Pettisville School Income Up $44,000

Steve Switzer, Pettisville Local School District superintendent, told members of the board that property tax projections for the district dropped about $53,000 in the 2007 tax year.

But, overall income from local tax sources for the 2007 calendar year was up $44,000.

Switzer gave the board the information during its Monday night, Jan. 14 meeting.

Some of the $53,000 will be replaced by state funds that offset the reduction to the personal tangible property tax. Tax bills for the 2007 tax year will be collected in 2008.

Building Project

Switzer told board members the next step in pursuing a building project under the Ohio School Facilities Commission program would be for the commission to certify the square footage allocation that the commission will fund for the Pettisville district.

Once that has been determined, the school board will schedule a work session to discuss plans and options for a building project.

At present, the board is considering a project that would replace the original high school portion of the facility, but preserve some of the newer additions.

The school board authorized the district to issue a diploma to Tex Edwin Dunning, a Vietnam War veteran who dropped out of school and served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1970.

The diploma will be issued under the provisions of Ohio law that authorizes districts to present diplomas to individuals who left school early and then served in the military.

Quiz Champions

The Pettisville High School quiz team won the championship at the Fulton County Quiz Team competition held in Swanton in December. The team is undefeated.

Members include Jimmie Baatz, Kendahl Baer, Tyler Bechstein, Matt Doughtery, Michael Ferguson, Keely Geringer, Bethany Hartz, Lin Lin Huang, Chris Matthews, Matt Mock, Cory Moon, Jacob Nofziger, Ricky Shipman, Emily Short and Alyx Smith.

Jason Waldvogel, Pettisville elementary principal, told board members the math series used by the elementary now has the student textbook available to students and parents online.

Each student will have a username and password, to go online either at school or at home to use an interactive version of the book that provides additional learning resources.

Waldvogel also reported that the school received $653.30 so far from the box tops for education program.

Students and community members collect specified box tops and bring them to the school. Student council members count, sort, and submit the box tops to a company for the funds. The money is used for special projects, including purchase of digital cameras and audio equipment.

Organizational Meeting

During the board's organizational meeting, John King was reelected president, and Dan Bruner, vice president.

Regular board meetings are the second Monday of each month at 7 pm during the school year and 8 pm during the summer months.

Board members established a service fund of $4,500 to pay expenses for attendance at meetings, conferences, and seminars. The amount was raised from the $3,500 allocated last year due to expectations of more expenses related to the potential building project.

Exec Session

Following the regular board meeting, the board went into executive session for three separate matters.

The private session involved a performance evaluation for the superintendent and treasurer, and discussions about employee negotiations.

The final matter for the executive session was listed as, "the consideration of the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of a public employee, official, or student."

The private session lasted just under two hours. No action was taken following the meeting.

All board members were present and all votes unanimous. Next board meeting is Monday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. - D. J. Neuenschwander