Parents Express Many Concerns About Chaotic Start to School Year
Kenston Board of Education Regular Meeting – September 15, 2025
Meeting Details: The Kenston Board of Education (BOE) Regular Meeting took place on September 15, 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.
9:45 Min Video Opening and Pledge of Allegiance led by Lucy DeFranco, KHS 8th Grade student, and Board Vice President Beth Krause.
Board Attendance: President Tom Manning, Vice President Beth Krause, Dennis Bergansky, and Jim Henry. Jennifer Troutman arrived at 7:10pm due to a traffic delay.
Other Staff in Attendance: Superintendent Bruce R. Willingham, Treasurer Seth Cales, and KHS Principal Tom Gabram.
10:48 Min Regular Meeting Welcome and Roll Call: This meeting is being held in accordance with Section 3313.15 of the Ohio Revised Code.
12:02 Min Approval of the Minutes: The Kenston Board of Education approved that the reading of the minutes be waived, and approved the minutes from the Regular Meeting of August 11, 2025 here, as recorded or corrected.
Commendations - There are no commendations for this meeting.
12:39 Min Informational Items
21:23 Min Superintendent’s Report
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Permanent Improvement list and update on projects:
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Speed bumps were placed on campus roads and more will be installed.
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KHS bathroom urinal dividers were installed.
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KHS volleyball net system was replaced.
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KHS Auditorium floor refinished.
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The first phase of KHS auditorium lighting repairs began.
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The Bomber stadium track underwent resurfacing, which will buy more time before expensive replacement becomes necessary.
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The Pole Vault Pit Landing system received new mats and is awaiting the purchase of a garage to protect the mats for longer usage.
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The new Timmons Elementary playground was completed. The site was also prepared with better drainage and expanded for possible additional playground equipment in the future. This was a big project, and Dr. Willingham gave a shout out to Dave Parker, Director of Buildings and Grounds, for his guidance and support with this project. Board member Jennifer Troutman asked if any PTO money went towards the Timmons playground, and Dr. Willingham advised that there were no PTO funds made available for the playground
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The next project on the list is window screening for all of the schools, which allows students to see out but those outside will be unable to see in. Dr. Willingham advised that the process would begin at Timmons on September 16, 2025.
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27:00-31:54 Min Dr. Willingham presented and summarized a finalized list (2 slides) of the Permanent Improvement (PI) projects both completed and planned along with costs for the 25-26 fiscal year. Since Kenston has only recently acquired a PI fund, Dr. Willingham wanted to clarify for the community how the timing of PI funds and the completion of projects work is handled. Some vendors will work with school districts based on an early “letter of intent” for payment sent by Mr. Cales, but work is often only able to be completed only when the PI monies are released to the district in July of the new fiscal year and can then be paid directly to the vendors. The playground was just such a project that required waiting for the funds to be available in July 2025.
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The district is still awaiting one 83 passenger bus.
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The total projected PI costs for FY 25-26 were approximately $1.9 million and actual costs came in below that at $1,545,663.
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The same process for PI spending and community updates will occur for the next year.
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Dr. Willingham reminded the community of the Sandy Hook Promise program, Start with Hello. Just Say Hello which promotes kindness and reaching out to others to help prevent isolation and loneliness.
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Dr. Willingham reminded the community of the purple Giving Pump at the True North Station, 8501 East Washington Street. The Kenston School District receives 1 cent for each gallon purchased.
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Dr. Willingham reminded all of the League of Women Voters of Geauga’s Candidate Forum on September 24, 2025, at Kenston High School Auditorium. The doors open at 6 pm and the program begins at 6:30 pm. Reviewer Note: More information on all of LWVG’s Candidate Forums is available here.
34:00 Min Hearing of the Public on Agenda Items - There were no speaker requests.
34:10 Min Treasurer’s Report
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Mr. Cales gave a shout out to David Parker and the maintenance department for their work on the new Timmons playground.
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Mr. Cales reminded the community that local funding, or property taxes, makes up almost 80% of Kenston’s budget, and he expressed his concern as to how this funding would be replaced if property taxes were eliminated. He advised the community to look to the Kenston website for forms to send to your legislators advocating for school funding. He commented that, while property taxes are climbing and could use reform, eliminating them would be catastrophic for schools.
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The five-year-forecast dates have been changed by the Department of Education and Workforce (DEW). Mr. Cales advised that it is now more like a three plus-year forecast. While forecast dates have traditionally been in November and May, the new forecast date for this year is October 15, which means the forecast will need to be created with only one month of actual data. Next year, the date will be August 2026. Mr. Cales said to expect to hear about the new “four-year-forecast” at the October 13, 2025 Board meeting.
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PI projects requests will begin to be submitted and organized by December 2025 and then approved by January 2026. This is so that projects can begin as soon as school lets out (for vendors who accept letters of intent) and after July 1st for all other vendors. Mr. Cales believes that this process will proceed even smoother than last year.
39:45 Min Agenda approval items 9-18: As the Board President announced at the beginning of the meeting, these items were reviewed by Board members before the meeting and most were passed quickly and without discussion.
Observer Note: Video times are not noted on the quickly occurring motions and approvals below unless significant changes are mentioned or significant discussions occur.
Financial Items: All items and accompanying documents can be found here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 9.1-9.8 on the agenda. All Approved. Items that may be of interest include but are not limited to:
Certified Personnel Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here for review by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 10.1-10.4 on the agenda. All Approved.
Classified Personnel Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 11.1- 11.7 on the agenda. All Approved.
Supplemental Personnel Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 12.1-12.5 on the agenda. All Approved.
