New Assistant Principals Hired for Kenston High School & Timmons Elementary School
Kenston Board of Education Regular Meeting – May 11, 2026
Meeting Details: The Kenston Board of Education (BOE) Regular Meeting took place on May 11, 2026 at 6:00 pm in the KHS Auburn Bainbridge Room. The meeting is live-streamed and the video is posted on the Kenston Website page here, and on Kenston’s YouTube page here. Notations in the report refer to the minute notation on the video for a particular section. View agendas and any attached documents here by selecting the meeting tab, the meeting date, and the agenda.
15:56 Min. Video Opening (Mr. Manning apologized for a late start but time was not noted in the video.)
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mr. Manning.
16:32 Min. Welcome and Roll Call at 6:06 pm as per Mr. Manning. 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, and members Jim Henry, Girtha Smith, and Benjamin Timmons.
Staff in Attendance: Superintendent Dr. Bruce R. Willingham, Treasurer Seth Cales, KHS Principal Tom Gabram, KHS Assistant Principals Kenneth Fisher and Matthew Watts, Assistant Superintendent Katie Poe, TES Principal Dave Rogaliner, TES Assistant Principal Kristen Hasenohrl, Administrative Assistant Susan Swift, District Board Certified Behavior Analyst (Incoming) Samantha Disanto, TES Assistant Principal (Incoming) Ryan Hooper.
Observer Note: A number of the retirees below were also present at the meeting, but this Observer was unable to confirm exact persons.
17:43 Min. The Kenston Board of Education approved that the reading of these minutes be waived and approved the minutes of the Regular Meeting of April 20, 2026 here, as recorded or corrected.
18:11 Min. Commendations
Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent, the Kenston Board of Education approved the following:
-
KHS Students for receiving the National Speech and Debate Association Academic All American Award: Marin Carlson, Zoe LeFeber, Will Turner, Grace Voudris
Kenston's 2025-26 retirees, for their years of service to the district:
Maintenance/Custodial Department:
Transportation Department:
-
Deb Blatnik, Administrative Assistant I
-
Susan D'Amico, Bus Driver
-
Lorraine Embrescia, Transportation Aide
-
Tani Hanlon, Van Driver
-
Diane Henry, Bus Driver
-
Susan Koch, Transportation Aide
-
Steve Miner, Bus Driver
-
Lynn Rhodes, Bus Driver
Kenston High School:
-
Bev Buettner, Library Specialist
-
Terry DiMarco, School Nurse
-
Patsy Grecar, Administrative Assistant II
-
Charlotte Gruver, Social Studies Teacher
-
Gina Wojciechowski, Proctor
Kenston Middle School:
-
Jacqueline Akins, Educational Aide
-
Chad Rosko, 4th Grade Math and Science Teacher
-
Bob Ross, 6th/7th Grade Physical Education/Health Teacher
Timmons Elementary School:
30:26 Min. Informational Items
-
A birthday book titled Operation Do-Over by Gordon Korman was presented to Girtha Smith.
-
Kenston Building Update KHS Principal Tom Gabram and Asst. Principals Kenneth Fisher and Matthew Watts gave a brief update on where Kenston is with the College and Career Readiness Component of the state report card. They identified goals and action steps towards those goals using a slide presentation (no hyperlink available).
-
Legislative Report to be addressed by Dr. Willingham in his report.
43:00 Min The Board took a three-minute break so that teachers and students could leave. The video re-opens at 46:39 minutes.
46:46 Min. Superintendent’s Report with an accompanying slide presentation.
-
Rotary Teacher of the year and Runner-Up were 6th grade science teacher Angela Sedmak, and 6th grade ELA teacher Tamara Perrine, respectively.
-
Last week, the first full week in May, was Staff Appreciation week.
-
See 18.1 under New Business for the list of 2026 graduating seniors who will have their commencement on May 21, 2026.
-
Dr. Willingham advised that school start/end times are currently under discussion and once those are decided, schedules and bus routes will be created. Dr. Willingham advised that all of the bus routes will be driven in June to ensure they are doable.
