Bethel Schools Superintendent Virginia Potter began December 15 board meeting with updates on several initiates underway in the school. First, she congratulated Missy Rhoades, Bus Driver, for the excellent job she did handling the bus accident in which a car was pushed into the bus she was driving. Potter said, “She kept her head and got all of the children off the bus safely.”
Potter also announced that the elementary school received $1900 from the Tipp Foundation for a Reading Intervention Program and the high school received $900 for Science Data Analysis Probes.
Potter is working with the teachers and community members to develop 21st Century Leaning Programs. She will meet with a focus group on January 25, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. to develop a program designed to grow Collaborative and Critical Thinking Skills in all students.
For the middle school, Potter announced that the staff split Math 8 into two sections to better accommodate the increase in students and to provide a smaller student/teacher ratio. She also said that both the middle school and high school staff are tweaking HIVE time to ensure that students who need academic assistance are choosing the proper activities during that time.
In preparation for the next school year, the BOE will review the proposed course of study at their next work session with the goal of approving the course of study at the January board meeting.
For technology improvements, Potter announced that the school needs to update the Wi-Fi connections in the modular classrooms, and provide practice for the testing calculators. The principals are now providing updates for each school on the website. Parents are encouraged to subscribe, which will allow them to receive the updates automatically. According to Potter, residents are subscribing at the rate of about five per day.
In their last work session, the board discussed the request by community members to reinstate the informal sessions before the regular board meeting. After checking with other districts, the BOE decided not to reinstate the open forum. However, they decided to keep the Coffee Talks. In addition to the superintendent, two board members will be available at the coffee talks to discuss any questions and concerns community members have. Open forums may be conducted periodically on an as needed basis.
Special Education Coordinator Debra Frederick gave the BOE a brief presentation on Special Education. She explained that Special Education is the practice of educating students with special needs in a way that addresses their individual differences. Parents, teachers and staff work together to develop a plan to ensure that the child has a program of study that helps them more easily access the general education curriculum. Currently, less than 10 percent of Bethel’s student population is identified as having disabilities.
Joe Harkleroad, Owner’s Representative, reported that the construction is going well. He said, “We have been blessed by the weather. A security fence has been installed and trailers are available for all contractors to use.” He also reported that approximately 95% of the concrete footers have been poured and the band room walls are 80% complete. The construction team is working with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to complete all of the paperwork for the road widening and expect to begin work on this phase of the project next summer.
The board will advertise for competitive bids for the following projects all of which are projected to cost more than $25,000. These include the replacement of windows in the elementary building, brick tuck work for the elementary, improvement of the baseball field, improvements to the bus barn, and repair/replacement of the roof on the middle school and high school.
Potter also announced that construction pictures are being posted on the website.
In regular business, the Bethel BOE granted permission to transfer $30,000 from the funds generated by Pay to Participate to help pay for expenses incurred by the Athletic Department.
The board also passed a resolution to prepare and submit to the Miami County Budget Commission all information and documents required under the alternative tax document format for the tax budget for the fiscal year 2015.
The Bethel BOE also appointed Joe Solch as President Pro Tempore for the January 11, 2016 Organizational Meeting at 7:00 p.m. and approved a one year step increase for Leslie Mosley for active military service effective December 14, 2015.
The next Bethel BOE meeting is scheduled for January 11, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in the school auditorium.