Chardon Board of Ed Members Recognized for Service to Community
Chardon Schools Board of Education President Karen Blankenship and member Guy Wilson were recognized for serving their communities for over a decade at the June 20 meeting.
Chardon Schools Board of Education President Karen Blankenship and member Guy Wilson were recognized for serving their communities for over a decade at the June 20 meeting.
Reno Contipelli, northeast regional manager for the Ohio School Boards Association, commended the pair for their service and dedication.
“There’s about 3,500 board members in Ohio and about 50% of those board members don’t run for reelection on their first term, or don’t want to be a board member anymore. So, when you do 10 years, we like to come out and say thank you,” Contipelli said. “You paid your dues in board years — time away from your family, all the hard work that you’ve put in — and we really appreciate everything that you’ve done for Chardon and of course, for the children of the state of Ohio.”
The commendations were meant to be presented at the 2021 OSBA conference, but as it was held virtually, Contipelli said he didn’t get the chance to present them to Wilson and Blankenship, who are now in their 11th years on the board.
“Board leadership and service to the community is an essential ingredient in the success of the district,” Superintendent Michael Hanlon said.
“I was not expecting this,” a visibly surprised Blankenship said.
During his report, Hanlon said Warren Roofing is continuing work at the high school, with several roof sections already completed. Tusing Roofing has completed roof sections at the middle school and both projects are on schedule.
The district plans to move to a new information technology center through the Northeast Ohio Network for Educational Technology, which Hanlon said is preferable for the district compared to its current plan through the Lake Geauga Computer Association.
The transition to NEOnet will occur in the upcoming fiscal year, with the remainder of services moving to the new provide in fiscal year 2024.
A contract with the Educational Service Center of the Western Reserve that was tabled in the May meeting was unanimously passed by Blankenship, Wilson and board member Todd Albright. Keith Brewster and C.J. Paterniti were absent from the meeting.
Albright, who requested the contract be tabled last month, said he appreciated the added information from Treasurer Deb Armbruster, but asked whether the ESC could move up their timeline for providing a fee schedule to the district.
“The only difficulty with that is — and I understand where you’re coming from — is they wait until they see what districts are projecting is their utilization of those (ESC) services, and they wait until they get actual head counts so they can divide the costs out and attribute those back to the districts,” Hanlon said. “And, unfortunately, things change over the summer, students move, families move in and families move out — and so where we might be projecting three in the spring, it may end up being two in the fall. And that’s why they reserve the calculation of those fees until they get into the school year.”
During the public comment section of the meeting, two St. Anselm School parents asked the board to do a better job of providing busing for their children.
Jacqueline Finomore, of Munson Township, said last summer, she and other parents at St. Anselm received a phone call the day of the meeting during which the board voted they would not be able to provide busing to the private Catholic school in Chester Township.
Parents later received a letter saying the board determined providing transportation for her students would not be practical. As the PTO president, she said she drives back and forth sometimes five or six times a day from her home in Munson to the school.
“I have four kids in the school. We pay property taxes. We pay over $12,000 to send our kids to school there,” Finomore said. “It’s $125 to fill my tank right now. After seeing the treasurer’s report, I’m asking that you would please just give us busing for next year. It’s really hard for some people.”
When another parent echoed Finomore’s questions, Armbruster took her contact information and said she would make sure to get the parents an answer.
The full meeting is available on-demand at www.geaugatv.org.
