Last Kenston BOE Meeting for Bergansky and Troutman Ends with Controversy
Kenston Board of Education Regular Meeting – December 15, 2025
Meeting Details: The Kenston Board of Education (BOE) Regular Meeting took place on December 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.
7:29 Min Video Opening
Pledge of Allegiance led by William Radefeld, KHS (Kenston High School) 12th Grade student, and Mr. Bergansky
8:25 Min Regular Meeting Welcome and Roll Call: This meeting is being held in accordance with Section 3313.15 of the Ohio Revised Code.
Board Attendance: President Tom Manning, Vice President Beth Krause, Dennis Bergansky, Jim Henry, and Jennifer Troutman.
Other Staff in Attendance: Superintendent Bruce R. Willingham, Treasurer Seth Cales
9:25 Min Approval of the Minutes: The Kenston Board of Education approved that the reading of the minutes be waived, and approved the minutes from both the Regular Meeting of November 10, 2025 (available here) and the special meeting on November 24, 2025 (available here) as recorded or corrected. Two votes were required, as Mrs. Troutman and Mr. Bergansky were not present at the November 24, 2025 meeting.
10:50 Min Informational Items
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Kenston Organizational Update:
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Special Presentation by KHS Varsity Jazz
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14:35 Min Musical Arts Association of Kenston (MAAK) - Suzanne Taber, President, accompanied by a slide presentation.
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Kenston Building and Departments Update:
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25:25 Min Kenston Athletics Fall Sports Recap by Reid Guarnieri, Athletic Director, accompanied by a slide presentation.
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37:30 Min KHS Building Update by Matt Watts, Assistant Principal, accompanied by a slide presentation with goals, outcomes, and action steps identified.
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50:23 Min Kenston Legislative Update: Both Mrs. Krause and Dr. Willingham advised that they were doing their best to “keep an eye on the changing landscape with property taxes.”
53:20 Min Superintendent’s Report with an accompanying slide presentation.
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Dr. Willingham discussed the upcoming list of Permanent Improvement (PI) projects planned for Kenston. He reminded the Board that PI funds will not be released until July 1st of the upcoming year, so while plans can be made and approved earlier, not all projects can be initiated. Mr. Cales will offer “promissory notes” to a number of contractors, some of whom will accept them, but many projects must wait on hold until funds are in hand. The total projected cost for the year’s PI projects is $1,283,400.
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Dr. Willingham recognized Mr. Bergansky and Mrs. Troutman and thanked them for their service to the school board. Reviewer Note: This was the last Board meeting for both Mr. Bergansky and Mrs. Troutman as they did not win reelection.
1:02.30 Min Treasurer’s Report -
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Mr. Cales spoke about the Piggyback Tax Exemption and the Geauga County Commissioners’ decision, after discussion and community feedback, not to adopt this exemption. Reviewer Note: See the LWV Geauga Observer Report on the November 18, 2025 County Commissioners Meeting for more information. Mr. Cales advised that this exemption would have cost Kenston approximately $900,000 annually.
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Mr. Cales spoke about the careful process to select PI projects and solicit quotes so that the money is spent wisely and in a transparent way.
1:12 Min Hearing of the Public on Agenda Items - There were no speaker requests.
1:12.08 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.
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Financial Items - All items and accompanying documents can be found here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 9.1-9.7 on the agenda. All Approved.
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Certified Personnel Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here for review by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 10.1 on the agenda. All Approved.
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Classified Personnel Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 11.1- 11.6 on the agenda. All Approved.
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Supplemental Personnel Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 12.1-12.6 on the agenda. Approved, with the motion carried 3-2.
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Mr. Bergansky questioned supplemental payments and noted that he believed them to be “pension padding.” He was a no vote.
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Mrs. Troutman asked how many step levels there are in supplemental incomes. Mr. Cales advised that there are 1-37 Step levels contractually. She was a no vote.
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Exempt Personnel Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 13.1 on the agenda. All Approved.
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Business Operations - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 14.1-14.6 on the agenda. All Approved. Items of interest include but are not limited to:
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Teaching and Learning Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 15.1 on the agenda. All Approved. Items of interest include but are not limited to:
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New Business Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 18.1-18.8 on the agenda. 18.1 and then 18.2-18.7 voted separately. All Approved. Items that may be of interest include but are not limited to:
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Beth Krause moved and Jim Henry seconded the appointment of Tom Manning as President Pro Tempore for the 2026 Organizational Meeting of the Kenston Board of Education to be held on January 12, 2026.
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18.2 Four revised and one new board policy recommended for approval.
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Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent, the Kenston Board of Education approved an Agreement for Middle School Electives Funding with the Board of the Auburn Career Center for the 2025-26 school year.
1:19.45 Min Hearing of The Public on Non-Agenda Items
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Neysa Gaskins, community member and former Board member, recognized Jennifer Troutman and Dennis Bergansky for their service on the Kenston Board of Education.
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Sanchez Starks, community member and parent, expressed his concern that, in his experience with the district, benchmark assessments, such as i-Ready and Dibels, are sometimes used simply as report card compliance tools, and not as best practice would indicate, which is to inform and ensure appropriate instructional changes are made that would lead to measurable skill acquisition.
1:29:28 Min Mrs. Troutman requested that she and Mr. Bergansky be allowed to say a few things before adjournment. Mr. Bergansky stood to speak first, stating that he wanted to clarify some events over the last three years. Reviewer Note: Please see the video for Mr. Bergansky’s comments, or read this Geauga Times Courier article, which may be behind a paywall for some users.
Mr. Bergansky’s commentary continued, including the mention of a past board investigation. Mr. Manning then advised that Mr. Bergansky’s topic didn’t belong in a Board meeting. Mr. Manning advised that this discussion belonged in a work session. Mr. Bergansky stated that the Board doesn’t have work sessions anymore.
Mr. Manning allowed Mr. Bergansky to continue, but eventually expressed concern that the conversation was about “airing grievances” and Mr. Bergansky stated that they were not grievances because they were true. He then advised that he would come to the next Board meeting as a member of the public to speak on these things. Mr. Manning concurred that this was appropriate, and apologized for needing to curtail his talk.
Mr. Bergansky began again, and a back and forth conversation ensued among Mrs. Troutman, Mr. Bergansky and Mr. Manning. Mr. Manning expressed his concern about the appropriateness of what appeared to be an “open editorial” on other Board members. Mr. Bergansky continued to speak and read his speech over this back and forth. When Mr. Manning stated that the meeting should be adjourned rather than continued in this unprofessional manner, Mrs. Troutman expressed anger over their comments being censored, and Mr. Manning stated that he was following the Ohio School Board Association ethics rules regarding how a school board meeting should be run. He then offered time to Mrs. Troutman to speak and express her thanks to the community. Mrs. Troutman expressed her anger over how she felt she and Mr. Bergansky were treated. She went on to state, “This is why this Board is so dysfunctional, and I am very grateful that I am not on it (the Board) any more. So, I would like to thank the administrators because they did actually treat us professionally." Mrs. Troutman then made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
1:34.32 Min - A motion to adjourn was made and approved at 8:48pm. The active video ended at 1:34.57 min.
Next regular meeting: January 12, 2026. The organizational meeting will begin at 6:30 pm with the regular meeting to follow 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: December 17, 2025
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