2025-2027 Calendars Introduced for Public Comment Before Final Approval at December Meeting
Chardon Board of Education – October 21, 2024
Meeting Details: Meetings are held at the Chardon Board of Education building adjacent to the Chardon Middle School at 428 North Street, Chardon. Here is the link to the available Meeting Agendas and Minutes. Click on the meetings tab on the right to access the Agendas and Minutes. Board meeting videos are also available through Chardon Geauga TV (GTV). Topics discussed will be noted by the time that they appear in the GTV video for easy reference.
Roll Call Attendance: Board President Karen Blankenship, Board Members Andrea Clark, Todd Albright, James Midyette, and C.J. Paterniti
Staff Attendance: Superintendent Dr. Michael Hanlon and Treasurer Deb Armbruster
2:17 Min Adoption of Agenda - Approved
2:45 Min The Pledge of Allegiance was led by brothers Peter Ward, Chardon Middle School student, Walter Ward and Arthur Ward, Park Elementary School students.
4:55 Min Mission Statement - Read by Dr. Hanlon
5:04 Min Public Hearing Regarding Proposed Academic Calendars 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 Pursuant to R.C. 3313.48, as outlined in the attachment, the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 calendars are presented for public hearing with intent to recommend adoption at the regular Board of Education meeting on December 16, 2024. An opportunity for public comment is included as a part of this agenda item with the same provisions governing public participation on agenda items. Calendars and ORC 3313.48 are available here then selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 2.1 on the agenda. Approval of these calendars will not occur prior to 30 days after the public hearing, allowing for public comment.
6:00 Min Hearing of the Public on Agenda Items: No public comments.
Observer Note: In order to comment at Chardon Board of Education meetings, members of the public must sign up to do so before the meeting starts. There are two opportunities for public comment. The first one is on Agenda items, and the second one is not restricted to the Agenda.
6:10 Min Consent Agenda:
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Approval of Minutes 9-16-2024 - Approved
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All other Consent agenda items approved and details of those items or contracts are available here, then selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 4.1-4.9 on the agenda.
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Medical Mutual Renewal
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College Credit Plus Agreement
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Student Teaching Agreement
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Perry School Contract for Swim Meets
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Interagency agreement between Willoughby Eastlake and Chardon Local Schools
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Interdistrict Contract between Berkshire and Chardon Local Schools
9:13 Min Chardon High School (CHS) Monthly Student Liaison Report
13:00 Min Superintendent’s Report (with Visual Presentation at 13:15 Min) and Recommendations
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September 11 was the third State of the Schools Presentation in partnership with the Chardon Area Board of Commerce. It was well attended. There were tabletop centers for visitors to interact with and a presentation about the district.
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Capital Improvements at Washington Street (multi-use project including bus transportation) continue. Dr. Hanlon advised that the goal is to get asphalt installed before the asphalt plants close for the winter season. See Chardon Local Schools news brief here for more information about the purchase and planned use by the district of this property.
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The Chardon District has been self-insured with Medical Mutual as the Plan administrator, and Dr. Hanlon sees this as a success story because Chardon’s plan is experiencing lower rate increases than some other plans are experiencing.
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Calendars (from Consent Agenda) will be presented again for Board approval at the December 2024 meeting.
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Three presentations on the BOE agenda this evening.
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Jill Makee, Principal of Park Elementary (with a visual presentation here) spoke about the smooth start to the school year, and the wonderful staff and students of the school. She explained that she believes that teamwork is what makes Park Elementary “amazing.” There is a new and improved dismissal process for car riders. Recess is now before lunch, which Ms. Makee said improves wellness, food consumption, and behavior. All grades will implement a standards based report card. Ms. Makee also advised that she herself is doing Sources of Strength lessons in the elementary classrooms. Observer Note: Sources of Strength is a “national wellness program designed to help prevent suicide, substance misuse, bullying, and violence,” and further information about the program is on the school’s website here. Park Elementary School was awarded a Go Green Grant from Geauga Trumbull Solid Waste Management. Ms. Makee also summarized many academic achievements, learning support structures, professional learning activities, and positive activities with PTO.
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31:15 Min Superintendent Dr. Hanlon presented the 2025 Student Enrollment Analysis Report here and 2025 Student Enrollment Projection Report here. Dr. Hanlon advised that there is a steady decline in enrollment in the district, which is consistent with what is happening across the state. He discussed the projections with a visual report.
