Kenston Board of Education – Regular Meeting December 11, 2023
Meeting Details: The Kenston Board of Education met in a Regular Session on December 11, 2023 at Kenston High School, 9500 Bainbridge Rd, Chagrin Falls, OH 44023, in the High School Auburn Bainbridge room beginning at 7:00 pm. The meeting was live streamed and is available here and on Kenston’s YouTube page. View the agenda online and any attached documents here by selecting the meeting tab and then the meeting date.
Board Attendance: President Jennifer Troutman, Vice President Neysa Gaskins, Dennis Bergansky, Beth Krause, and Tom Manning.
Staff in Attendance: Superintendent Steven Sayers and Treasurer Seth Cales.
The meeting was called to order by Mrs. Troutman at 7:00 pm. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by KMS sixth grade student Owen Miller along with Mrs. Gaskins.
Minutes: The Kenston Board of Education waived the reading and approved the minutes of the Regular Meeting of November 16, 2023, as recorded or corrected here.
Mrs. Troutman expressed thanks to outgoing board member Mrs. Gaskins for her eight years as a board member and noted that before she was elected to the board, she was actively involved in the district in many ways. Superintendent Sayers also expressed thanks to Mrs. Gaskins for her service, her dedication and her passion for the Kenston Schools.
Board Reports and Informational Items
District Technology Director John Molnar gave an update report. Items included:
-
He advised that a substantial network update for the schools went smoothly. Over the summer, the core network switch and wireless access point replacement was completed. This includes 300 access points, one in every classroom as well as some outdoor locations.
-
Received approximately $94,000 from a federal program known as E-Rate to help with this update.
-
Mr. Molnar expressed appreciation for the experience of Evan Kuckleheim and Les Evey of the technology department for their work.
-
640 chromebooks were purchased for the 1st, 5th, and 9th grades. The department secured an ECF grant (Emergency Connectivity Fund under the administration of the FCC), which covered 133 Chromebooks and the removal of student technology fees, which is a nice savings for parents.
-
Previously, the chromebooks of 4th, 8th, and 12th graders were expected to be traded in. However trade-in values have diminished significantly. Fortunately, their parts are still compatible with new Chromebooks.
-
The Summer Technology Internship program, which utilizes the work of 10 students ranging from the ninth grade to a recent graduate, worked through the summer. One of their jobs was removing parts from the above Chromebooks for use in new ones. This program is very helpful and now allows for most of the computer maintenance to be done in-house.
-
Moving forward, technology is planning an evaluation of the district phone system for some internal upgrades.
-
Tech department will be involved in the installation and set-up of cameras associated with the security grant (noted in Financial Items G below if approved).
-
Mr. Molnar is busy working on plans for closing KIS (Kenston Intermediate School) and moving the students to the other buildings as per the Rightsizing Plan. This will require significant planning and a lot of moving parts for technology.
Hearing from the Public on Agenda Items - None
Financial Items were approved and can be viewed here by selecting Meetings Tab, then date, agenda, and category.
-
The Kenston Board of Education approved the use of School Safety Grant funds in the amount of $227,079.00 with the remaining amount to be paid out of the general fund (see G under Financial Items for detailed documents regarding surveillance expenditures).
-
8 school buses were sold to Madison Local Schools (see H under Financial Items).
Certified Personnel Items were approved and are available to view here by selecting meetings tab, date, agenda, and correct category.
Classified Personnel Items were approved and are available to view here by selecting meetings tab, date, agenda, and correct category.
Supplemental Contract Items were approved and are available to view here by selecting meetings tab, date, agenda, and correct category.
Teaching and Learning Items were approved and are available to view here by selecting meetings tab, date, agenda, and correct category.
