The Benjamin Logan School Board was notified that the district received a 4.5 star out of 5 rating from the State of Ohio when they received their 2023-2024 report from the State Department of Education and Workforce. Michelle Vandemark, a consultant with the State Support Team Region 6, informed the board of the evaluation in the monthly board meeting Monday night.
Vandemark told the board that her office takes data submitted by school districts and distills it into recommendations for the districts to consider to help them in areas where they are having trouble. She told the board that the district ranked above the state average in graduation rate as well as math and English language arts. Vandemark spoke about how the district is performing:
Superintendent Jon Scheu spoke about the high marks received by the state:
Scheu also acknowledged the great work of all the staff in the district:
In other action, the board recognized the September and October Seniors of the Month. Sadie Staats and Carter Lyden received the honor for September and Kelley Forsythe and Tristan Sheets for October. (Staats was unable to attend the meeting.)
The board also approved the financial report for September 2024, which saw a $50,000 advance from the General Fund to the Athletics Fund, with repayment to be repaid in July 2025. Additionally, the board approved several stipends for the state-mandated Science of Reading training for several teachers, ranging in stipends from $400 to $1,200.
The board approved several staff substitutes and supplemental hires for the district:
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Cassie Coleman for Cafeteria,
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Anastasia Shields as Secretary,
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Danny Butler as Custodian (effective October 10, 2024).
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Josh Titlow (Basketball Coach, MS Girls)
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Gretchen Powell (Cheer Coach Basketball, MS)
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Kristen Hale (Cheer Coach Basketball, JV)
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Alison Spriggs (Cheer Coach Basketball and Football Varsity)
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Andrea Schmidt (Swimming Coach, Girls HS)
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Conor Stewart (Wrestling Coach, MS)
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Matt Marshall (Wrestling Coach, MS)
Gretchen Powell was also appointed as the Creative Writing Club Advisor and the Builders Club Advisor role was split between Holly Bair and Erica Caudill.
The board also approved donations from Larsen Woodworking for FFA projects, boxes of pencils from Habitat for Humanity Restore, and hygiene items for middle school students from the Zanesfield United Methodist Church.
The next regular meeting of the Benjamin Logan Board of Education will be held on Monday, November 18, 2024, at 6:00 PM.
Sally Stolly contributed to this story.