LIBERTY-BENTON LOCAL SCHOOLS

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2006

BOARD OF EDUCATION OFFICE 9190 CO. RD. 9, FINDLAY OHIO

REGULAR BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING  6:00 PM

STRATEGIC PLANNING WORK SESSION IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING

 

I.          Call to Order

Pledge of Allegiance……………………………………………………Jeff Shadle, Board President

II.          Recognition of Visitors

Approval of minutes from the Monday, August 21, 2006 regular and special board of education meetings

III.        Communications and Discussion

Denise Matson – family fitness programming summary

IV.       Principals’ Reports

Brian Burkett, Bruce Otley, Brenda Frankart

V.        Treasurer’s Report………………………………………………………………………Lisa Dobbins

VI.       Superintendent’s Report ……………………………………………………………Dennis L. Recker

VII.      New Business

A.    Approve Consent Agenda, to include:

1.       Listing of Bills, Expenditures and Investments through 8/31/06, and monthly financial report of the Treasurer.

2.       Approve appropriation modifications for  September  2006

3.       Approve permanent appropriations for FY2007

4.       Approve “Then and Now” PO#128488 Weekly Reader $972.40 (Joyce Jackson)

5.       Approve “Then and Now” PO#128480 Scholastic $208.50 (Erickson)

6.       Approve the obsolete/disposed of inventory items

7.       Approve change order M-1 to provide 110 gallons of Glycol to new chiller and cooling system for Liberty-Benton Middle School

8.       Approve change order M-2 to provide, install, and support flanged strainer for new chiller at Liberty-Benton Middle School.

9.       Accept $1000 donation from the L-B Academic Boosters for deposit to the Student Incentive account

10.   Approve Mr. Brian Burkett, a 2 year contract extension as elementary principal through 2008-09 school year

11.   Approve Lisa Dager, Ohio Reads Grant $2000 and Ohio Reads Volunteer Coordinator $2000 as prescribed by respective grants

12.   Approve the following resignations:

Heather Murray, High School Majorette Advisor to accept the position of High School Flag Line Advisor, effective 2006-07 school year

13.   Approve the following changes to classified personnel for the 2006-07 school year:

Kathy Fields, increase length of day 15 minutes

Kathy Taylor, increase length of day 15 minutes

14.   Approve the following changes to certified personnel:

Mike Scoles, increase to 11M+30

Sharon Schmutz, increase to 10M+30

Jordan Hamilton, increase to 2M

Brian Niemeyer, increase to 5M+15

Patti Spiegel, increase to 19M

15.   Approve the following extra-curricular personnel for the 2006-07 school year:

Heather Murray, High School Flag Line Advisor

Pat Wagner, 7th Girls Basketball Coach

Shawn Martien, Volunteer Football Coach

B.    Approve 2006-07 rates of $40 per assigned student per day for Juvenile Detention Center and $36 per student per day for Juvenile Residential Center.

VIII.    Other Business

IX.       Executive Session

X.        Adjournment
 

LIBERTY-BENTON LOCAL SCHOOLS

DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION REPORT

SEPTEMBER, 2006

 

  1. In checking further with Mr. Roth, our architect, if we use the bottom of the home bleachers, we’ll be able to create approximately 3,000 square feet of actual, usable space.  This would house some of our grounds equipment, all our track and field equipment (mats, hurdles), football equipment.  Since we rent space ($1200 last year), that would allow us to bring the items we store off-grounds back to the school.
  2. I was reading Newsweek’s article on the best colleges in the U.S.  Of the top 100 liberal arts colleges in the country, Oberlin ranked 22nd in the nation, and was the highest ranking Ohio college on this list.  It appears that we’ve made a good choice in working with this college.
  3. With the listing of school performance indexes (PI) to determine the level of individual building and district wide performance (Academic Emergency through Excellent), what is sometimes overlooked is how do schools nurture students and how much do they “grow” in their performance?  Sometimes when we see the performance of student academic growth, a more compelling “story” can be told of what happens from grade level to grade level and from 3rd grade though high school.  Note the following performance indexes and the growth differential (the higher the differential, the greater the growth of student performance).

