a contract with Mumma Auctioneers to conduct an auction of district surplus materials. The auction date has yet to be announced. Mumma Auctioneers will be in charge of advertising.

The school district’s blanket bond through J&R Insurance Agency, agent of Western Surety Company will be renewed. The bond covers district officers or employees who handle or have custody of cash or merchandise. The amount of the bond is $40,000 per position.

Paula Crew was assigned as the district’s Sexual Harassment Grievance Officer for the 2016-2017 school year

Student fees for the elementary and middle schools will remain at $25.00 for the 2016-17 school year.

The financial report was accepted by the BOE. However, BOE member, Corrine Scott raised concerns about when the checks were written versus how they cleared at the bank because the checks were out of order in the register. Schock addressed those concerns to the boards satisfaction.

Crew presented a member of the community who outlined her idea of conducting a “Christmas Card for Veterans” program that students could take part in. She explained she would oversee the project and children would not be required to participate. She had the idea after seeing how the students responded to the district’s Veterans Day program.

At the close of the meeting, concerns were raised by several citizens that the BOE didn’t properly communicate with the public regarding the special meeting it had earlier in July. School safety issues were raised at the meeting, but were absent from the agenda. Sidney BOE President, Bill Ankney, and Clark County Sheriff, Gene Kelly, both presented information at that time. Tecumseh BOE President, Kurt Lewis, said that the meeting was actually a “workshop” and the presenters were added at the last minute. Residents contended that the agenda for that meeting specified it a “special meeting” and that the BOE was in violation of the Sunshine Law by not including the school safety presentations on the agenda for the public to view. Scott mentioned that the meeting date was in the Springfield News-Sun. Lewis apologized for any miscommunication and said the BOE would look into the matter.

Another resident asked BOE members if Ankney and Kelly would be presenting once again since they were not included on the special meeting’s agenda. He also asked if the BOE would keep the school safety issue in open business until the issue is resolved. The BOE agreed to keep the matter open.

Regular Tecumseh BOE meetings take place the fourth Tuesday of every month at 7:00 pm in the Tecumseh High School Arrow Conference Room.