UNION CITY — The Mississinawa Valley (MV) Local Board of Education, at its recent meeting approved the treasurer’s recommendation.
Approved was a resolution declaring the intention to proceed under the alternative tax document format provided under Section 5705.281 of the Ohio Revised Code and to refrain from the preparation of a Tax Budget for the Fiscal Year 2017, and authorizing and directing the chief fiscal officer of Mississinawa Valley Local School District to prepare and to submit to the Darke County Budget Commission such information and documents as are necessary incident to said process and submission, and to take such other actions as may be reasonably necessary incident thereto.
It was reported this fall the elementary was notified that it was on a statewide “watch list” due to the performance of MV subgroups on standardized testing. Last year 265 schools were identified to be on this list, according to a spokesperson for the school. This year over 600+ schools were placed on the list. A Watch School is a school that has a “D” or “F” on the AMO Report Card measure for two years or is receiving state funding for subgroups and those subgroups are not making adequate achievement and progress. Watch schools are a new category of school that has been added to Ohio’s accountability system. These schools must implement and improvement plan to close gaps among low-achieving subgroups by targeting resources and interventions beginning in the 2015-16 school year.
“We are just beginning to learn what all this entails,” said a spokesperson. “As part of the above mentioned accountability system, we are mandated to participate in the Ohio Improvement Process (OIP), which I believe will actually tie in nicely with, and enhance, many of our existing protocols and procedures. Mr. Winchester and I will be developing a District Leadership team to oversee the OIP as well as other professional development.”
In other action, the board:
• Accepted a request for the MD Class to travel to Muncie, Indiana, for which the date had not been determined at the time. The MD class was also approved to attend the Shrine Circus in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on Jan. 21, 2016.
• Discussed the substitute teacher hourly rate.
• Learned that an estimate for replacing four windows in the administration building was received.
Recognized were:
• Those inducted into the National Honor Society: Mariah Hannan, Kayla Harris, Kelsie Hunt, Grace Livingston, Shaiann Livingston, Madison Stachler, Joseph Teeter and Savanna Woodruff. Current members are Leslie Dirksen, Kasey Hummel and Hope Jankowski.
• Joseph Teeter, who was recognized at the state level in the Job Interview Career Development Event (CDE). He earned the top spot in his division at the district level, and then went on to compete in Columbus for a state title. After winning his division at state, he went through another interview process to possibly be named the overall winner. Teeter was rewarded second place overall. When asked his opinion on the CDE, he stated,” It definitely was worth it. The skills I learned will be ones that I’ll use for the rest of my life when interviewing for any type of position. I’m very lucky to have had the chance to do this.”
• The Novice Parliamentary Procedure team, which placed fourth of eight teams in the county contest. The team members are Cody Dirksen, Mason Hiestand, Mason Hummel, Bailey Johnson, Luke Livingston, Justin Miller, Kyler Mote, Olivia Murphy, Blake Scholl, Emily Schmitz and Grant Stachler. The Advanced Parliamentary Procedure team placed second at county and fifth at district. Those team members are Leslie Dirksen, Hope Jankowski, Shaiann Livingston, Shelby Manning, Madison Stachler, Joseph Teeter and Megan Wilson. Students in this event learn parliamentary procedures as well as debating in a professional and well-spoken manner.
• The Robotics Club which recently competed in its first tournament of the year in Jay County, qualifying for the finals and ultimately finishing in second place with two other teams. The team members are Amber Flora, Bethany Flora, Alex Longfellow, Ean Tripp and Savanna Woodruff.
• MV Senior Dalton Geesy, who was named to the Associated Press All-Ohio Division 7 Special Mention Football Team.
• DJ Stein, who will be representing the school in the county spelling bee in January. Judah Ben Winchester placed second in the school competition while Katie Ibarra was third.
The school board’s reorganizational meeting will be Jan. 11 at 7 p.m.
