FR board hires Stahl

FORT RECOVERY — The new leadership team is in place.
Less than two weeks after selecting Marcus Overman to become its new high school principal, Fort Recovery School Board voted Tuesday to hire St. Henry graduate and teacher Tony Stahl to fill its middle school principal position.
The board also set preschool tuition and elementary school fees for 2016-17 and got an update on third grade reading state test scores.
Stahl, a 2012 graduate of Wright State University, was selected for the middle school job after finishing as the runner-up to Overman for the high school position.
“Although we went in a different direction with that, right away he was somebody that, with his energy, his charisma, the way he communicated, his presentation to our interview committee as far as how he was going to promote and improve the school academically, was outstanding,” said superintendent Justin Firks, who is completing his first year at the helm. “His ideas were right on target with our vision and where we’re going in our district. … We’re excited to have him.”
Stahl replaces Matt Triplett, who resigned in May to become the athletics director at Parkway. He was given a two-year contract that begins Aug. 1 and was approved for up to 10 days at a rate of $275 per day through July 31 to allow him time to get acclimated to the job before his contract begins.
He started his teaching career at Manual High School in Indianapolis before coming home to teach history and social studies at St. Henry. He has also been an assistant football and girls basketball coach for the Redskins.
Stahl noted that his emphasis is on a collaborative learning environment with administrators, teachers, students and parents.
“Fort Recovery is a great community,” he said. “You can clearly see how committed and dedicated people in the community are, people on the staff are. It’s obviously a district that is investing in itself. … Whether it’s facilities or personnel, they’re definitely always pushing that envelope further. It’s really exciting to be a part of that kind of energy.”
Elementary school principal Tracy Hein-Evers also updated the board, saying interviews for the open band director position are scheduled for Thursday. Former band director Sam Piehl resigned this month to accept a position in Wadsworth, Ohio.
Board members Jose Faller, Ginny Fortkamp, Aaron Guggenbiller, Mike Grube and Mitch Ervin also set elementary and middle school student fees, which went up across the board between $5 and $15. They range from $63.50 for kindergarten to $73.60 for third grade.
Tuition for preschool went up by $2 for in-district two-day, three-day and four-day to $95, $120 and $145 respectively. The other tuition fees were unchanged.
Hein-Evers reported that 100 percent of Fort Recovery third graders passed either the American Institute of Research or alternative Terra Nova test this spring. The school had an 89-percent passage rate on the tests in the fall.
Thirty-two percent of Fort Recovery students were rated as advanced, which is 12 percentage points higher than the state average.
In other business, the board:
•Learned from Firks that construction on Williams Street from Butler Street to Barrenbrugge Athletic Park is scheduled for spring 2017. It will include widening of the road and adding sidewalks.
•Approved the following: participation in federal title and grant programs and the free and reduced lunch program; a contract with Northwest Ohio Area Computer Services Cooperative; the renewal of liability, fleet and property insurance with Southwestern Ohio EPC Insurance; the renewal of liability insurance for groups such as booster clubs at a cost of $70 each; handbooks for the 2016-17 school year; participation in the Tri-Star Career Compact; and a tax abatement for Fort Recovery Industries.
•OK’d Rick Kremer as its representative on the Tri-Star Advisory Council.
•Accepted donations totaling more than $4,400, including $2,500 to the athletics department from Fort Recovery Lumber.
•Returned advances of $10,000 from the Title I disadvantaged children fund and $7,000 from the improving teacher quality fund back to the general fund.
•Set the superintendent’s bond with Fort Recovery Insurance Agency at $50,000.
•Approved supplemental contracts for Patricia Lefeld (drama adviser, scholastic bowl), Matthew Kerns (Future Business Leaders Association), Amy Kaiser (Future Teachers of America, guidance), Robyn Armstrong (math science club, LPDC core committee), Janice Osterloh (National Honor Society), Melinda Luthman (newspaper), Julie Billenstein (SADD), Maura Gavit (high school show choir), Julie Schlater (Spanish Club), Kathy Schwieterman (sports medicine club, freshman class), Chelsea Rogers (student council), Victoria Horstman (yearbook, sophomore class), Kim Grube (junior class), Brent Niekamp (senior class), Joseph Hawk (agri-business FFA), Kurt Rammel (athletics director), Michael Gower (vocational agriculture FFA) and Jocelyn Meyer (fifth grade book club). Also approved substitute bus drivers John Bihn, Nicholas Brockman, Jerry Byram, Christopher DuHamel, Charles Etzler, Lisa Fullenkamp, Michael Gower, Phillip Harris II, Joseph Hawk, Sandra Kaiser, Nancy Reinhard, Barbara Sautbine, Michael Thien, Ryan Thien, Randall Wendel, Kurt Wendel, Roger Wenning and Herbert Westgerdes.