New Business Items were approved and are available to view here by selecting meetings tab, date, agenda, and correct category. Items that may be of interest include:
Hearing of Public on Non-Agenda Items - None
Treasurer’s Report
-
Mr. Cales advised that a lot has been happening with the 6-year reappraisal. Mr. Cales last mentioned HB 187 in the context of the five-year forecast presentation, and there has been a significant update on this bill since then. Mr. Cales advised that this bill has been completely restructured and is very different from the bill passed by the House mentioned during the forecast. The bill will no longer use a three year average to determine property valuations. The new bill will require the use of three years of property sales data, there is no adjustment to CAUV (Current Agricultural Use Value) participants, and it expands the Homestead Exemption, with schools picking up about half of the expansion costs. The bill has now been sent back to the House for Emergency Passage. Mr. Cales will attempt to model what this is going to look like, once it passes the House, at the January or February meeting. It will reduce the overall revenue to the school, but as yet the amount of the reduction is unclear.
Superintendent’s Report
-
Superintendent Sayers encourages all to attend the school holiday concerts at the Kenston High School Auditorium. Dates, times, and livestream links here.
-
Mr. Sayers expressed thanks to the Kenston Schools Music Department for their great work.
-
On January 29, 2024, at 7 pm, there will be an information night at Timmons Elementary School for the parents of Class of 2037. Information about kindergarten and the registration process will be offered at this meeting. In order to be eligible for kindergarten in 2024, a child must be 5 years old on or before September 30th, 2024.
-
There will be two more dates for Kenston Conversations, on January 25, 2024, 1 pm, at Franklin Circle, and March 19, 2024, 5 pm at Sirna’s Farm Fresh Kitchen. Both are open to the public and are a great opportunity to ask questions about the Kenston School District.
-
Mr. Sayers offered congratulations to over 100 Kenston students who earned the Western Reserve Conference Scholar Athlete honors for 2023 Fall sports. In order to be eligible for this honor, students must have earned a Varsity letter and maintained a GPA of 3.25 or higher.
-
He also offered congratulations to Riley Rosneck in Volleyball, Emerson Greene in Girls Cross Country, and Brooke McNeal in Girls Tennis, all of whom earned Western Reserve Players of the Year for the entire conference.
-
Mr. Sayers congratulated the following football players: Sean Patrick, Sean Doyle, Max Robarge, Tymir Cardona, Ashton Kolenic and Grady Kucharson, all of whom received Post-Season Honors.
-
Superintendent Sayers wishes all students good luck on their exams and to everybody in the district a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Mrs. Troutman advised that the Inaugural Incubator Pitch Night occurred recently and went very well. This is a brand new course offered this semester and Mrs. Troutman advised that it was Kenston’s version of Shark Tank, a business reality television show. Mr. Murphy and Mr. Kapros had two classes that did the Incubator program. There were four business community members serving on the panel of judges and student teams pitched their own business creation ideas to them. The students did very well, and Mrs. Troutman was very impressed with the program in a school setting. Mrs. Troutman gave a shout out to Mr. Murphy, Mr. Kepreos, and Mr. Gabram for running the program so well. The feedback from the business panel was very good. The winning team received $2,500 to use as seed money should they wish to start the business that they pitched to the panel. Mrs. Troutman encourages other business owners to get involved in this very rewarding program.
Mrs. Troutman offered “de minimis” holiday gifts to each board member to express her appreciation for their time and service.
Mr. Manning announced that the 58th Annual Kenston Invitational Wrestling Tournament will be happening on December 28th and 29th of this year. This event is put on by the Kenston Booster Club. There will be 28 teams coming this year, and it is one of the Booster Club’s biggest fundraisers.
A Motion to enter into Executive Session to discuss collective bargaining with Public Employees and to discuss personnel employment was made by Mrs. Troutman and approved at 7:35pm. Mrs. Troutman advised that no action would be taken after the session and the video ended. Observer did not remain.
Observer Note: Information citing Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22 and the definitions regarding the Sunshine Law were contained in the Agenda.
Next regular meeting: Monday, January 8th, at 7 pm in the Kenston High School Auburn Bainbridge Room. The organizational meeting will begin at 6:30pm.
More information here: Board of Education | Kenston Local Schools
Observer: Jacqueline Berger
Editor: Anne Ondrey
Reviewer: Gail Roussey
Date Submitted: 12/18/23
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.