SCOTT TRUXELL/freelance editor
Van Wert City Schools is well protected when it comes to safety, and a new safety measure will be implemented in the fall. That was the message delivered by Assistant Superintendent Bob Priest during Wednesday night’s school board meeting.
Priest attended the Ohio Safe Schools Safety Summit last month and said the focus was on school shootings. After hearing reports, stories and more from other school districts, Priest said he is confident the local school system is ahead of the curve.
“Van Wert City Schools, Van Wert Police Department, Van Wert County Sheriff’s Office and the Highway Patrol – our collaboration, our plans, our procedures – when we look at the schools where shootings have occurred and how the police and the schools have handled them, we are way ahead of them,” Priest told the board. “I can’t imagine that kind of planning or lack of planning going on here. I’m very proud of our collaboration with local law enforcement.”
Later in the meeting, board member Greg Blackmore, who represents the board on the Safety Council, said another security line is coming.
“We have started a partnership with Raptor Technologies to offer a new visitor pass program,” he said. “Hopefully we can implement it in mid or late October. Everyone who enters the school will have to show a driver’s license, which will be scanned. If everything goes right, the visitor will be given a visitor pass and allowed in.”
Blackmore also said that more information will be released in the coming weeks.
Priest informed the board that the district has added a fifth shuttle route to reduce capacity for middle and high school students. He also said bus schedules for kindergarten students will be slightly delayed on their first day of school.
“Remember, at kindergarten age, everyone wants to take a photo, so things have been delayed a bit,” he explained.
He added that things were much better on Wednesday.
In his report, Superintendent Mark Bagley praised the staff for a successful start to the school year. He also said that Phase II of renovations at Eggerss Stadium should be completed by the next home game on Sept. 13 against Defiance.
The board accepted the resignation of middle school assistant Elizabeth Saunier and approved Samantha Spangler as middle school assistant. Board members also approved a one-year leave of absence for third-grader Brianna Pelfrey and hired Hanna Heitkamp as a long-term substitute teacher. Brooke Sinn was approved as a long-term substitute kindergarten teacher.
The board also approved dozens of additional contracts for positions ranging from RTI manager to various club advisors.
Other agenda items approved by the Board were:
- Career Education Opportunity (CEO) program agreements with Crestview and Lincolnview.
- Contracts with Crestview, Lincolnview and Parkway for students attending Van Wert School in Goedde.
- Tuition fees for the 2024-2025 school year.
- All bus routes and shuttle schedules for the current school year.
- The Sports Handbook 2024-2025.
- An agreement with the Wood County Juvenile Detention Center-Juvenile Residential Center of Northwest Ohio for the current school year.
- A Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) agreement with First Federal Savings and Loan of Van Wert.
The next meeting of the Van Wert City Schools Board of Education will be held on Wednesday, September 25th at 5:00 p.m. in the First Federal Lecture Hall at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center.
