West Geauga Board of Education Regular Board Meeting with Executive Session - 3/18/2024
Meeting Details: The West Geauga Board of Education met on March 18, 2024 at 7:00 pm in the Board Office Community Room, 8615 Cedar Road in Chester Township. Meetings are open to the public and media. The meeting agenda and minutes are available online. Look for the Meeting tab in the right
hand corner. Pick the meeting you want to review and then click on “Agenda.” A video recording is
available here. The report notes the minute mark where each topic is discussed.
Board Attendance:
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Christina Sherwood, President
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Dr. William Beers, Vice President
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Pam Claypool
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Mary-Michelle Coleman Walsh
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Kathy Leavenworth
Staff Attendance:
Other Attendees:
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Dr. Nancy Benincasa, Assistant Superintendent
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Rebecca C. Princehorn, Legal Counsel
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West Geauga High School parents Erica Zaffiro and Anthony Zaffiro
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Other unidentified members of the public
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This LWV Observer
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order, roll call was conducted, and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Minutes: Minutes for February 26, 2024 were approved as part of routine matters, without comment or edit, and are posted online.
0:48 Additions and/or Changes to the Agenda: Item 97a, to engage the services of Bricker Graydon as Legal Counsel, was added to the Agenda.
Public Remarks:
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1:55 Erica Zaffiro: West Geauga High School parent Erica Zaffiro called attention to the recent Budget Commission meeting (see the relevant Budget Commission Observer Report) and pressed the Board on how it would respond to the Budget Commission’s judgment to abstain from the collection of one of the district’s emergency levies. She also insisted that the Board reconsider how the High School goes about selecting SROs (School Resource Officers), because the last two had been arrested. Reviewer Note: More information about the arrested SROs is available in this Geauga Maple Leaf article and this Chagrin Valley Times article.
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3:33 Anthony Zaffiro: West Geauga High School parent Anthony Zaffiro challenged the Board on its handling of an unspecified accusation of misconduct, repeating the phrase “...our very responsive, very transparent and very not-at-all secretive board,” which seemed to be sarcastic comments. He was particularly concerned about the application of Policy 9130, and wanted to know what the steps are for lodging a formal complaint of misconduct. He ended his comments with “...it appears that you (Ms. Sherwood) are covering for your friends.” Reviewer Note: Policy 9130 is regarding public complaints and can be read here by clicking “9000 Relations” on the left side and then clicking “po9130 PUBLIC COMPLAINTS.”
6:08 Routine Items: The Board approved routine Items including the February 2024 Financial Statements, Minutes from February 26, 2024, and a Classified Substitute List for the current school year.
6:34 Financial Resolutions: The Board approved resolutions to approve warrants for February 2024 (detailed check register can be found here), accept donations for the Lindsey 5th Grade Field Trip, and increase the Classified Casual Labor Rate to $16/hr. Mrs. Claypool asked for clarification about two payments (SRO and Spelling Bee) and received a response from Ms. Pavlat.
8:39 Personnel Resolutions:
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The Board approved numerous personnel matters, including an unpaid leave of absence, additional per diem and stipends for staff, service and supplemental contracts for the current school year, appointments and a resignation, chaperones and teaching observation assignment.
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The Board rescinded stipends for work outside of the current school year, as well as a service contract.
13:59 Policy and Program Resolutions - The Board approved:
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Revised Board policies and bylaws. Dr. Markwardt explained that Ms. Claypool had pointed out an out-of-date boundary affected by merging with the Newbury District. This correction, and the rest of the revisions will be reviewed again at the next Board meeting. (All of the resolutions can be found online in the meeting area).
15:32 Board Resolutions - The Board approved:
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An agreement to become a member of the Metropolitan Regional Council of Governments and to participate in the NEOnet Program (a replacement of LGCA).
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A resolution to accept the determinations of the Budget Commission and authorize and certify necessary tax levies to the County Auditor.
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A settlement agreement and release with Brian M Ames.
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A service agreement between West Geauga and the Educational Service Center of the Western Reserve (ESCWR) Governing Board.
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To engage the services of Bricker Graydon as Legal Counsel.
17:34 Discussion of New Business and Suggestions to be Included on Future Agendas -
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Ms. Sherwood discussed the issue of public review of the curriculum brought forth by Mrs. Claypool at the previous Board meeting. She clarified some terms involved in the discussion, giving definitions to “program of studies,” “curriculum,” “units,” “lessons,” and “syllabi.” Ms. Sherwood provided examples from her own teaching experience.
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Mrs. Claypool asserted that she does not have “concerns” about the curriculum and tried to specify what information she was interested in obtaining for the public. After a discussion of issues inherent in sharing lesson plans more publicly (intellectual property concerns), Ms. Sherwood stated that Mrs. Claypool needs to “clarify exactly what you’re looking for.” Mrs. Claypool reiterated that she does not have concerns and that she wouldn’t look at the math or science curricula.
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Assistant Superintendent Dr. Nancy Benincasa weighed in from the audience that it would be worthwhile to further clarify the influence of State Standards on the curriculum. She posited that Mrs. Claypool’s interest might be in the category of “Resource,” which encompasses things like textbooks. Mrs. Claypool voiced agreement, and used the example of Health Studies: while there are two health studies textbooks that fit under State Standards, how did West Geauga select one over the other? Dr. Benincasa and Mrs. Claypool agreed to speak more about it.
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Mrs. Leavenworth added that further clarifying and coming to an agreement on terminology is very important.
30:53 Superintendent Report - Dr. Markwardt provided an update on the Theater Booster Club, which was first mentioned in the January 8, 2024 Board meeting. He highly complimented two recent theater performances which he had attended. Dr. Markwardt said he met with the Booster Club parents and instructed them on next steps to formalize their Club and notified the Board that they would be hearing from the parents soon.
34:29 Executive Session - Reasons for Executive Session were listed as “conference with legal counsel related to pending or imminent court actions” and “negotiations.” Invitees to the session included Ms. Princehorn, Dr. Benincasa, Dr. Markwardt, and Ms. Pavlat.
1:58:10 Exit Executive Session - No action taken. Motion to adjourn.
Next Meeting: 4/22/2024 at 7:00 pm
Observer: Dina Dean
Editor: Anne Ondrey
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: 3/23/24
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