Numerous Improvements Completed On Time,
Including Park Elementary Security Vestibule
Chardon Board of Education Regular Meeting – August 18, 2025
Meeting Details: The meeting was held at 5:30 pm 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. The board meeting video is also available at a new updated site here. Agenda items are listed according to the time that they were discussed on the video.
:25 Min ROLL CALL AND WELCOME - Meeting was called to order. It was stated that this meeting is being held in accordance with Section 3313.16 of the Ohio Revised Code.
Attendance: Board President Karen Blankenship, Vice President Andrea Clark, Todd Albright, James Midyette and C.J. Paterniti.
Staff Attendance: Superintendent Dr. Michael Hanlon and Treasurer Deb Armbruster
Others in Attendance: Assistant Superintendent of Business Affairs Steve Kofol
2:01 Min Adoption of the Agenda - Approved.
The Board Presiding Officer and student leader Lena Molnar, a Chardon Middle School 5th grade student, lead the meeting in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mission Statement - Read by Dr. Hanlon.
3:40 Min Hearing of the Public- Agenda Items Only - No speaker requests.
3:47 Min Consent Agenda - The board considered seven items on the consent agenda, including the Minutes from the Regular Meeting of July 21,2025 All approved. All of these items, 3.1-3.8 and associated documents/contracts can be found here, then selecting the meeting tab, date, agenda and number 3 on the agenda. Highlights from the consent agenda include but are not limited to:
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Minutes of the regular Meeting of July 21, 2025, available here
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Two 412 certificates Reviewer Note: 412 Certificates are explained here on page 2.
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Warrant List
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Personnel and Compensation related items.
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Student Services agreements (2)
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Curriculum Agreement.
5:01 Min Introduction of Student Liaisons for the 2025-2026 School Year
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The Student Liaisons for the 2025-26 School Year will be:
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T.J. Adair
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Haidyn Bunker
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Aubrey Fetchik
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Jordyn Fisher
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Henry Sweet
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Walter Sweet
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The first Student Liaison Slide Presentation can be found here. Two students, Jordyn Fisher and T.J. Adair, were present to introduce themselves and the others’ bios on the slides.
9:13 Min Superintendent Report and Recommendations. Items and associated documents for 5.1-5.10 can be found here, select meetings, date, and number 5 on the agenda. All items/recommendations were approved unless noted otherwise. Highlights from the Superintendent’s Report and Recommendations include but are NOT limited to:
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A PDF of the Superintendent's report is available here. A link to the Chardon Schools Capital Improvements Weekly Progress Report is also contained within this report. Below is a summary of the various projects:
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Transportation Business Affairs work is focusing on Building A (new Chardon Transportation Center) at this time.
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Park Elementary School’s Security Vestibule opened on time.
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Park Masonry Phase I completed on time.
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Munson Masonry Restoration completed on time.
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The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, Office of Nutrition completed the Administrative Review of Chardon Local SD. The review of Chardon Local SD’s compliance with federal and state regulations focused on the school meal programs.
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Dr. Hanlon gave a shout out to the Maintenance Department and Transportation Department for their work in preparing schools and transporting students and thanked the faculty and building staff for all the preparations to greet students on Wednesday resulting in a smooth opening to the school year.
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School opened this year with the new legislative restriction on cell phone use by students in effect. Cell phones are restricted during instructional time.
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Pursuant to Board of Education Policy 0165.1,E, the Superintendent made a recommendation to the Board of Education to approve Resolution 2025-19: Approving Amendments to the Employment Contracts of District Administrators. See here for all amendments to district administrators’ contracts.
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Pursuant to Board of Education Policy 0165.1,E, the Superintendent made a recommendation to the Board of Education to approve Resolution 2025-20: Approving Bus Stops for the 2025-26 school year. See 5.4 for list of bus stops.
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Pursuant to Board of Education Policy 0165.1,E, the Superintendent made a recommendation to the Board of Education to approve the updated Student Success and Wellness Plan.
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Pursuant to Board of Education Policy 0165.1,E, the Superintendent made recommendation to the Board of Education to approve the attached Subrecipient Agreement Between Geauga County Board of Commissioners and Chardon Local Schools Board of Education.
