Flack is new Celina school board member

CELINA - Craig Flack was sworn in as a Celina City Schools Board of Education member on Monday after being administered the oath of office by district treasurer Tom Sommer.

Board members also gave their blessing to a Mercer County Head Start summer transition program that will be funded with $138,852 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.

Board members last week appointed Flack to fill the unexpired term of Matt Gilmore, whose 20-year stretch on the board came to an end at a meeting in May when he announced his immediate resignation.

Gilmore is the presumptive Mercer County probate/juvenile court judge after securing the Republican nomination at the primary election. No Democrats filed to compete for the seat in the November general election, all but guaranteeing a win for Gilmore.

Flack will serve out Gilmore's unexpired term through Dec. 31, 2021, according to a resolution approved by board members on Monday. Flack is a teaching pastor at Celina First Church of God, school documents show. He has a wife and two children.

"If selected to serve I believe I could be a positive voice, alongside our administration and staff, for the wonderful things Celina Schools are doing," Flack wrote in his resume. "I have a gift at communicating complex topics and issues in an effective, calm and understandable manner."

Aside from being a teaching pastor, Flack was a spokesperson for the 2020 Bulldog Levy Campaign and is vice president of the board of House of Hope Recovery Home.

In other news, Mercer County Head Start Executive Director Amy Esser laid out details of a new summer transition camp for students who underwent virtual learning for about a quarter of their year during the pandemic.

The camp aims to boost their literary and math skills before they make the jump to kindergarten in the fall, Esser said. The camp runs July 7-31 in Celina, totaling 75 hours of instruction. The children will be given breakfast and lunch.

"We're able to build a four-week summer bridge program. We're going to serve 16 kids. We are going to have eight children in a classroom with three education staff," she told board members.

Part of a playground will be converted into an outdoor classroom where students will spend most of their time unless inclement weather forces them inside.

The CARES Act provided $750 million nationwide to Head Start programs of which $25 million was awarded to Ohio, Esser explained. Ohio Head Start programs, she said, were furnished with $875 per fully enrolled student. With 158 Head Start students, ranging in age from 3 to 5, Mercer County Head Start received more than $138,000.

In addition to the summer program, funds will be spent on supplies and services to support the health and safety of children, families and staff, the agenda states. For instance, Head Start is purchasing a $24,999 ZONO sanitizing machine that cleans a wide variety of surfaces.

Council president Bill Sell expressed concern after learning the district will not host physicals for athletes this summer because officials were not able to secure physicians to conduct them in July.

"We have encouraged all those athletes to go out, make contact with their private physicians to get those physicals," superintendent Ken Schmiesing said.

Sell asked if it would be possible to reschedule free physicals for athletes.

"I just think that if they have to go out and pay for their own it's going to be kind of prohibitive to some kids," Sell said.

Schmiesing said arranging for physicals while complying with social-distancing guidelines would be difficult.

Board members also learned a graduation ceremony for the class of 2020 has been set for 8 p.m. June 26 at Celina Stadium. In case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be moved to 10:30 a.m. June 27, Schmiesing said.

Seating will be limited to meet social-distancing guidelines, and details are still being finalized, Schmiesing added.