EATON — The Preble County Educational Service Center continued to discuss Senate Bill 216 during its December meeting, held on Friday, Dec. 22. According to Superintendent Mike Gray, so many people (government officials and school superintendents alike) are coming together on this bill which is moving on a quick path.
Many schools have sent in resolutions of support for Senate Bill 216.
“There are 80 items in the bill right now and most of them will probably stay, but some will be amended. I was at a meeting with ESC Superintendents two weeks ago with Peggy Lehner. It was all form this area, all of Preble County, all of Darke County, and a lot of Montgomery County Superintendents were there. There were maybe 40 of us in a room with Peggy Lehner,” Gray said.
“Of course we wanted to talk to her, because she is the Senate President. I think she is on board with a lot of stuff, so we will see how this comes about, but this is a deregulation of things they have regulated us on during the past 10-12 years. Things have been added to it, but nothing has ever been taken away, so this is kind of taking some of that away.”
He added that he was invited by the Mercer County ESC Superintendent to go to Lima and listen to a group of 30 superintendents discuss with BASA on ways to help Senate Bill 216. They have hired a consultant to put bills together to help with the bill.
“They are really moving quickly with this, because they are getting ready to vote on 216,” Gray said. “They have monthly meetings and we may be visiting that again. Just looking at things that we need as superintendents or administrators for education.”
In less positive news, Shawn Hoff, Assistant to the Superintendent, shared that the school did not receive a safety grant they had applied for.
“We had no explanation as to why. I could guess, it was for charter non-public, but we qualified. We will still continue to look at what we can do to improve some of the safety and security of our building,” he said.
ESC Alternative School Principal Brent Short added, they are still trying to get their classrooms out into the community. Thus, they have been volunteering at food banks and even participated with Christmas for Kids. According to Short, the kids did great and had no behavior problems or issues.
The Twin Valley Elementary Site had quality site visit and are awaiting results, according to Preschool Supervisor Debby Barnett.
In other business:
•The board approved the OSBA membership dues, which included a small increase. The dues cost the board $2,777 in 2017 and will cost $2,883 in 2018.
•The Preble County Spelling Bee will be held on Thursday, Jan. 18. It will be both audio and video recorded.