SCHOOL         EL (PI)     MS (PI)        HS (PI)        GROWTH    DISTRICT (PI)    RATING

                                                                                “Differential”

Arcadia                101.7       95.8               104.9                +3.2                  101.3             Excellent

Arlington           96.2      102.3 (MS/HS combined)          +6.1                  99.5               Effective

Cory-Rawson    95.2        93.6             103.3                  +8.1                  97.3               Effective

Liberty-Benton  94.8        99.4             108.5                 +13.7                100.5               Excellent

McComb          96.3         94.9             101.5                  +5.2                  97.3               Effective

Van Buren        95.9       102.4             107.1                +11.2                101.3               Excellent

Vanlue              91.8      91.6 (MS/HS combined)           -0.2                  91.7                 Effective

            Source:  Ohio Department of Education website.  Data compiled by Mr. Irwin for Mr. Recker.                

  1. Enclosed are copies of “The Board”.  (Item A)
  2. Last spring we had majorettes.  Now we don’t.  Am recommending that we accept Heather Murray’s resignation as Majorette Advisor and award her Flag Lane Advisor position, which is functioning.  (Item B)
  3. Of the 19 of 70 schools listed in The Blade that achieved excellent ratings, 5 of those 9 (including L-B) did not meet NCLB’s AYP.  Perrysburg, who had the 3rd highest performance with a performance index of 104 (compared to L-B’s 100.5) did not meet AYP.
  4. I’m enclosing two articles, one from Columbus Dispatch and one from Cleveland Plain Dealer which shows how No Child Left Behind is beginning to show some discrepancies in overall school performance relative to some sub-groups.  At question here is a federal performance mandate versus achievement relative to ability or “talent” levels.  (Item C)
  5. We hosted Jarrod’s Law inspection training for Northwest Ohio Health Departments and had our own “walk-through”.  We’ll also be hosting a meeting for the local superintendents regarding school roles in case of a pandemic.  L-B is the inoculation center for the county and L-B has been serving on a county-wide planning group, led by Blanchard Valley Hospital and local emergency agencies.
  6. Having faced three successive years of health insurance premium increases (19.5% this year and 10% last year, though we were able to get a reduction to 6%, and a 25% increase the year before), we need to seek future alternatives that will protect our employees and not be so devastating to our district budget.  I’m hoping that we might have an option (voluntary for staff) available yet this fall.  It is wise to do this now rather than wait for the negotiations, which can be a worrisome exercise when the impression (rightly or wrongly) is that benefits may be reduced. 

We entered into an agreement last year with a group that would expedite care and act as an advocate for our employees, and at the same time, reduce costs and lower the level of premium increases.  After one year, the reviews are “mixed” and this year will be more “telling”, as to the effectiveness of the group.

Since we speak in terms of percentages, our premium costs have been 19.5%, 6%, and 25% over three years. 

Our actual dollar increases over three years has been a 58% increase in cost for $709.58 per month in 2003-04 to $1123 per month for the 2006-07 school year.  This is nearly a $5000 per year increase ($4968 to be exact), of which $3974 is “board new premium dollars”.

To our staff’s credit, when we were on the verge of “bankruptcy” so to speak in 1990, our employees left first dollar coverage with all premiums paid, to paying 20% for premiums for family and 5% for single coverage, beginning in 1992, while moving to “basic” plan versus the “Cadillac” plan.  Now, after 15 years, we face a similar situation and need to see if any other alternatives exist.

Even with these “scaled back” benefits, as compared to other schools (though the other schools are now moving to what we’ve done), the family premium cost has moved from $709 per month to $1123 per month, a 58% increase over three years.

My hope is that if there is “something out there” that could serve our staff and district well, and create another “cushion of time” like we did in 1992.

