Celina board considers firms for building plan

CELINA - Celina City Schools Board of Education members are starting to plan for future building needs.

Board members Thursday began reviewing the qualifications of four architecture firms that want to develop a plan for improving or replacing the district's school buildings. Superintendent Jesse Steiner said he contacted Lesko Architecture, Buehrer Group, Fanning Howey and Garmann Miller and Associates for their qualifications to assess the buildings.

The district's buildings, some dating to the 1950s, are aging and district officials must consider repairing or replacing the structures, Steiner said. Board members plan to choose a firm at their Jan. 5 meeting. The chosen firm will determine the extent of remodeling or reconstruction needed for each building, Steiner said.

"What we have to do next is go through the information and rank the architects in the order of which we think are the most qualified for the job. Once we have them ranked, we can start negotiations with our top-ranked company," Steiner said.

"This could lead to a master plan if we are happy with their recommendations, but not necessarily. They could come back and give us an outlandish recommendation. We left it pretty open for the board to make decisions," Steiner said.

Once the plan is created, the board may choose any firm for an actual construction project, Steiner said.

District officials would need to contact the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission to see if state funding is available for any projects, treasurer Mick Davis said.

Also at the meeting, board president Cindy Piper questioned the way the board creates job descriptions for and evaluates the performance of the superintendent and treasurer.

The two jobs are handled differently from all other employees', Piper said. Most job descriptions are listed in the employee handbook while the superintendent's and treasurer's are listed in the board's policy book, she said. Board member Connie Paulus said when she had searched for similar job descriptions for surrounding districts, the information had been easy to find. Paulus said Celina's information should be equally accessible.

Board member Matt Gilmore said it had been board policy in the past to list the superintendent's and treasurer's job descriptions as policies instead of as job descriptions. He said that that was why they did not appear in the handbook.

Piper also said she thought the job descriptions were too vague. However, Davis argued the job descriptions should be vague so the officials have the authority to make decisions.

"My job as treasurer is to handle all fiscal matters," Davis said.

Steiner added Davis's only real job description is to handle the district's audit responsibilities.

"The audit is such a small percentage of what Mick actually does," Steiner said. Putting more details into the description could limit Davis' ability to make necessary decisions, Steiner said. Board members agreed to discuss the descriptions further on Jan. 5.

Board members also discussed the relative merits of a trimester schedule compared to operating on semesters. The district switched from semesters to trimesters in the 2011-12 school year.

High school principal Phil Metz will attend the Jan. 5 meeting to discuss the issue, Steiner said.

The board also had a two-and half-hour executive session concerning employment but took no action.