Superintendent Willingham Expresses Concern Over Insufficient Public School Funding in State’s 2026-2027 Budget
Kenston Board of Education Regular Meeting – March 10, 2025
Meeting Details: The Kenston Board of Education (BOE) regular meeting took place on March 10, 2025, at 7:00 pm. The full video of the meeting is posted on the Kenston Website page here and on Kenston’s YouTube page here. View the agenda online and any attached documents here by selecting the meeting tab, the meeting date, and the agenda.
9:15 Min Call to order by President Tom Manning at 7 pm.
Board Attendance: President Tom Manning, Vice President Beth Krause, Ph.D., Jennifer Troutman, J.D., Dennis Bergansky (arrived later at 24 minutes in the video).
Absent: Jim Henry
Staff in Attendance: Superintendent Bruce R. Willingham Jr., Ed.D., Treasurer Seth Cales, KHS Principal Tom Gabram, KMS Principal Adam Fender, Director of Technology John Molnar, Maintenance Supervisor Stan Redd.
Pledge of Allegiance: Led by Thea Ness, KHS 8th grade student, and Mr. Manning.
10 Min Regular Meeting Welcome and Roll Call: This meeting is being held in accordance with Section 3313.15 of the Ohio Revised Code.
11:03 Min Approval of the Minutes: The Kenston Board of Education approved that the reading of the minutes be waived, and approved the minutes of the Organizational and the Regular Meeting of February 10, 2025 as recorded or corrected. The minutes of this meeting can be found here.
11:44 Min Commendations
Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent, the Kenston Board of Education approved the following commendations:
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Sofia Macias, KHS 10th Grade student, won all around in the Girls Gymnastics OHSAA (Ohio High School Athletic Association) State Tournament.
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Arden Keller, KMS 6th Grade student, won 1st Place in the Poetry of Place Writing Contest for Grades 6-8, and his work will be published online on the KSU National Writing Project's website. Arden reads the poem at 15:58 minutes in the video.
19:25 Min Informational Items
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In recognition of Dr. Krause’s upcoming birthday, a book titled The Brothers Hawthorne by Jennifer Lynn Barnes was presented to Dr. Beth Krause by Dr. Willingham.
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Kenston Building Update presented by Adam Fender, Principal of Kenston Middle School, with accompanying slides beginning at 22:00 in the video. Principal Fender discussed both school goals and his personal goals in this presentation. Highlights include:
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KMS has added a second assistant principal to their staff, Holly Botos, who is new to administration.
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The primary goal of KMS is to create a safe and comfortable environment that is conducive to student learning.
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Other KMS school goals are focused on literacy and preparing the school for the Science of Reading state mandates which are designed to improve reading instruction. The fourth and fifth grade ELA (English Language Arts) team is transitioning to the CKLA (Core Knowledge Language Arts) program, a reading program grounded in the Science of Reading.
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No New Instruction (NNI) periods have been implemented at the middle school allowing for teachers to effectively group and create MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) to target instructional support for students’ strengths and challenges in ELA and Math.
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Fourth/Fifth and Sixth/Seventh grades are currently on two schedules. The school is working towards having all grades on the same schedule.
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Kenston Organizational Update, presented by Suzanne Tabor, President of the Musical Arts Association at Kenston (MAAK), with accompanying slides beginning at 32:08. Highlights include:
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MAAK is the booster group for bands, choir, and dance groups in grades 8-12.
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MAAK is now using a platform app called Givebutter to more easily receive monetary donations and create a user friendly portal for their annual poinsettia sale.
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Their main source of revenue is concessions at stadium home games. This requires approximately 600 hours for volunteers, not including shopping, stocking, etc.
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MAAK sold Chick Fil A sandwiches for the first time this year and they were very popular.
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26% of students in grades 8-12 are involved in the musical arts. This number does not include musical theater which has their own support group.
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Some examples of MAAK fund expenditures are listed at 37:36 in the video. Some big expenditures were homestand concessions renovation, a trailer purchase, and the purchase of three oboes.
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Watch snippets of student Isabella Douville’s short video presentation about the Musical Arts in the district, titled Under the Lights, beginning at 41:05 in the video.
Board members expressed gratitude to MAAK for all of the work they do to benefit Kenston’s musical arts programs.
44:45 Min Legislative Update- Dr. Krause referred the board to the Superintendent’s update regarding the Ohio Budget Bill and future educational funding. She asked the community to remind their legislators of the importance of public education.
45:55 Min Superintendent’s Report, accompanied by slides. Highlights include:
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Dr. Willingham is looking to staff to advise on future Professional Development (PD) wishes and plans to mesh those with professional building goals for future PD.
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Dr. Knight was at the last professional development session to give and receive feedback. “See Something, Say Something” was discussed in terms of its meaning and importance for staff participation along with student participation.
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Dr. Willingham discussed the roll out and participation numbers so far for the STOPit! app. About 339 people have signed on so far, and staff is working to adapt and respond to the increased flow of information. Dr. Willingham reminded all that the initial influx of students trying out the app and testing its anonymity would be challenging. STOPit! is preloaded on all student’s chromebooks.