Exempt Personnel Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 13.1-13.4 on the agenda. All Approved.
Business Operations - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 14.1-14.4 on the agenda. All Approved. Items that may be of interest include but are not limited to:
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The Superintendent recommended and the board approved the school bus routes established for the 2025-2026 school year.
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Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent, the Kenston Board of Education approved a contract (here) with Transfinder for Viewfinder software, hardware and services, at an annual cost not to exceed $1,500 with an initial set up and Year 1 cost of $3,000.
Teaching and Learning Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 15.1-15.8 on the agenda. All Approved except 15.8 noted below which does not require Board approval.
Special Education Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 16.1-16.4 on the agenda. All Approved.
New Business Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 18.1-18.4 on the agenda. All Approved. Items that may be of interest include but are not limited to:
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Transportation Reimbursement list. Observer Note: Transportation reimbursement guidelines are available here.
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WHEREAS, the Kenston Local School District Board of Education wishes to advertise and receive bids for the purchase of conventional school bus chassis and bodies. THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED the Kenston Local School District Board of Education wishes to participate and authorizes the Ohio Schools Council to advertise and receive bids on behalf of said Board as per the specifications submitted for the cooperative purchase of conventional school bus chassis and bodies. Approved.
46:05 Min Hearing of The Public on Non-Agenda Items -
There were seven speakers/parents who expressed the following concerns regarding transportation safety:
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Some students are boarding buses as early as 6:18 am and arriving at school at 7:30 am.
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Buses are very full, and some students as old as 7th grade are riding three to a bus seat, “packed on like sardines.” At the same time, high school buses can be half empty.
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Some bus routes are up to 24 miles long, and buses are struggling to get to school on time. Bus rides home are equally as long.
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In a community with few to no sidewalks, many students are being dropped off at a distance from their homes, and often at what are considered to be hazardous locations and roads along the route. One parent mentioned that an asthmatic child has to walk 1.3 miles to their home from a centrally located neighborhood bus stop, and further referenced aspects of the Ohio Administrative Code for School Bus Routes and Stops found here.
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Communications with the transportation and administrative offices have been difficult, with parents expressing concern that calls can go unanswered or, at times, disconnected. Emails have gone unanswered for longer than a week. One parent mentioned communications with an unidentified administrative office that were insufficient, and in one instance, "blatantly rude and disrespectful.”
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One parent expressed concern regarding August 27th, when students as young as 9 and 10 were released earlier than official dismissal time without notification to parents.
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The Stopfinder app is still not working for many parents.
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Many parents mentioned a recent attempted kidnapping at a school bus stop in Strongsville that had led to further alarm about where and when their children are being dropped off.
Additional concerns discussed/expressed by the parents include:
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4th and 5th graders, “elementary students,” are being “shifted to the mindset of middle school kids” with too little outside/playground time. One parent expressed concern that 4th graders were being split between the playground and a blacktop play surface area, and it was his understanding that not all 4th graders thought this division was fair.
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Growing students, especially 4th and 5th graders, are not given enough time for eating lunch and having recess and outdoor time. Many parents further expressed concern about children arriving home hungry because they simply did not have enough time to stand in a lunch line and then eat.
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4th graders took a field trip to the Geauga County Fair, and some parents expressed concern that they were notified too late with too little information about safety protocols and student-teacher ratios while at the fair.
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Concern was expressed about how the KMS building, already at its highest capacity, will handle a possible influx of students from the new Geauga Lake housing development. One parent asked if the KIS building is truly unsafe to occupy, why are the Board offices still there and why is Kenston summer camp still held there?
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One parent said that there was no Meet the Teacher at KMS this year, leaving no scheduled opportunity for parents to leave student medications with the appropriate personnel. Another parent noted that there were no 4th grade teachers at the 4th grade open house. Observer Note: Both a “Meet The Teacher” and a “4th grade Open House” were named by parents. Reviewer Note: There was no Meet the Teacher event for middle school students this year; in past years, fourth and fifth graders were able to attend a Meet the Teacher event before the school year started. However, this year there was a building walk through event at KMS on August 7 (before the school year started) for all KMS students to familiarize themselves with the building and location of their classes. Teachers were not present for the walk through. The KMS Open House was held after the school year began on August 21 for grades 4-7. This reviewer has confirmed that fourth grade teachers did attend the KMS Open House. It seems likely that the parents’ comments are all referring to the KMS walk through event on August 7 and not the Open House held on August 21.
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KMS has no consistent messaging across the school about food allergies, leaving individual teachers to set policies and putting students at greater risk.
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One parent expressed concern that Math and ELA time are too dominant in the school day, in comparison to other classes, and foreign languages were removed from the curriculum at KMS. Both circumstances lead this parent to be concerned that there is too much focus on developing “state test takers” rather than “young leaders.”
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The start time for KMS (7:38 am) is believed to be too early for 9 and 10 year olds.
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Noted poison ivy near the Timmons playground.
1:16.07 Min A motion to enter into Executive Session to discuss the employment and compensation of a public employee was made and approved. Under Ohio Law, the Board may hold Executive Sessions to discuss personnel matters, litigations, purchase of property, negotiations, matters required to be kept confidential by federal law or state statutes, and details of security arrangements. Executive Sessions are used for discussion only, no board action can be voted on in Executive Session. Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22 defines the Sunshine Law and matters for Executive Session.
Board President Tom Manning advised that there would be no action taken after the executive session. The active video ended at 1:16.25 min.
Next regular meeting: October 13, 2025 at 7:00 pm.
More information here: Board of Education | Kenston Local Schools
Video Observer: Jacqueline Berger
Editor: Rooney Moy
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: September 27, 2025
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