  1. Mr. Burkett is in the last year of his contract and has worked diligently with families and teachers on behalf of the district in improving not only academic performance, but strengthening a sense of community, usually reserved to middle schools and high schools through extra-curricular programs.  I’m asking that we provide Mr. Burkett a two year contract extension, through the 2008-09 school year.
  2. Sometimes one needs to just shake our heads.  The Thomas Fordham Foundation, whatever that is, just released a study on the dismal state of American education and gave each state a grade by subject area. 

Overall, Ohio scored a D+, with a C in English, D in Math, B in Science, a D in U.S. History, and an F in World History.

Looking at some comparative data, namely the ACT, a score of 21.1 is the national average.  This past year Ohio scored as follows:

English 20.8, Math 21.3, Reading 21.0, Science 21.5, with a 21.5 Composite

L-B scores are:

English 22.3, Math 22.8, Reading 23.1, Science 23.2, with a 22.9 Composite

Since this test is achievement based, one begins to see some “think-tanks” prefer indoctrination to knowledge.  The highest scoring state, Minnesota, received a D+ overall rating also the closest thing to being a “perfect” state, per this study, is Indiana, along with California and Massachusetts.  So I think I’ll add Indiana’s ACT performance:

English 21.1, Math, 21.6, Reading 22.2, Science 21.4, with a 21.7 Composite.  Now to get a real “chuckle” out of this, Indiana tested 20% of its seniors, while Ohio tested 60%, and L-B tested 77%.

  1. Looking ahead (way ahead, I hope), I looked at schools in our comparison group who have been in financial difficulty.  Three of our 20 comparable schools have been in fiscal caution or warning status, but “voted” themselves out of trouble by passing additional revenues.  Since these schools had to reduce “extras”, as a “first step” to recovery, it is interesting to note that in terms of overall performance index, they ranked 13 of 20, 14 of 20, and 20 of 20 in student performance and none met AYP.  Along with “digging a financial hole” these schools also “dug a hole” of weakening academic performance.  What was most annoying was that these schools “trimmed” all areas of cost per state “input” and ended up with per pupil administrative costs of $1051, $1220, and $980 per pupil, compared to L-B’s $827 per pupil.  This compared to instructional costs of $4316, $4689, and $3797 per pupil, compared to L-B’s $4080 per pupil instructional costs.  So much for the theory of a “65% solution”, when these schools had instructional costs averaging 55.3%.  L-B is at 56.5%, 1.2% more instructionally, L-B’s 11.5% compared to an average 13.4% administratively, or 1.9% less than the other schools.  The schools who just were moved from fiscal watch had reduced their costs to 55.6% instructionally and 14.2% administratively before they were released from fiscal caution or fiscal watch.

 (Item D)

  1. We need to approve student rates for L-B students who may be incarcerated in Bowling Green.  Juvenile Detention Center costs are $40 per day and Juvenile Residential Center costs are $36 per day.
  1. When Ohio builds schools, we finally see Vanlue eligible for state funding.  They ranked 164 in terms of eligibility, based upon district “wealth”, considered as per pupil valuation.  To put into perspective where we sit, the following is the ranking of Hancock County Schools in FY06.  In FY2000, L-B ranked 378.  In six years time our per pupil valuation has fallen 73 positions, we are becoming “poorer” as a district.

2000                 School              2005                

194                   Vanlue              164       (Already Funded)          2006 (tentative/unofficial)*        

224                   Arlington           219                                                     *(208)

297                   McComb          273                                                       (267)

265                   Cory-Rawson    288                                                       (290)

378                   L-B                  305                                                       (304)

368                   Arcadia            386                                                       (375)

475                   Findlay  429                                                                  (425)

571                   Van Buren        583                                                       (586)

*Cory-Rawson and Van Buren got “richer”, and the rest of the county got “poorer” based on per pupil valuation.

In six years time, Vanlue became “poorer” than 30 other districts, Arlington become “poorer” than 5 other districts, L-B became “poorer” than 73 other districts, and Findlay become “poorer” than 46 other districts.

