Sep 5, 2008 4 min read

Albert McMinn was hired at a rate of $15 per hour for 10 hours per week with no fringe benefits to oversee the evening and Saturday public hours of the field house. The position will be paid through the district’s payroll until the end of the year when an invoice will be given to the athletic activities office for reimbursement from the athletic fund, according to district business manager Amy Todd.

District employee Tim Jones will continue to monitor the field house during the school day.

Junior-senior high principal John Menhart told the board that there are 24 keys to the field house that have been given out.

One issue was who is using the field house and when. Several board members said that they knew of times that it was left unlocked and unsupervised. Although patrons are required to sign in and out when they utilize the facility this was not always happening.

These matters became cause for the district to look at the current system and see what steps needed to be taken, according to district superintendent Craig Baily. Baily and board Vice President Melodie Berardi said that the athletics committee had spent a lot of time working on the matter and that they felt that the recommendations made were appropriate.

However, directors Ken Ganocy and Jerry Simkovic both said they thought things did not need to come to this point. “If things were done properly in the first place we wouldn’t have had to make these adjustments,” Ganocy said.

Simkovic questioned if the problems being addressed were taken through the proper channels and all options exhausted before deciding to suggest the actions presented to the board.

In addition to hiring McMinn as a monitor, the abolition of the field house community committee was placed on the agenda. The measure to dissolve the committee failed to pass.

As the field house was a community and alumni driven project, several directors said they could not agree with such a measure.

The field house was given by the alumni association to the district in 1998. It was built through the work and support of the community and alumni. The stated intention was to keep it as accessible as possible and a Field House Community Committee was formed to oversee the facilities usage.

A motion was made by Director Tommy Ricco who chairs the athletic committee to collect all of the keys and reformulate the existing community committee and its duties. The motion passed.

McMinn, Jones, and committee members will all ultimately refer matters pertaining to the field house to the athletic director John Kraynak.

Public hours for the field house will be as follows: Monday through Thursday from 6 to 8 a.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m., Fridays from 6 to 8 a.m., Saturdays from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., closed Sundays and holidays.

In other athletics and activities matters, the board approved the raising of ticket prices to all athletic events by $1, leaving senior citizens tickets free-of-charge. As there is not enough interest to support a ninth-grade boys’ basketball team, the board voted to suspend that program for one year.

The board gave approval to the resignation of senior high student council sponsor Melissa Christopher. She will be replaced by Breanna Rice as sponsor.

Under personnel matters, the board accepted the retirement of art teacher Robert Watson, who has been with the district for 30 years. Marlynn White was hired to fill the position.

The board also hired Kristen Chess as a special education teacher, Ronda Pust as a long-term fourth-grade substitute for the first semester for Barb Hathaway who is on sabbatical leave.

Sarah Holleran was also hired as a long-term substitute for the fourth grade.

The board accepted the resignation of Autumn Sullenberger, personal care attendant in the high school. The position will not be filled at this time.