Board cuts summer break by one week

NEW BREMEN - Summer vacation will be a week shorter for New Bremen students as they enter their break in May.

The schedule was altered in preparation for construction of the new elementary building set to open in the fall of 2020, superintendent Jason Schrader said. He presented the school calendar for 2019-2020, which set the first day of classes on Aug. 14 and the final day on May 11.

Schrader noted the earlier start and end dates would accommodate construction, which will connect the current high school and a new K-8 building. Teachers will report for development days on Aug. 8. Board members approved the calendar and noted the early start date will be in effect only for the 2019-2020 school year.

Stacy Overly of Public Finance Resources Inc. provided an overview of the five-year forecast status. He highlighted the improvement of the forecasts from May to October, noting the outlook had improved by $820,000 in that time period. Overly recommended the board "continue to monitor and make adjustments as needed." He also encouraged the public to "read and understand where the district is financially," adding people can go to the Ohio Department of Education website to find the information.

Elementary principal Diane Kramer said the results of the state third-grade reading tests were received this week. The overall passage rate was 73 percent with 90 percent of the students meeting the requirements of the third-grade reading guarantee, which is used to identify students in K-3 who are behind in reading skills. She said the scores this year were better than 2017's results of 64 and 88 percent, respectively.

Heitkamp, Schrader and technology coordinator Brian Puthoff recently canvassed each room in the elementary building to start identifying which fixed structures will be auctioned off, which will be taken to the new building and which will disposed of after the new building is completed. The auction has tentatively been set at June 13, 2020.

Puthoff in his report wrote the district plans to start with Google Classroom and Google Education programs as they move toward the one-to-one learning initiative. He recommended, depending upon available funds, that the district start the process by providing Chromebooks to students in grades 5 and 9, so within four years all students in grade 5 and older would be equipped with their own electronic devices. If this is too expensive, he suggested starting with ninth-graders.

Board members also,

• accepted the resignation of Susie Kramer effective May 31. On behalf of the board and the district, Schrader thanked her for her 30 years of service to the school and years of leadership with the cafeteria staff.

• accepted the following donations: First National Bank and Western Ohio True Value Hardware, $5,000 each for the new scorer's table in the gym; Dianne Komminsk, $1,619 to purchase two computers for the elementary LEGO league; and Cotterman and Co. Inc., 1st National Bank, Minster Bank and NKTelco, no amount provided, to purchase new scoreboards for the football, baseball and softball fields.

• agreed to keep board members' compensation for each meeting at $40. The rate has remained the same since 1997.

• set the organizational meeting for 7 p.m. Jan. 9, immediately followed by their regular monthly meeting at 7:15 p.m. in the elementary school library.