St. Marys BOE thanks Falk, Shelby for service

ST. MARYS - St. Marys school officials bid farewell to two longtime school board members at their last regular meeting of the year on Wednesday.

School board member Chris Falk, elected in 2017, did not run for reelection in November. School board member Rhonda Shelby, elected in 2011, resigned mid-term at the board's November meeting. Shelby's resignation is effective today.

Falk's spot on the board will be filled by Cameron Aller, 53, next month. Aller was elected by school district voters during the November general election.

Three seats were up for grabs in the election with four people on the ballot. The other two spots went to incumbents Karl Dammeyer and Ron Wilker.

Wilker received the most votes at 1,126 votes, or 28%. Dammeyer followed with 1,066 votes, or 26%, per unofficial election results. Aller garnered 971 votes, or 24%; with Jared Deubler following at 911 votes, or 22%.

District officials are currently looking for a community member to fill Shelby's vacant seat for the remainder of her term, which ends in December of 2027. She previously recommended Deubler for the job.

Both Falk and Shelby were thanked for their time on the board and overall service to the district, which went above and beyond their roles, superintendent Bill Ruane said.

"This board, it's a thankless job," he said. "People that do it, put their heart into it and do it for the right reasons, it's incredible what they do for the community and for the kids. That's always been the driving force (for Falk and Shelby)."

In his role as a school board member, Falk served on the district buildings and grounds committee and the athletic committee; he also served as the school board liaison for Tri-Star Career Compact and the St. Marys Memorial High School Alumni Foundation.

"I know he would, on weekends, get up and walk the grounds of all the facilities to see if things were out of place," Ruane said. "(He'd) be the first one to pick up any trash that we saw because he wanted our facilities to always be top notch. He always had ideas on what we could do to make the facilities even better."

In addition to serving on the school board for 14 years, Shelby taught at the district 45 years , and helped start the district's girls tennis and softball programs at Memorial, according to a Memorial High School Alumni Foundation biography. She was a 2008 MHS Alumni Foundation Hall of Fame inductee for her service to the district.

In her almost 60 years at St. Marys, she has impacted countless Roughriders, Ruane said.

"We like to say it's the 'Rhonda Ripple Effect,' and it's true," he said. "Especially this last year, hearing from different people asking about Rhonda - how she's doing, inquiring about her, (or) the amount of people that told me she was the most influential person in their life. I don't think she quite knows the impact she made on people in St. Marys in their lives."

Members of the district alumni association were also on hand at Wednesday's meeting to announce a special annual scholarship in Shelby's honor.

"The Alumni Foundation has created an annual $1,000 scholarship in your name called the MHS Alumni Foundation Rhonda Shelby Excellence in Education Scholarship, to be awarded to an MHS senior student or alumni who best represents the values of hard work, integrity, community service; and a passion for this school, its students and our community," alumni president Dianna Dominguez said.

Those interested in serving the remainder of Shelby's term can submit a notice of their interest to district treasurer Andy Wilker by email at andy.wilker@smriders.net by 4 p.m. Dec. 26, or mail it to St. Marys Board of Education, Attn: Andy Wilker, 2250 State Route 66, St. Marys, OH 45885, post marked no later than Dec. 26.

Also on Wednesday night, councilors:

• approved the upcoming retirements of third grade teacher Jodi Schmidt and second grade teacher Kelly Huber.

• approved the district's continued membership in the Ohio School Board Association at a cost of $7,297; plus use of OSBA's legal assistant fund at a cost of $250 and school management news for $175.

• received varsity boys soccer coach James Holtzapple, who'd been in the position for three years and led the Roughriders to a 45-12-5 record. Under his leadership, the team earned a WBL and district championship, two sectional championships, a regional runner up title, a district runner up title and were elite eight finalists for only the second time in the program's history.

The board meets next at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 13 in the high school auditorium for an organizational meeting.