On the other hand, McComb became “wealthier” than 24 other districts, Cory-Rawson became “wealthier” than 23 other districts, Arcadia became “wealthier” than 18 other districts, and Van Buren became “wealthier’ than 12 other districts.

In FY06, 66 districts remain ahead of us in terms of who receives funding first.  Since Ohio funds at least 10 districts per year, we would theoretically be “under construction” in six years (unless we can get earlier funding).

We must be judicious however.  Swanton Local ranked 420, built a school, and got caught in a financial bind.  They had to contribute a greater share of local funds, underestimated operating costs, and the rest is history.

  1. Each year, for the last four years, the Ohio Department of Education, Office of Exceptional Children has looked for award winning programming entitled, The Walter-Horn Partnering for Progress Awards”.  Franklin Walter was a past revered state superintendent and Ray Horn served as the director of the Office of Exceptional Children for 40 years.  This annual award goes to a single district from each of the 16 Ohio Special Education Resource Centers.

This year, Liberty-Benton is the recipient of this award, and those people who were instrumental in creating greater capacity for learning.  The outstanding contribution, per the Office of Exceptional Children is, “this team’s leadership and initiative in implementing a three tiered model of support that has been successful in meeting the needs of all students”.  The team members being honored are Brian Burkett, Nancy Cramer, Lisa Dager, Deb Ebert, Rhonda Fawcett, Barb Gazette, Tonya Gierke, Ken Horstman, and Carol Waldman.  Our SERCC center administrators shared with me how impressed they were with the open mindedness of staff in attempting to design a model which would directly benefit all children, even though the original emphasis was for students with disabilities.

Congratulations are definitely due for this group effort and the statewide recognized success of these specialists who serve our children with disabilities.  What strikes me as odd however, is that with all the accolades and the strong feelings of a successful venture based on the expertise of SERCC and state officials, is that this sub-group did not meet AYP.  Hmmm………..

  1. Some “things” I found out about L-B operationally:
    1. Of 20 schools in our comparison group, 10 were rated excellent and 10 were rated efficient with a Performance Index average of 99.1, compared to our 100.5.
    2. Of 20 schools, we ranked 7 of 20 in overall performance, yet were 17 of 20 in cost per pupil, being 15th of 20 in size.
    3. As a percentage of budget, L-B devoted 56.5% of it’s per pupil cost to instruction (9th of 20 schools) and 11.5% to administrative costs (17th of 20 schools).
    4. 15 of 20 schools most similar to us did not meet the federal standard of annual yearly progress (AYP), but all were designated excellent or effective.
  2. Just received “hard copy” of local and building report cards.  You’ll note the positive performance trends by each building, and the district, yet be aware of our “At-Risk” status.  You see marked improvement by building and district levels, yet not meeting AYP, this year.  You’ll also note that our building performance affects the entire district’s status. 

We are having DVA’s trained, District Value Added specialists:  Nancy Cramer for elementary, Stacy Pickett for middle school, and Ben Gerken for high school, as well as the district because we’ll need to look at our “numbers”, not just as numbers, but as sub-groups of students, and the curriculum implications and instructional implications for teachers.

This is becoming a task way beyond just our principals or guidance counselors, and teachers.  This will require an effort on the part of all of us to not slip into Tier II status, which has already happened in two area schools, Vanlue and Findlay.  Vanlue will have one of the county curriculum coordinators “camping out” at their school, and the curriculum coordinator spent two years of extensive work with McComb who finally achieved AYP.  (Item E)

