The Clear Fork Valley Local Schools Board of Education heard from various speakers during its regular meeting Thursday evening in Bellville. Among them was Village of Bellville Mayor Darrell Banks, who addressed the board with a request for support in the effort to establish a Clear Fork subdistrict of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD).
Banks discussed the Clear Fork Valley floods of 1913, 1938, 1959, and 1987, noting that in 1959, a school bus had to be backed up to the loading dock of the Hines Avenue building and children boarded the buses by walking across planks. He added that the flood of 1987 caused $3.3 million dollars in damages.
“First I talked about ’13, ’38, ’59, and ’87. Twenty or thirty years in between, we can live with that. But that’s not what we have today,” said Banks. “What we have today is twice a year. This past year, it was three times. People lose their hot water heaters, their furnaces. It’s more prevalent. It’s happening more often.”
After a brief discussion, the board voted unanimously to support the petition.
Community member and Clear Fork parent Tom Belcher addressed the board on the matter of establishing a freshman baseball team. Dave Ritter, Clear Fork Interim Superintendent, said he would look into the matter and contact Belcher.
Derek Fisher of the Knox County Career Center spoke briefly, noting the senior awards ceremony would be held May 22 at 6:30 p.m. He also announced the Skill Trades Aptitude Readiness Training (START) program which will begin next year.
Adam Staley, Career Studies teacher with the Clear Fork Vocational-Agriculture program (Vo-Ag), spoke, along with three FFA officers: President Samantha Wander, Vice President Ellyse Shafer, and Sentinel Joe Potoczny. Also present were Career Studies teachers and Vo-Ag advisers Danielle Hulit and Matt Dotson.
The group distributed copies of the FFA National Chapter Award which highlighted the accomplishments of the program for the year.
“This year,” noted Staley, “we are in the top ten in our state. We’re also recognized as a model of innovation because of the community development that we do within the community.”
Staley added that many things are offered under the Vo-Ag umbrella, “We can incorporate a lot of really cool things into the curriculum we have. Now we’ve got biotechnology, we’ve got leadership and communications, natural resources. We have drafting, we have welding, then we have the traditional Vo-Ag classes.”
Lisa Kvochick, second grade teacher from Butler Elementary and representative of the District Leadership Team, then spoke to the board about the District Leadership Team’s “Good to Great” grant.
“The committee was given the job of setting the requirements for the “Good to Great” grant proposed at a February board meeting. The committee decided it would be wise to start small on this proposal and expand the dollar amount later if desired or needed; $5,000 is the proposed budget for the committee,” said Kvochick.
She went on to note that the grants are for the 2014-2015 school year and that more information was forthcoming.
Jennifer Moore, science teacher at Clear Fork High School, addressed the board and gave a presentation on “Improving Student Achievement,” which was her capstone project. Moore is seeking a master’s degree in administration.
Other agenda items addressed were the approval of personnel contracts and the scheduling of a board of education work session.
In new business, the board accepted the quotes for the summer paving project. The project was awarded to Ambry Asphalt in the amount of $82,085. The project will begin shortly after the end of the school year and is scheduled to be completed by the beginning of August. Treasurer Larry Lifer noted that a performance bond was required.
“We can incorporate a lot of really cool things into the curriculum we have. Now we’ve got biotechnology, we’ve got leadership and communications, natural resources. We have drafting, we have welding, then we have the traditional Vo-Ag classes,” said FFA advisor Adam Staley.
