MANSFIELD, Ohio — The Mansfield City Schools Board of Education approved hiring a number of personnel during the regular meeting Tuesday, including Rob McQuate as the principal at Mansfield Middle School and Karly Watterson as the assistant principal at Sherman Elementary School.
McQuate joined the district last school year when he worked as the assistant principal at the middle school.
With his one-year experience at Mansfield City Schools, he said, “I know that there’s a lot still to learn, but I had good support in my first year there, so I feel pretty comfortable.”
Though he’s relatively new to the district, he just completed his 21st year as an educator, having served at various schools/educational facilities throughout the region.
“I am thrilled, excited and honored to be in this position,” he said. “We have some of the best students, staff, teachers in the state of Ohio and I’m just looking forward to continuing the academic, social, athletic success that we have had and continue the tradition of excellence that’s been laid down there at the middle school.”
Watterson, a Northmor native, previously worked at Northmor Elementary School, where she started off by serving as a teacher’s aide for one year and then taught first and second graders for seven years.
She’s looking forward to serving as an administrator.
“I love to look at things from a big-picture perspective, and so I’ve always kind of been drawn to that,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to keeping my mind in that big picture focus and being able to support the teachers.”
Also approved by the board that evening were several recommendations made by Superintendent Brian Garverick.
Before discussing his recommended contracts to the board, Garverick said, “What I would like our audience and board to notice is that most of our contracts are funded through grants and not the general fund.”
He continued, “One that I think is paying dividends is the district maintenance services with Guenther Mechanical.”
The agreement with Guenther Mechanical is for scheduled maintenance service for the district’s heating, plumbing and HVAC systems for July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2016. The monthly cost of the maintenance service will be $1,595 for plumbing, $1,991 for boiler/service and $1,913 for HVAC, which will be paid through permanent improvement funds.
The board approved this recommendation.
Another recommended contract Garverick discussed was between The Center for Individual and Family Services DBA Catalyst Life Services and Mansfield City Schools for school-based mental health services and prevention support for the 2015-2016 school year.
The cost of the contract is $66,832, which is paid through the pupil services general fund. “It’s over $100,000 worth of services we’re getting,” Garverick noted, “But [$66,832] is just our portion.” The board approved this recommendation.
Garverick also recommended the renewal of the contract between the Mansfield Police Department and Mansfield City Schools for the services of a resource officer at Mansfield Middle School and Senior High School for the 2015-2016 school year. The cost of the contract, which is paid through the general fund, is $52,000. The board approved the recommendation.
Another recommendation approved by the board was the renewal of contracted services with Succeed and Prosper through Education: Ashland, Richland, Crawford (SPARC) Council for two University College Access Network (UCAN) advisors for the 2015-2016 school year. The cost of the advisors will be $7,500 each, which will be paid through the general fund. “It is definitely worth the money,” Garverick said.
Superintendent’s report:
In his report, Superintendent Garverick said that the North End Community Improvement Collaborative (NECIC) was awarded a $75,000 grant, which will benefit Mansfield City Schools students in sixth-twelfth grades.
The funds will be used for a mentoring program, he said, that has a “multi-pronged approach.” “It includes a mentoring piece, a family engagement piece, education and business training and career exploration,” he said.
“We live in a community where our community organizations really want to partner with us to support our kids and families and so we’re looking forward to working with the NECIC on that,” he said.
He also pointed out that the second annual readiness camp for incoming kindergarteners will be held Aug. 3 at the Springmill Learning Center. “The goal of the camp is to provide small group fun learning activities that will help children be ready for kindergarten,” he said.
Graduates:
The board passed a resolution to approve Class of 2015 graduates’–Makala Peterson, Richard Marshall and Zane Jerger–graduation from Mansfield Senior High School.
Garverick commended the graduates for their perseverance, noting, “You spent the last several years preparing to move onto the next level and we certainly applaud you for that.”
Recognition:
The board recognized the coordinated effort led by the Mend Mansfield Coalition that helped raise donations for students at Mansfield City Schools. Over 200 items, including a variety of hygiene products, along with monetary donations, were given to help support the approximately 190 students at Mansfield City Schools who have been identified as homeless.
Louise Yochheim, Mansfield Senior High School secretary and Student Achievement through Family Engagement (SAFE) co-coordinator, expressed to the board, “I was totally speechless…To have the community backing our kids up like that was just amazing.”
Future meetings:
There will be a special board of education meeting on Aug. 3 at 5 p.m., a financial planning and supervision committee meeting on Aug. 4 at 3 p.m. and a board of education meeting on Aug. 18 at 5 p.m. Each meeting will be held in Room 1 of the Raemelton Administration Building, located at 856 W. Cook Road.
“We live in a community where our community organizations really want to partner with us to support our kids and families and so we’re looking forward to working with the NECIC on that,” Superintendent Garverick said.