  1. Enclosed is an article, originally from The Dayton Daily News that speaks to cost increases in Ohio public schools generally, but also keys in on the urban districts.  While the percentages will vary among all districts, the trend of cost increases are a part of all school systems.  (Item F)
  2. I just found this latest Harris Poll ranking public perception of 23 professions.  It is pleasing to see teachers ranked so high (5th) on the list.  Teachers prestige has risen from 29% in 1977 to 52% in 2006.  Last year alone saw an increase in perception from 47% to 52%.  Only firefighters and nurses shared in this “improved” perception.  (Item G)
  3. I received an update from our tech coordinator, Andrew Eckhart, who reminded the staff users of the need to maintain secure passwords.  When I counted staff users only, he had 132 staff members who have access to our system.  That is a whole lot of people.
  4. Enclosed are some trends to be aware of.  (Item H)
  5. We need to approve two change orders regarding the middle school chiller.  One change order is in the amount of $1457.00 for 110 gallons of glycol.  We thought we’d use the old glycol, but to our surprise, water was in the line instead.  The other change order was for a flanged strainer (filter) which was installed to prevent deterioration of the system.  The cost for this change order is $1413.00.  These two change orders bring the final cost of the project to $62,794.50.  (Item I)

ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Liberty-Benton Board of Education

September 18, 2006

 

As of today, we have the following number of students in our elementary program:

                                                                                    Sept. 2005

Pre-school        -    21  (1 section – ½ a.m. & ½ p.m.)              (  22)

Kindergarten    -    98 (4 sections – avg. class 16.5)                  (  66)                 

First Grade       -    77 (4 sections – avg. class 19.8)                  (  79)                 

Second Grade  -    82 (5 sections – avg. class 20.4)                  (102)                 

Third Grade      -  108 (4 sections – avg. class 20.0)                  (  80)                 

Fourth Grade    -    85 (5 sections – avg. class 19.6)                  (  98)                 

Fifth Grade       -  104 (5 sections – avg. class 20.4)                  (102)                 

TOTAL (K-5):  554 School Average:  20.5                          (527)    Average (19.5)

                           (575 with pre-school) 

 

1.      We had an awesome start to the 2006-07 school year!  Our Meet the Teacher night brought in 88% of our families this year (down slightly from 91% last year).  This is certainly a great way for our students, teachers, and parents to transition back into school.  

 

2.      Our third, fourth, and fifth grade students will begin taking the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (Iowa’s) and Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) this coming week (Sept.18-22).  Reports should be in by Parent/Teacher Conferences.

 

3.      Our PTO Carnival is Sept. 30th from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at our school (actually M.S.).  We will have around 25 games including putt putt, plinko, ring a cane, dunk tank, cake walk, maze room, gold fish game, duck grab, and many other fun games for kids of all ages!  There will be an increbible prize room set up for students to redeem tickets for prizes.  We are also have 6 inflatables from Air Extreme and a professional clown!  We will have lots of fun food to eat as well.  We will be offering shuttle bus service from our H.S. parking lot to the front of our building for safety reasons.  We will not offer any parking out front of the middle school for that day.  This has been a lot of work to put together and I want to thank our PTO (Nicole Hartschuh, Tami Karhoff, Michelle Dukes, and Jeb Darnall to name a few) and our teachers for taking on the task.  It should be a wonderful community experience!

 

4.      We continue to take safety and security seriously as we have updated both our fire safety and security plan for this year.  We have had two successful fire drills to date, utilizing our back-up emergency plan since our alarms are not functioning to date.  Our first lockdown drill was scheduled for Friday.  With school being closed, will be rescheduled this for sometime in the near future.

 

5.      Our second serving line in the elementary cafeteria has helped out tremendously.  We have students in the hallways less and more time to eat.  Our cafeteria staff has adjusted well and I appreciate their effort to make this successful in the transition from one line to two without any additional staff other than a cashier.  Mr. Horstman and I are very pleased with the outcome of this improvement this year.  We again are very thankful for Kevin Schoonover and Roger Frommer’s abilities to do these projects in-house.  They do a remarkable job for our facilities here at Liberty-Benton!

 

6.      On our staff in-service day, teachers received in-service in (1) health/first-aid for diabetes, seizures, allergic reactions, choking, the Hymleich maneuver, and blood born pathegens, (2) Science in-service on new textbook series, and (3) Technology and computer in-service with Andrew.  We strive to bring meaningful in-service to all teachers to meet their needs and continue to provide on-going and sustained professional development.

