rom left, MLSD Superintendent Brian Rau and Board President Rick Foster. (Photo by Ashley McCarty)

By Ashley McCarty-

The Manchester Local School District Board of Education met on Sept. 9 to give school updates and to announce the renaming of their football stadium to Veterans Stadium.
A motion by Board Member Troy Thatcher to approve the agenda was seconded by Board Member Dana Thornburg, and the board agreed.
Superintendent Brian Rau delivered a legislative update regarding Senate Bill 358:
— Allows for evaluations to be completed without student growth measures.
— Provides flexibility for students unable to take end-of-course exams by allowing them to meet graduation requirements through the use of final course grades in associated courses.
— Eliminates state-required assessments, with the exception of diagnostic assessments.
— Prohibits [Ohio Department of Education] from issuing state report cards for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years, and establish safe harbor from report card-related penalties for those years.
— Gives districts local control when promoting students to the fourth grade.
— Provides local control to determine if a student is on track to graduate.
Rau then touched on data to be reported on the 2020 Ohio School Report Card.
“So, when we get our report card, there is not going to be a grade assignment. There’s not going to be a ranking assignment, it’s only for informational and planning purposes only. They’re basically just going to look to see what data is available, there’s going to be data that’s somewhat available, and data that’s not available. So, we’re used to seeing the report card; there will be no achievement component, no progress component, no gap-closing component. There will be graduation•rates still, because we still had graduation last year, and they still have a Prepared for Success on here, which we always tank on that one anyway because of how they have it rated. So, the report card is going to look a little different this year, it’s not going to be what you’re typically going to see,” said Rau.
There will be no report on the report cards, he said.
“Talking about this school year. For all intents and purposes — yes, nothing is perfect — but things are going more smoothly than what we thought they would be going. That’s not to say that we’ve done things perfect, that’s not to say that we haven’t messed some things up, but, this is all new to us. We’re doing the very best we can with it,” said Rau.
Regarding remote learning, Rau reported he hadn’t heard any major issues with it, other than the kids aren’t in the building. Online issues have been mostly resolved.
Brian Napier is now the mentor for kindergarten thru sixth grade, Pam Kissick seventh grade thru 12th grade.
“That’s going to work out much better because now it’s separated, and lessens the workload on some people,” said Rau.
Rau reported that the district is maintaining the semester commitment to online instruction.
“The plan is going to be to come up with a date with [Manchester High School Principal Dana] Pollock and [Manchester Elementary Principal Nick] Roberts. A firm day as to when parents have got to let us know if their kids are coming back. I’ve already told [Dana] Pollock and [Nick] Roberts that we’re probably not going to have much of a Christmas break, because we’re going to have to plan for January. If we’re still in this status, and we still have to social distance, and I have 120 students wanting to come back, well, we can’t do it with the plan that we have. So, therefor, I could possibly have to go with a Blue, Gold, or Grey Day, or something. Do I want that? No, because then there’s going to be one of those groups that get only one day of in-person instruction. I have told some of the online students to be patient, because they’re going to be receiving much more instruction than the on-site students. So, they’re actually going to surpass them when it comes to instruction time. So, I’ve kind of laid it out that way, but we have to adhere to that semester commitment,” said Rau.
Rau then touched on food service.
“I still stand by exactly what I said, because there are guidelines with food service that a lot of people just do not understand. We started having conversations with the Manchester Food Pantry with waste. So, what we are allowed to donate — and we’ve already got boxes set up, Ma’ry’e [Kinhalt] made beautiful signs, as she usually does — and then every Thursday, we are going to be taking our donations to the Manchester Food Pantry that would have otherwise have went in the trash. So, not only do we still get our count, now we’re donating to a good cause and mitigating the waste,” said Rau.
They’re not completely eliminating it, because some items cannot be donated, but a lot of items can, he said.
“Another point of contention was choir. Folks, I am so much more of a band guy than I am an athletic person, and I didn’t understand why the band and choir couldn’t do it, either. I was following the rules, and still will follow the rules. We have submitted a plan to Dr. [William] Hablitzel to try to open up our band and choir to where they can at least play inside. Now, they can still go outside all they want, but we’re trying to — we submitted a plan, I like the plan. I think it will be approved, I’m just waiting on it to be approved,” said Rau.
Treasurer Eva Elliott reported that the school had received notice from David Gifford, Adams County Auditor, that the Board of Revision had set the value for tax year 2019 for the two power plants, DP&L’s J.M. Stuart and Killen stations.
Originally, the value was $158,165,100 for both plants, the new value is $15,469,900 for both plants. The new owner, Kingfisher Development, LLC, has 30 days from August 26, 2020 to appeal these values.