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Dr. Hanlon gave a shout out to treasurer Deb Armbruster and Assistant Superintendent Steve Kofol, who worked through a 3 year process to make sure that all necessary submissions were complete to receive this approximately $430,000 grant towards the Transportation facility. The grant was administered through the Geauga County Commissioners in teamwork with the Geauga County Commissioners’ staff and is given for the rehabilitation of properties.
Observer Note: The video experienced a few off and on noise disturbance during the last part of the Superintendent's recommendations, making it difficult to hear discussion at certain points.
24:30 Min Chief Financial Officer’s Report and Recommendations. Associated documents for 6.1-6.3 can be found here, then select meetings, date, and number 5 on the agenda. All approved unless otherwise noted. Some highlights of the presentation include but are not limited to:
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Link to Ohio Checkbook (Overview of Spending by CLSD) here. Per Ohio.gov, “The Ohio Checkbook offers a way to see how state money is spent and where revenue is generated and allocated in the state budget. This interactive tool provides real-time financial and transactional data maintained in the state's accounting system.” Reviewer Note: This is a great resource for school districts and other local entities.
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Link to the July 2025 Financial Summary here. Details include, but are not limited to:
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Total cash balance is $36,097,953.76
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Revenue is trending $377,704 favorable compared to forecast
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Expenditure trend is $8 favorable to forecast.
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Net potential trend is $377,711 favorable impact on cash balance. Slides 5-6 in the presentation details the reasons for the balance.
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Actual revenue for the month of July 2025 was to $14,366,380. This is up $3,773,920 compared to last year.
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Actual expenses for July 2025 were $2,966,570, up $378,309 compared to last year.
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Permanent Improvement Revenue for July 2025 is $965,768. Permanent Improvement expenditures for July 2025 are $794,280.
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Self Insurance Fund reserve/ending cash balance is $1, 866,769.
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34:00 Min The BOE watched the July 2025 AI Financial Health Check-Up of Financial Summary. The link can be found here. This AI report is about 7 minutes long and provides an easy to understand positive verbal summary of the information from the July 2025 financial report.
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Donations
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Equipment disposals here.
43:23 Min Board of Education Report and Recommendations-Associated documents and presentation slides for 7.1-7.2 can be found here, then select meetings, date, and number 5 on the agenda. The Board of Education slide presentation can be found here.
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Auburn Career Center (ACC)- Mr. Albright reported that the new superintendent, Dr. Joe Glavan, has “hit the ground running.” He advised that Dr. Glavan has managed to settle the years of litigation between ACC and CATA (Career and Technical Association- teachers’ union). Reviewer Note: The role of Dr. Glavan in settling this lawsuit is unknown, but the Geauga Maple Leaf reported the settlement. Details can be found here.
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Mr. Albright advised that Angel Santiago, an Allied Health Technology student from Auburn Career Center and Painesville City Local Schools, was the 2025 National SkillsUSA Medical Math champion. She was awarded the gold medal at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in June 2025.
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Student, Staff and Liaison Report (some slides above)- Mr. Midyette welcomed Hilltoppers back to school and welcomed new staffers to the district. He advised that athletics are underway. Chardon Schools is now offering a high school job training elective course. This course offers students real world work experiences, skill development and support for employment after graduation. The students in this course now spend their first week at Heinen’s learning about packaging.
48:02 Min New Business - There is no new business.
48:28 Min Hearing of the Public on Non-Agenda Items
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Parent Kristin (surname not discernible in video), the Mom of a 4th grade student, shared with the BOE her concern about school communications after an error was made by the transportation department. She said she initially made several attempts to communicate to transportation that there was an error on the bus ride app. Ultimately, during the first week of school, she was advised by the staff that her daughter was dropped off at Chardon Park Estates instead of Just For Kids Daycare Center where she was supposed to be delivered. The parent rushed home to find that her child was not in fact at home. She advised the transportation department that her child was missing. The child remained missing for 1 hour and 15 minutes and a police report was filed. Mom expressed concern that during this time, the transportation staff provided information with many discrepancies to her and to the police department as to where her daughter was to be found. The Mom felt devastated and fearful until the child was located, and she believes this to be negligence on the part of the transportation staff.
52:16 Min Mrs. Blankenship’s call for a motion to adjourn was approved and the meeting video ended at 52:34 Minutes. The time was not announced, and this Observer attended virtually.
Board agendas and minutes are available online.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for September 15, 2025 for at 5:30 pm.
Virtual Observer: Jacqueline Berger
Editor: Gail Roussey
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date submitted: 8/26/25
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