 

7.      Constitution Day will be observed on Monday, September 18th in the elementary building.  Teachers will have age-appropriate lessons with their students on Monday, as well as some will occur throughout the week.  Mrs. Cramer will be covering lessons on the Constitution as a part of computer class with the interactive SMART Board in her classroom.  Additionally, we will have an informational announcement included in our a.m. announcements regarding the day.

 

8.      The elementary participated in the observance of Sept. 11th this year by having a Patriotic Day in which we wore red, white, and blue to show our support for our country.  Following a special broadcast message regarding the remembrance of that infamous day, we provided an opportunity for a moment of silence.

 

9.      As some of you may have heard or were lucky enough to witness first-hand, I did indeed stoop to the level of dressing up in black tights and a pink tutu last Monday as the reward my students created and voted on last May for me to do.  They were able to exceed over 2,000 hours of summer reading, thus reaching this goal. They fell short of the second goal for Mr. Horstman and I to sumo wrestle wearing the “sumo suits,” but I am sure this will reappear in the future.  I am so happy with the amount of time many students spent reading!  We had students reading over 60 hours this summer.  I will continue to do this each summer to promote reading so that we can minimize the natural regression that can occur if students go idle all summer without educational stimulation.  I can hardly wait to see what the students brainstorm this year in May for next summer!  I also want to say thank you to Nancy Cramer and Teresa Streacker for helping me with my wardrobe for this event.  Truth be told, I believe they enjoyed it probably a little to much.

 

10.  If last year wasn’t exciting enough with 132 kids participating in our Summer AR Reading Program, this year we topped 200 students! A special thank you goes out to the following organizations that helped support reward certificates for the different prize levels for the students: 

 

Meijer, Dominos, Ryan’s, Applebee’s, Outback, Buffalo Wild Wings

 

     We are very proud of the amount of reading these kids as well as the rest of the participants did  

      this summer!  We look forward to an even bigger and better summer program next year!  I want

      to also say thank you AGAIN to two very wonderful people who made this program be such a

      super and successful program:  Mrs. Cramer and Mrs. Hause.  Thank you!!!  These staff

      members put a lot into the program and loved every minute of it with the kids – not to mention

      made a whole lot of popcorn over the summer.  Last but certainly not least, a HUGE THANK

      YOU goes out to Laura Hoehne for creating the prize flyer and coordinating all the prizes for

      us!  We certainly appreciate all her time and dedication to the program for the third year now!! 

 

 

UPCOMING ELEMENTARY EVENTS:

(May be viewed on website under elementary section – event calendar)

 

Sept. 18           IOWA and CogAT Testing begins for Grades 3-5

Sept. 30           School Carnival 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

October 2        Pizza Hut Book It! Begins for all participating classrooms

October 3        3rd Grade Ohio Reading Achievement Test

October 6        Elementary Interims (Mid-terms) sent home

October 9        Picture Re-take Day

                        Kerri Kazaam the Safety Man Assembly (K-2)

Oct. 9-13         Fire Prevention Week!

October 11      Stevi B’s Pizza Night

October 12      2-hour Delay (Collaboration)

October 16      Board of Education Meeting 6:00 p.m.

October 20      PTO Wolfie’s Nuts Fundraiser (K-5) Begins

Middle School Principal’s Report

September 18, 2006

 

 

1) Orientation/Meet the Teacher Student Participation

            6th grade orientation: 98/103 = 95%

            7th grade Meet the Teacher: 79/93 = 84%

            8th grade Meet the Teacher: 87/95 = 92%

 

            Overall Middle School Participation: 90%

 

Both our 6th grade orientation night and meet the teacher night were well attended.  Thank you to the parents and students that came for the evening.  I enjoyed meeting all of you and am looking forward to and excellent school year.   

