Orrville board swears in new members
The Orrville Board of Education held its most recent meeting on Jan. 10 in the Orrville High library, with Brett Lanz, interim superintendent, and Mark Dickerhoof, district treasurer, both present.
The oath of office was administered to newly elected school board members Megan Middleton and Jamie Kovacs. Continuing their service on the board are Pat Lorson, Sasha Stark and Greg Roadruck, all of whom were present for the meeting.
Pat Lorson was unanimously elected president of the newly formed board. Sasha Stark was unanimously elected vice president of the board. A monthly meeting time was set for the third Tuesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. to be held in the OHS library. This time is a change from Thursdays at the same time.
Lanz asked the board for a series of approvals related to administration and personnel and further asked the board to retain Bricker Graydon and Peters, Kalail and Markakis to provide certain legal services in connection with proceedings relating to education and the operation of the school district. The board approved the superintendent’s agenda unanimously. The board also adopted the 2024-25 tax budget that had been proposed.
The board made committee assignments for board members as follows: Kovacs and Stark, curriculum steering; Lorson and Stark, athletic board; Lorson and Middleton, policy; Kovacs, Ohio School Board Association legislative liaison; Roadruck and Lorson, finance and audit committee; Lorson and Middleton, facilities; and Stark and Middleton, student liaison.
The board meeting also included a public participation session. During that session, two members of the public, Mandi Teague and Amy Beichler, had questions about the proposed school calendar, and Darrell Mosley expressed concern about the district culture and accountability. He expressed his plan to create student leaders.
Regarding the school calendar, the board discussed the possible options for the 2024-25 school calendar. The concerns and ideas that were discussed included starting school earlier in August, having less instructional days, having two weeks off at Christmas and one week at spring break, having more family time during the summer, union contract issues, taxpayer concerns, in-service/PD days, and improving academic achievement. No decision was reached at this meeting.
The board also accepted the donation from Willard E. Smucker Foundation and allocated those funds as follows: $6,000 to be used toward the elementary music program and character education, $3,000 for the OHS band, and $3,000 for the Earth Science Club.