November 23, 2016 at 5:45 p.m.
Tri-Star to sell bonds locally
Fort Recovery School Board
Tri-Star to sell bonds locally
FORT RECOVERY — Having already shown strong support at the polls for Tri-Star 2.0, local residents will get the opportunity to invest in the facility as well.
Tim Buschur of Tri-Star Career Compact updated Fort Recovery School Board on the project Tuesday, noting that bonds will be available for purchase in Mercer and Auglaize counties.
The board also learned about a proposal to live stream Midwest Athletic Conference athletic events on the internet and got a report about the status of its transportation staff and vehicles.
Buschur first thanked the community for its support of Tri-Star 2.0, an effort to build a new $20-million facility for career and technical education.
Tri-Star, a partnership between nine school districts in Mercer and Auglaize counties, currently works out of six locations — three in Celina, two in St. Marys and one in Coldwater.
“It passed 75-25. That’s pretty incredible,” said Buschur of the 15-year, 0.95-mill levy that was on the ballot in August. “It was 80-20 in Mercer County, and I think Fort Recovery’s district was about 78 percent. The (Ohio School Facilities Commission) was amazed. They said they’ve never had anything like that in the history of their projects. I think that shows we probably did the right thing.”
He added that the process of preparing to sell bonds has been slower than he would have liked, but that he hopes it will be complete within the next few weeks. He noted that those bonds will be sold locally, in increments as low as $5,000.
Tri-Star officials are currently reviewing architect bids, with plans to hire one Jan. 5. The goal is for construction to be complete around May 2019 and for the facility, which will be located at Wright State University Lake Campus in Celina, to begin holding classes that fall.
Tim Buschur of Tri-Star Career Compact updated Fort Recovery School Board on the project Tuesday, noting that bonds will be available for purchase in Mercer and Auglaize counties.
The board also learned about a proposal to live stream Midwest Athletic Conference athletic events on the internet and got a report about the status of its transportation staff and vehicles.
Buschur first thanked the community for its support of Tri-Star 2.0, an effort to build a new $20-million facility for career and technical education.
Tri-Star, a partnership between nine school districts in Mercer and Auglaize counties, currently works out of six locations — three in Celina, two in St. Marys and one in Coldwater.
“It passed 75-25. That’s pretty incredible,” said Buschur of the 15-year, 0.95-mill levy that was on the ballot in August. “It was 80-20 in Mercer County, and I think Fort Recovery’s district was about 78 percent. The (Ohio School Facilities Commission) was amazed. They said they’ve never had anything like that in the history of their projects. I think that shows we probably did the right thing.”
He added that the process of preparing to sell bonds has been slower than he would have liked, but that he hopes it will be complete within the next few weeks. He noted that those bonds will be sold locally, in increments as low as $5,000.
Tri-Star officials are currently reviewing architect bids, with plans to hire one Jan. 5. The goal is for construction to be complete around May 2019 and for the facility, which will be located at Wright State University Lake Campus in Celina, to begin holding classes that fall.
Fort Recovery High School principal Marcus Overman told board members Jose Faller, Ginny Fortkamp, Mitch Ervin, Mike Grube and Aaron Gugenbiller about an offer from NKTelco of New Knoxville to offer live streaming of Midwest Athletic Conference events. The company has requested a three-year deal for exclusive rights in which the MAC schools would split a percentage of ad revenue.
Overman noted that the MAC membership had agreed that committing to such a deal would need to be unanimous so that a school would not be forced into an agreement it does not want.
Though no formal vote was taken, board members spoke against the offer. Among their concerns were a potential impact on attendance at events, little financial gain and strain on local businesses being approached for advertising.
“It feels like the incentives are low,” said Faller, the board’s president.
Superintendent Justin Firks also indicated that he is not a fan of the idea.
Building and transportation supervisor Kurt Wendel told the board there remains a need for more bus drivers, especially for extracurricular activities, and that two buses are on the verge of needing to be replaced.