 

2)  Camp Storer:   Our sixth grade field trip is fast approaching and our students are anxiously awaiting departure to the woods of Jackson Michigan.  On September 14th, our sixth grade students assembled with Program Coordinator Bill Sparks to learn more details about their Camp Storer experience, to be given final reminders, and to have questions answered.  Our sixth grade teachers met with Mr. Sparks after school to make final programming decisions in order to ensure that Liberty-Benton students have both an enjoyable and an educational experience.  Cabin leader training was also held on the 14th at 3:00 p.m.  Parent volunteers were given instruction on daily operations, procedures, safety, and the general responsibilities of being a cabin leader.  A question and answer session followed the presentation. 

 

3) Safety Plans Reviewed/Revised:  Because student safety is always our primary concern, Mr. Burkett and I met to review our current emergency safety procedures.  Some modifications were made that will improve our overall building security in emergency situations.  The plans have been revised, discussed, and distributed to our staffs.  Efforts have also been made to explain to students what to do in case of a lock down.  Drills will be conducted and recorded to comply with House Bill 22.

 

4) Current Enrollment as of 9/15/06

 

Grade                          Male                Female                       Total

    06                              57                       45                              102

    07                              45                       46                                 91

    08                              45                       44                                 93

 

Total Students:          151                     135                               286
 

5) Staff In-Service Day August 29, 2006:  The teachers at Liberty-Benton Middle School had an in-service titled, “The Power of Two”.  The in-service was designed to provide all staff with exposure to co-teaching as a service delivery option.  Co-teaching is defined as: When two or more teachers (or other professionals employed as licensed staff), one a general educator, and the other a special services provider (e.g., special education, related services, ESL, bilingual, reading) share physical space in order to actively instruct a blended group of students, including students with disabilities.  As a part of the in-service, teachers were given exposure to six different models for co-teaching in the classroom.  My hope is that this training will have a positive impact on helping our expanding population of students with special needs experience the growth necessary for them to become successful citizens and to help us meet our AYP goals for our building report card.  9 teachers representing grades 6-8 have signed up for further training on co-teaching at the Northwest Ohio SERCC on October 17, 2006. 

 

6) PTO Magazine Sales Kickoff 9/18/06:  Our PTO has contracted with QSP to launch our first magazine sale.  The sale will run from 9/18-10/6.  Top sellers will get to spend time on the Air Extreme Inflatables on 10/19 and take a ride in a stretch limousine on110/27.  

 

7) PTO Carnival September 30th:  The LB Carnival will be September 30th from 11-3 at the school.  There will be over 25 games including a dunk tank, cake walk, putt-putt, Air Extreme inflatables and more.  This will be a fun filled day for students and parents and a great way to enjoy a beautiful fall afternoon of LB fellowship. 

 

8) Announcements Now On Our Website: In an effort to keep parents, students, and the Liberty-Benton community well informed, the morning announcements will be posted each day as a link on the middle school website. 

 

9) Midterms: Middle School Midterm reports will go home with students on Friday, October 6, 2006.

 

10) Fall Sports: Our fall athletes have demonstrated the integrity, hard work, and team spirit worthy an Eagle.  Below are some highlights:

 

Football: Our young men of the gridiron are currently undefeated with victories over Cory Rawson, Arlington, and Vanlue.

The girls cross country team has had a strong start with the following notable finishes: 

1st at the Chieftain Invitational

2nd at the Columbus Grove and Wayne Trace Invitationals

3rd at the Tiffin Cross Country Carnival

Volleyball: The seventh grade team has a strong start winning most of their matches. The 8th grade team has been showing improvement, with better team play in the most recent matches.

Cheerleading: 2nd place at the summer Attica Cheer Competition

 

HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Board of Education Meeting

September 18, 2006

6:00 P.M.