-
Dr. Willingham introduced a new website, www.protectpublicservices.org/aboutus, created by a statewide coalition of groups with the purpose of informing the public about the effects of the proposal to abolish property taxes. He advised that property taxes will provide $21.4 billion in revenue in 2026. According to the Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM), if that property tax income were to go away, the state income tax would need to more than quadruple to fill the hole in funding. Alternatively, if the state sales tax were used to fill that hole in funding, it would need to triple. Observer Note: Dr. Willingham appears to be citing a memo addressed to Governor DeWine from the OBM which is available to read online here. Dr. Willingham further noted that according to the coalition, Ohioans to Protect Public Services, from the first website above, approximately 32, 000 people who provide services across Ohio would need to be laid off if property taxes were abolished without a replacement funding plan in place. Dr. Willingham noted that, “unlike income and sales taxes that can fluctuate with the economy, property taxes are the most stable and predictable revenue source to fund the essential services” in Ohio.
-
Dr. Krause noted that as of April 22, 2026, the Committee to Abolish Property Taxes (AxOHTax), a group that is actively campaigning to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot to eliminate property taxes, has managed to gather approximately 305,000 signatures. She indicated that they must have 413,000 valid signatures to do so and they have set a goal of achieving 612,000 signatures by July 1st, so this issue will not be going away soon.
-
There were a number of agenda items slated for Board approval that Dr. Willingham wanted to highlight:
-
10.1 Samantha Disanto will be contracted to serve as the District Board Certified Behavior Analyst.
-
10.7 Two teachers that have received continuing contract status are TES Psychologist Samantha Feehan and 1st grade teacher Abby Mather.
-
13.1 Abigail Jinks will be contracted to serve as KHS Asst. Principal, and Ryan Hooper will be contracted to serve as TES Asst. Principal
1:02.58 Min. Treasurer’s Report - Mr. Seth Cales
-
Mr. Cales is currently working on Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 appropriations which he advised are basically Board of Education approvals or legal authority to spend public money for specific purposes throughout the Fiscal Year. After discussion of needs with all departments and administration, FY 27 temporary appropriations will be presented to the Board by June 2026 for examination, questions and approval for the start of the FY. By the end of September, a permanent appropriations list will be presented to the County which sets what the school can spend throughout the year.
-
Mr. Cales and other Kenston Administrators attended the grand opening event of the Meijer store in Bainbridge. They were presented with a $10,000 donation to the district. Mr. Cales advised that the director of the Meijer store in Bainbridge, Drew Manning, is very interested in working with the district in a variety of capacities including the business incubator at the high school.
1:08.37 Min. Hearing of the Public on Agenda Items - There were no speaker requests.
1:08.44 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.
-
Financial Items - All items and accompanying documents can be found here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 9.1-9.5 on the agenda. All Approved.
-
Certified Personnel Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here for review by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 10.1-10.9 (10.8 approved separately with Mr. Timmons abstaining) 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 on the agenda. All Approved.
-
Supplemental Personnel Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 12.1-12.7 ( 12.8 approved separately with Mr. Manning abstaining) 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 on the agenda. All Approved.
-
Business Operations - No items.
-
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.
-
Special Education Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 16.1-16.3 on the agenda. All Approved.
-
Old Business- No items.
-
New Business Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 18.1-18.14 on the agenda. All Approved. Items to highlight include but are NOT limited to:
-
18.1 Class of 2026 Graduates list here.
-
18.2 Board Policy 2623 (related to Student Assessment and Academic Intervention Services) for annual review available here.
-
18.3 A number of revised, new, replacement Board Policies are noted for approval.
1:13.48 Min. Hearing of The Public on Non-Agenda Items -
1:19.35 Min. A motion to enter into Executive Session was made and approved at 7:09 pm
The Board entered into executive session pursuant to consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion or compensation of a public employee or official, or the investigation of charges or complaints against a public employee, official, licensee, or regulated individual, unless the employee, official, licensee, or regulated individual requests a public hearing by division (G)(1) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code.
Observer Note: Under Ohio Law, the Board may hold Executive Sessions to discuss preparing for, conducting or reviewing negotiations or bargaining sessions with employees or 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.
President Tom Manning advised that no action will be taken after Executive Session and the Board will reconvene only to adjourn. The video concluded at 1:19.39.
Next regular meeting: Monday, June 29, 2026 at 6:00 pm.
More information here: Board of Education | Kenston Local Schools
Virtual Observer: Jacqueline Berger
Editor: Rooney Moy
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: May 19, 2026
The League of Women Voters of Geauga is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. They do not support or oppose individual candidates or parties. Learn more about the LWVG at www.lwvgeauga.org.