Meeting was held at 7pm, at Kenston High School Auditorium
Livestream can be accessed here:https://youtu.be/NeZD2Jbfdvo
Agenda can be accessed here: https://go.boarddocs.com/oh/kenston/Board.nsf/Public
Attendance: Present were Mrs. Neysa Gaskins, JD, President, Jennifer Troutman, VP, Ms. Beth Krause,Ph.D., Thomas Manning, and Dennis Bergansky. Also attending were Steven A. Sayers, Interim Superintendent. Mr. Paul J. Pestello, Treasurer, was not in attendance.
Minutes: Minutes were approved for September 19, 2022 regular meeting and October 10, 2022 special meeting/work session.
Commendations: Six National Merit Commended Scholars were recognized from the class of 2023, and one commendation was issued for a student named National Speech and Debate Association Academic All American.
Board Reports and Informational Items
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Andrew Mendez, Nutrition Services Director reported on his department’s efforts.
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Beth Krauss reported the work being done to get the Kenston Citizen’s Advisory Committee up and running with three members currently. She also noted that the Curriculum Committee met to discuss AP scores, State Report Cards, data analysis, professional development, Auburn Career Center, and other curriculum items.
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Thomas Manning reported on the District Technology Committee, lauding all the technology education that is happening, especially at the lower schools, and detailing some of that.
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Neysa Gaskins drew the attention of the room to a poster that highlights the guiding principles of the Kenston Board. These are principles that help shape and frame their decisions. Here is a link to the Guiding Principles: https://kenstonlocal.org/board-of-education-guiding-principles/
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Neysa Gaskins advised that the policy committee did meet and that 22 policies were updated due to legal requirements and those updates would be available for first reading at the next meeting. She also advised that she and Mrs. Troutman went to a School Law Seminar on Sept 29th where they gained further information and insight regarding, among other items, the Sunshine law, HB 126 (property tax),the administrative portions of changes to Title IX, hidden costs in collective bargaining.
Hearing of the Public on Agenda Items
Mr. Eisner advised he does not wish to ask questions per se. He was hoping “just to be routinely brought up to speed”.
Action on Agenda Items
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Motions were quickly approved for all Financial Items, Certified and Classified Personnel, Supplemental, Business Operations, Teaching and Learning, Special Education, and Old and New Business Contracts.
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Contracts are all noted/detailed in the agenda.
Hearing of Public on Non-Agenda Items
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Mr. Peter Becker stood to say that he had recently returned home from a “3rd world country” that he did not identify other than to say he was in the Serengeti. He told the room that while he was there, someone asked him about gender identity in the United States. He then posed the question, “How do we address gender identity at Kenston?”
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Neysa Gaskins responded that he would be contacted to discuss the topic at a later time, explaining that she wanted to make sure he received completely accurate information.
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Mr. Becker appeared frustrated by the response and again stated that he was concerned about the issue of gender identity, especially for 2nd and 3rd graders, and that we should be as concerned as the people in 3rd world countries are concerned about us.
Treasurer’s Report - The treasurer was absent
Superintendent’s Report
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Superintendent Sayers advised that the treasurer is doing a wonderful job creating and detailing transparent and clearly detailed financial documents.
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Governor DeWine has designated October as School Safety Month in order to draw awareness to programs across the state. An important focus is ensuring school doors are locked and secure admitting procedures are created for authorized personnel only.
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This week is bus safety week.
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Snow-day protocols have been reviewed for the year. **The first five snow days of the year will include NO online work assignments. Days after that, online work policy will be reviewed according to academic policy and expectations.
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The next Kenston Conversation will be held on November 29th, 2022 at 1pm at South Franklin Circle.
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Family Ties Program: Thursday November 3rd will be the day in which no homework will be assigned and no school activities will go on after 5:30pm. The school is coordinating with local businesses to offer other discount family activities.
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The Superintendent finds the board meetings very valuable for informing the bigger picture in his position.
Executive Session: Board entered Executive Session to discuss personnel discipline. No action was taken afterwards.
Next Meeting: November 7, 2022 at 7pm at Kenston High School, which is a change from the normal date.
More Information: https://kenstonlocal.org/about-kenston/board-of-education
Online Minutes: https://kenstonlocal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2020_KBOE_Minutes_-CALENDAR-YEAR.pdf
Name of Observer: Jacqueline Berger
Editor: Shelly Lewis
Name of Reviewer: Gail Roussey
Submitted 10/19/2022
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