 

1.)                High School Enrollment – As Of 9-15-06

 

At LBHS         Ours Elsewhere          Total

9th Grade                               111                         0                         111

10th Grade                             116                         2                         118

11th Grade                             108                         0                         108

12th Grade                               95                       12                         107

TOTAL                                  430                       14                         444              

 

2.)                Great Start -  We have had a fantastic start to our school year this Fall.  Everything has been going very smoothly, and all of the students and staff have been doing a terrific job of kicking off the year in a positive fashion.

3.)                Staff In-Service Day -  I just have to say that our Fall In-Service Day this year was outstanding and very meaningful for all of our high school staff.  I took all of the high school staff on a retreat day to Camp Glen for the in-service, and I also included the aides, part-time staff, shared staff, and secretaries in the retreat.  We included everyone this time, and we accomplished some amazing teambuilding feats.  It was the perfect start to the year as I feel we could accomplish anything as a team, and what better timing as we gear up to battle the big, bad Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).  All of the teachers were highly complimentary of their training day, and several said it was the best in-service they have ever attended!J

4.)                Open House -  Our Fall Open House was very low in attendance this year.  Our teaching staff very likely out-numbered the number of students represented by their parents.  I think this problem will continue as long as we continue to hold a Fall Open House because there are more and more conflicts all of the time.  With all of our Fall sports in full swing, football dinners, away soccer games, middle school events, etc…, parents just don’t have enough time to be everywhere at once after they have worked hard all day.  We thank the few parents who did attend, and we did run our full evening of class sessions with them.

5.)                STRIDES & Leadership Day -  Our 4th Annual Student Leadership Day is scheduled to kick-off our STRIDES program for the year on September 28th.  This all-day program will feature Harvey Alston as our speaker this year, and we have many activities, discussions, and competitive events planned for the day.  Many students and staff members look forward to this each year!J

6.)                Homecoming Spirit Week -  Our homecoming spirit week will be held the week of October 2-7.  We will have daily dress-up days, a bonfire and powder puff game, a pep rally, a Friday football game, and a Saturday evening dance.  Go, Eagles!

7.)                Midterms -  High school midterms for the first nine weeks will be mailed home on October 6th.

8.)                School Pictures -  Our school picture day will be September 27th.

9.)                Foreign Exchange Student -  Florian Donath from Germany is here for the year, and he is staying with Donna Hendricks and Jeff Snyder.  They also have a senior who attends Findlay High School.  We had accepted Florian’s placement late last Spring, but now, due to our increased enrollment, I have turned down any additional foreign exchange students.  I have had to order and re-order a lot of extra textbooks, and our teachers are a little stressed about the number of students they have for the year and the number of desks in their room.  We almost even ran out of lockers so I will probably order more for next year.

10.)            Liberty-Benton High School Stevi B’s Pizza Night -  Our night will be the 4th Wednesday of each month.  Come out for some great pizza and a great fundraiser cause.

11.)            Fall Sports -  Congratulations to our Fall sports teams for their tremendous accomplishments so far this season.  Keep up the great work!

12.)            Marching Band -  I would especially like to congratulate the high school marching band on their outstanding performances with the start of the marching season.  They have been quite impressive with their great sound and drills as well as their very sharp appearance.  There are 20 freshmen in the band, and you can tell the whole band has worked hard for this season.  Three cheers for the LBHS Band and their directors, Zach Thomas, Sarah Santilli, and Heather Murray!

13.)            Upcoming Events:

Sept. 22                 Jostens Ring Orders Due Before School

Sept. 27                 Picture Day

Sept. 27                 Stevi B’s Pizza Night

Sept. 28                 4th Annual Student Leadership Day

Oct. 2-7                 Homecoming Spirit Week

Oct. 5                    Jostens Sr. Meeting

Oct. 6                    Homecoming Game

Oct. 7                    Homecoming Dance

Oct. 12                  Two-Hour Collaboration Day

Oct. 13                  Music Boosters BBQ

Oct. 16                  ACT Review

Oct. 23                  ACT Review

Oct. 22-24             OASSA Fall Conference

Oct. 25                  Stevi B’s Night