Tuesday, December 13th, 2022
St. Henry official to step down
By Bob Tomaszewski
After 29 years with St. Henry Schools, superintendent Julie Garke will retire at the end of July.
School board members on Monday night approved Garke's resignation. Garke has been in an administrative role since 2001. She gave her compliments to administrators, teachers and the community.
"It's been a fantastic district," Garke said.
The board also accepted the resignation of bus driver Ron Post effective Jan. 1.
Garke said school officials are paying attention to a bill in the Ohio House that would end the third-grade reading guarantee requirement.
Board members approved purchasing an 84-passenger school bus from Cardinal Bus for $123,033. Garke noted the bus would be used to rotate out a spare bus in their fleet.
Board members also approved multiple 10-year, 100% tax abatements for Cooper Farms Processing. Under the first abatement, Cooper farms would pay $2,693 annually in lieu of taxes on a 30,000-square-foot building addition. Under the second abatement, Cooper Farms would pay the school district $1,263 per year in lieu of taxes on a 14,380-square-foot fabrication and trailer repair building.
School officials approved an $89,000 contract with Fanning Howey Associates, Inc. for engineering and architectural design services related to improving the middle school HVAC system.
Elementary school principal Adam Putoff reported STEM teacher Olivia McKibben's class had students design floats for a parade in November. Students were able to use a balloon but could not use helium. McKibben also earned a $5,000 grant toward a project geared toward 4th-grade students in designing a model of a new playground.
Middle school principal Kyle Kunk reported that five middle school students will advance to the Mercer County Spelling Bee after competing in a school competition. Those advancing are Harrison Schwieterman, Jana Kaiser, Braxton Huwer, runner-up champion Tony Miller and champion Daniel Fullenkamp.
High school principal Eric Rosenbeck recognized school secretary Deb Putoff's retirement. He also recognized students who volunteered at a senior citizens' breakfast.
Kunk and Rosenbeck both recognized participants of the recent "Annie Jr." production and gave credit to student council for raising over $1,000 in the Tis the Season to Give campaign.
Garke reported an early dismissal is scheduled for Dec. 22 at 1:30 p.m. The next board meeting is 5 p.m. Jan. 9 in the media center.