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Dr. Willingham expressed concern about the state budget moving through the Ohio Assembly. He advised that the Fair School Funding Plan is still based on FY 2022 as the school approaches planning for FY 2027 this summer. He expressed concern and the feeling that public schools are under attack in a number of ways. Vouchers are increasing exponentially, and he noted that data indicates that the majority of Kenston district families getting vouchers for private schools are not impoverished “by any stretch of the imagination” and most of these students have always been attending private schools. This is happening statewide and the money is following the students away from public schools.
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Staffing and rightsizing is still a work in progress, especially with the high school. Dr. Willingham advised that the district is working to avoid deficit spending without layoffs or RIFs (reductions in force.
59:30 Min. Hearing of the Public on Agenda Items - None
59:40 Min Treasurer’s Report accompanied by slide presentation beginning at 59:52 in the video. Highlights include:
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Year-to-date (YTD) revenues are $3,078,155 higher compared to the previous year. This is largely due to the timing of revenues for this year.
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YTD expenditures are $213,602 higher than last year at this time.
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Cash balance is $1,954,352 higher than the previous year.
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Actual/Estimate trend through June 30th 2025 compared to the November 2024 forecast: The district revenue is trending $330,437 favorably to forecast, district expenditure is trending $197,830 favorable to forecast, and net potential cash balance impact is trending $528,267 up. Mr. Cales said that this is because they now have another revenue stream with the PI Levy passage that allows the General Fund to trend a little higher since money does not need to be transferred to the PI fund. Key summary slide for these numbers at 1:07.49.
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June 30 actual ending cash balance for the previous fiscal year was $8,338,004. June 30 estimated ending cash balance for current FY is $9,121,092.
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February revenue collections were up approximately $2.5 million up from prior year at this time. This is due directly to timing. YTD revenues were approximately $3 million higher than the previous fiscal year.
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February expenditures were down $180,867 from prior year at this time. YTD expenditures are $213,602 higher than the previous fiscal year.
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Revenue analysis of forecast versus projected revenues is trending favorably at $330,437.
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Expenditure analysis of forecast versus projected expenditures is trending at $197,830.
1:13.40 Min
Financial Items - These are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 9.1-9.7 on the agenda. All Approved.
Certified Personnel Items - These items are available here for review by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 10.1-10.3 on the agenda. All Approved.
Classified Personnel Items - These items are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 11.1-11.4 on the agenda. All Approved.
Supplemental Personnel Items - These items are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 12.1-12.3 on the agenda. All Approved.
Exempt Personnel Items - These items are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 13.1-13.2 on the agenda. All Approved.
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Stan Redd, Maintenance Supervisor, is retiring. Mr. Redd was present at the meeting and Board members were full of praise for him. Mr. Redd received a call during the meeting and left shortly after this approval to handle a maintenance situation at Timmons Elementary.
Business Operations - These items are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 14.1-14.2 on the agenda. Approved.
Teaching and Learning - None
Special Education Items - These items are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 16.1 on the agenda. Approved.
1:18.45 Min Hearing of The Public on Non-Agenda Items
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Kenston High School senior, Emily, spoke to the 25-26 Program of Studies approved for next year, in which the class, known as CEC, Creating Exceptional Character, is being eliminated. Emily explained that this class is designed to bridge the sphere of regular education students and special education students. As part of this class, regular education students work with special education students on problems ranging from math homework to social skills, such as navigating friendships. Emily expresses concern that eliminating this class is detrimental both to special education students who are already frequently socially isolated, and to regular education students who benefit as well from the interaction. Emily expressed comprehension of the budget constraints of the district, but requested that the Board also consider the greater good of the social impacts that this small class provides.
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Three high school students, Devon, VP Class of 2026, Kate, Secretary Class of 2027, and Shannon, a current student in the CEC class, spoke in support of maintaining the CEC class in the Program of Studies. According to them, the class was inspired by an early interview with special education students who said that they felt “invisible” in the school. Two of the above students explained that their experiences in this class allowed them to communicate with special education students as peers, rather than as someone in authority. All three students individually expressed their belief that the CEC class provides benefits all around, with greater academic and social support for special education students, and important lessons and experience for general education students.
There was some following discussion among the Board members. Mrs. Troutman suggested that the schools revisit a structured peer buddies club system in the middle school if keeping the class is not viable. Principal Fender advised that this used to be an option instead of a study hall, but there are no study halls in today’s middle school program. Dr. Willingham advised that he has been in conversation with Dr. Poe about this and will update the Board when he has new information.
1:35.23 Motion to adjourn was approved and the meeting was adjourned by Mr. Manning at approximately 8:40 pm (time called not entirely discernible). Video ended at 1:35.42.
Next special meeting: March 18, 2025 at 6:15 pm
Next regular meeting: April 14, 2025 at 7 pm
More information here: Board of Education | Kenston Local Schools
Video Observer: Jacqueline Berger
Editor: Sarah McGlone
Reviewer: Carol Benton
Date Submitted: 3/16/2025
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