Fort Recovery has 23 certified bus drivers with all of its seven regular routes covered full-time, but it continues to be difficult to find drivers for after-school activities. Wendel suggested increasing the pay rate for such trips to $12.50 an hour with a $25 minimum.
He also pointed out that two buses, purchased in 2000 and 2003 respectively, will need to be replaced soon. Both have more than 115,000 miles on them.
The base price for a new bus is $87,776.
In other business, the board:
•Accepted the resignation of Brendon Moody as cross country and track coach, and then hired Todd Bevington as the new cross country coach.
•Learned from principal Tony Stahl that the middle school student council collected more than 140 boxes of items to be distributed through Operation Christmas Child.
•Got updates on the schedule for several upcoming events, including Gingerbread House night sponsored by Fort Recovery FFA at 6 p.m. in the high school commons and the elementary school Christmas program at 7 p.m. Dec. 13.
•Heard that the elementary/middle school will hold a lockdown drill Dec. 2.
•OK’d a contract with Mercer County Health Department for services in 2017.
•Accepted $600 in donations, including $300 to the volleyball team from Fort Recovery Historical Society.
•Set board member compensation at $80 per meeting for a total of 16 meetings for 2017.
•Made changes to bring its athletic handbook up to date with OHSAA policies. One of those modifications was in reference to whether athletic teams can hold practices on days when school is canceled because of inclement weather.
•Approved a field trip for eighth grade students April 9 through 14 to Washington, D.C.
•Changed the start time of is December 20 meeting to 5:30 p.m. Also set its 2017 organizational meeting for 6 p.m. Jan. 10. The regular board meeting will follow at 6:30 p.m.
Overman noted that the MAC membership had agreed that committing to such a deal would need to be unanimous so that a school would not be forced into an agreement it does not want.
Though no formal vote was taken, board members spoke against the offer. Among their concerns were a potential impact on attendance at events, little financial gain and strain on local businesses being approached for advertising.
“It feels like the incentives are low,” said Faller, the board’s president.
Superintendent Justin Firks also indicated that he is not a fan of the idea.
Building and transportation supervisor Kurt Wendel told the board there remains a need for more bus drivers, especially for extracurricular activities, and that two buses are on the verge of needing to be replaced.
Fort Recovery has 23 certified bus drivers with all of its seven regular routes covered full-time, but it continues to be difficult to find drivers for after-school activities. Wendel suggested increasing the pay rate for such trips to $12.50 an hour with a $25 minimum.
He also pointed out that two buses, purchased in 2000 and 2003 respectively, will need to be replaced soon. Both have more than 115,000 miles on them.
The base price for a new bus is $87,776.
In other business, the board:
•Accepted the resignation of Brendon Moody as cross country and track coach, and then hired Todd Bevington as the new cross country coach.
•Learned from principal Tony Stahl that the middle school student council collected more than 140 boxes of items to be distributed through Operation Christmas Child.
•Got updates on the schedule for several upcoming events, including Gingerbread House night sponsored by Fort Recovery FFA at 6 p.m. in the high school commons and the elementary school Christmas program at 7 p.m. Dec. 13.
•Heard that the elementary/middle school will hold a lockdown drill Dec. 2.
•OK’d a contract with Mercer County Health Department for services in 2017.
•Accepted $600 in donations, including $300 to the volleyball team from Fort Recovery Historical Society.
•Set board member compensation at $80 per meeting for a total of 16 meetings for 2017.
•Made changes to bring its athletic handbook up to date with OHSAA policies. One of those modifications was in reference to whether athletic teams can hold practices on days when school is canceled because of inclement weather.
•Approved a field trip for eighth grade students April 9 through 14 to Washington, D.C.
•Changed the start time of is December 20 meeting to 5:30 p.m. Also set its 2017 organizational meeting for 6 p.m. Jan. 10. The regular board meeting will follow at 6:30 p.m.
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