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Dr. Edward Klein, Asst. Superintendent, presented an overview of the 2024 Ohio State Report card. See document here.
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Observer Note: Sound quality is poor; however, the video presentation, which is helpful for general understanding, begins at 51:17 Min. Sound quality improves briefly at 1:00.
1:07:17 Min Administrative, Certified/Licensed, Classified, Supplemental, and Non-Contractual Personnel and Compensation - All Approved
1:07:55 Min Report and Recommendations of the Board Sub-Committee concerning District-Owned Properties. Approved document here.
1:10:19 Min Agreement with Chase Bank to accept MasterCard, Visa, and Discover payments for NON-FEE Items. Approved
1:11:30 Min Declaring Transportation Impractical for the 2024-25 school year for the additional students as outlined. Approved.
1:13:15 Min Chardon Middle School overnight field trip to Camp Whitewood in Windsor, OH from 5/8/2025-5/9/2025. Approved
1:18:07 Min Treasurer Report/ CFO (Chief Financial Officer) Report and Recommendations, Donations here, and Equipment Disposal here. All approved.
Treasurer Armbruster also gave a report on Levy History in the context of Ohio House Bill 920, which protects voters from tax increases due to inflation. Tax rates are reduced when property values rise to ensure that the revenue the district receives is within range of what the voters approved. Dr. Hanlon advised that despite the new property valuation increases and resulting tax collection increases, taxpayers did receive money back from the district through last year and this year’s reduction in pay-to-play fees that was close to or above the increase that the district was projected to receive.
Observer Note: The sound quality in this video is still very poor at this point so little summary is being offered. A link to the September Financial Report can be found in the Agenda and also here. There is also a two-person podcast, created with the assistance of AI (as per Ms. Armbruster), that gives a summary of the financial report here.
1:47:53 Min Board of Education Reports and Recommendations
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Board of Education Report here.
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OSBA Legislation Tracker here.
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OSBA Facts in A Flash here.
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Auburn Career Center Report by Todd Albright
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Contract negotiations are complete and both sides of the table see this as a victory.
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The adult education program is growing rapidly due to an increased demand for the skilled trades, and it requires more resources to maintain.
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Renovations are on schedule.
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Auburn Career Center will be adding boarddocs to their technology.
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Student & Staff Liaison Report by James Midyette
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Two 7th grade teachers were selected to present at the OCTM (Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics) 74th Annual State Conference. They used a Cleveland Guardians theme to teach statistics.
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Chardon High School students visited local leaders at Chardon City Hall and the Police Department.
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Munson and Park Elementary students were visited by donkeys as part of their learning about how people around the world receive their books. First grade students were reading Waiting for the Biblioburro, which tells the story of how children in the remote villages of Columbia receive library books to read. These same students were also visited by the Geauga County mobile library.
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Chardon Schools hosted an acclaimed New York a capella band, Backtrack Vocals, on October 2nd.
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Chardon High School Counselors introduced groups of students to two 4Es Pathways: Enrollment and Employment. Reviewer Note: Chardon’s 4Es program focuses on readiness for four potential future endeavors: Employment, Enrollment, Enlistment and Entrepreneurship. They took field trips to Kent State University for a career fair and to the Lake County Think Manufacturing Expo.
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Ohio Academy of Science recently awarded Chardon Middle School and nine staff members with the Governor’s Thomas Edison Award for accomplishments during the 2023-2024 school year.
1:56:37 Min New Business - None
1:56:44 Min Hearing of the Public on Non-Agenda Items - None
1:56:99 Min Motion that the Board of Education of the Chardon Local School District ADJOURN to Executive Session for the purpose(s) of: The appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of an employee or official, or the investigation of charges or complaints against an employee, official, licensee or regulated individual, unless the employee official, licensee, or regulated individual requests a public hearing.
Board President Karen Blankenship advised that there would be no action taken as a result of the executive session.
The motion was approved and the meeting/video ended at approximately 8:30 pm (based on the clock on the wall visible in the video).
Board agendas and minutes are available online.
Next regular meeting is scheduled for November 18, 2024.
Observer: Jacqueline Berger
Editor: Sarah McGlone
Reviewer: Gail Roussey
Date submitted: 11/02/2024
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