If there is no appeal, on the next tax settlement, the county auditor will reduce the tax settlement to refund Kingfisher Development, LLC the overpaid taxes. If there is not enough in the tax settlement, Gifford will contact the district to repay the overpayment from prior settlements to the county treasurer.
The county auditor will then issue Kingfisher Development, LLC a refund.
MHS Principal Pollock’s report is as follows:
— The year has gotten off to a semi-smooth start. The students attending onsite have done well, however, we have had some delays with the online program and getting our students online up and going. We believe everything is set now and they are online and in their classes.
— We have an average of 12 students in each classroom in the junior high and high school which works out very well for social distancing. Our lunch periods are okay. The junior high lunch is pretty full and breakfast is a challenge. We have opened the gym for students to move into after they eat so that we have enough seating for breakfast.
— Guidance Counselor Leah Wilkins has been working with our onsite students and their schedules. Thanks to her for all she is doing to get schedules set.
— We have had in house professional development with Google Classroom and have another session scheduled for September 23 with Kara Copeland from the [South Central Ohio Educational Service Center]. Our teachers have gotten off to a great start with their online lessons for our students who are doing remote learning three days each week.
— Our new staff members have settled in. We are very happy to have them with us and know they will do a great job this year.
— Many, many thanks to Linda Grooms and Karen Schiltz for their patience with all the phone calls and questions as we work through a very different start to the school year.
— I am so proud of our team. This has been a very, very different opening to the school year and they have stepped up to the tremendous challenge of combining onsite and remote learning.
MES Principal Roberts was not present. His report was as follows:
— We will be utilizing the ‘Steven’s’ Power Packs Program again this year in the elementary school funded by Mark and Virgie Hunter through the Freestore Foodbank. I would like to sincerely thank them for their donations.
— The students and staff at Manchester Elementary have done an amazing job with implementation of safety standards to start the school year. I truly believe we are being safe all while providing a quality education to the best of our ability.
— The primary grades have been working on state ‘screeners’ or diagnostics to start the school year.
— Teacher Based Teams have begun with all grade levels.
— Kara Copeland from the South Central Ohio Educational Service Center will be providing Google Classroom [Professional Development] for the elementary staff in small groups. She will be here on Sept. 9 and Sept. 16. We appreciate her efforts.
— Average Classroom Numbers:
• Kindergarten – 9 Students (Class Size)
• 1st – 6 Students (Class Size)
• 2nd – 8 Students (Class Size)
• 3rd – 8 Students (Class Size)
• 4th – 10 Students (Class Size)
• 5th – 11 Students (Class Size)
• 6th – 10 Students (Class Size)
Director of Student Services Cheri McClanahan was not present. Her report was as follows:
Athletics:
• Volleyball is underway. Things are going well with attendance and restrictions for home games.
• We hosted our first high school football game on Friday evening. Our Junior High team will play their first home game tomorrow evening. We also added a High School Football game following the Junior High game with Georgetown.
Transportation:
• Busing has gone great with the new schedule. Our numbers on the buses are low due to half of our students attending at a time.
• Average ridership:
Monday/Tuesday, a.m – 17 students, p.m. – 18 students.
Thursday/Friday, a.m – 16 students, p.m. – 25 students.
Food Service:
• Meal distribution is going well, due to the very hard work of our staff! This has required a tremendous amount of preparation by our cooks and aides. The maintenance staff and bus drivers have also assisted with the loading of meals. Thanks to each of these individuals as it would not be possible without them!
• Meals are being passed out on Tuesdays/Fridays (our in-house students). Students riding the bus are receiving meals as they get off the bus. Walkers/Pick-ups are receiving theirs as they leave the building.
• Our online students can pick up lunches on Wednesdays at our 3 drop off points (Manchester High School, Bentonville, Rome).
A motion by Board Member Dave McFarland to approve Aug. 12, 2020 board meeting minutes was seconded by Thatcher, board agreed.
A motion by Thatcher to approve financial reports and consent items was seconded by Board Member Joel Hanson, board agreed.
A motion by Thatcher to enter into executive session as per O.R.C. 121.22 for the purpose of (G-1) to consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, and compensation of public employees was seconded by McFarland, board agreed.
The board approved a list of personnel resolutions under Superintendent recommendation.
A motion by Foster to approve the second reading and adopt policies was seconded by McFarland, board agreed.
A motion by Thatcher to rename the MHS football stadium to Veterans Stadium was seconded by Hanson, and the board unanimously approved.
With no more business before the board, the meeting was adjourned.
Board meeting minutes will be approved by the board at the next meeting, subject to revisions.