FR to begin principal search

FORT RECOVERY — Now the search for a new principal can begin.
Fort Recovery School Board on Wednesday accepted the resignation of high school principal Jeff Hobbs during a special meeting.
Board members also agreed to be part of a levy proposal to fund a new Tri-Star facility and selected a contractor to install a fire system panel at the elementary/middle school.
Board members Jose Faller, Ginny Fortkamp, Mike Grube and Mitch Ervin, absent Aaron Guggenbiller, voted to accept Hobbs’ letter of resignation, which was submitted Tuesday.
Hobbs announced last week that he would be leaving the principal job he has held for seven years to become superintendent at Fairlawn, located southeast of Sidney in Shelby County. The Fairlawn School Board approved his hiring April 20.
With the letter of resignation accepted, the principal job will be posted today. Superintendent Justin Firks hopes to have the position filled as soon as possible, but emphasized the importance of finding the right candidate for the job.
“I think a lot of them will be similar to what we were looking for last year when we did the superintendent search,” added board president Jose Faller of the qualities the board will be looking for in its next principal. “Someone who is a positive role model for the students, the staff, the community. Someone who’s a leader. Someone who’s strong educationally.”
The board accepted a resolution to make Celina City School District’s board the fiscal board of the partnership to submit a bond issue for the construction of a new $24.3 million, 95,567 square-foot facility for “Tri Star 2.0.” The 15-year, $17-million levy will appear on the August ballot.
Tri-Star is a partnership between nine school districts in Mercer and Auglaize counties to provide career technical education to high school juniors and seniors. It currently operates at six locations — three in Celina, two in St. Marys and one in Coldwater.
Plans call for the new facility, which would receive $8.1 million in funding through the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, to be built across the road from Wright State University Lake Campus on Ohio 703 on the east side of Celina.
The levy is expected to come in at 0.9 to 0.95 mills. If it passes, the projected cost to taxpayers is $33.25 per year on every $100,000 worth of property.
The goal is to have the new facility open for the 2019-20 school year.
Board members also selected Minster firm SecurCom’s bid of $45,700 to install a new fire system control panel at the elementary middle school. They had also received an estimate of $38,240 from NuWave Technology, Coldwater, but the company did not meet the bid requirements in a variety of areas.
The school had estimated the project at $50,000.
In other business, the board:
•Accepted Jeff Wendel as a volunteer baseball coach.