'A busy month.' Wooster City Schools board approves numerous personnel changes

Linda Hall
·3 min read

WOOSTER ‒ Wooster City Schools Superintendent Gabe Tudor summarized "a busy month from a personnel standpoint."

On Tuesday, the school board approved the resignation of longtime employee Cynthia Beeman, technology teacher at Edgewood Middle School. Tudor said Beeman is returning to her hometown to continue her career. Replacing her will be new hire Jared Phillips.

Other personnel hired include Abagail Young, first-grade teacher at Cornerstone Elementary School; and Sarah Keating, a sixth-grade teacher, and Rebecca Barko, orchestra and general music teacher, at Edgewood.

Fulfilling a goal Tudor said he has had, Heather Olsen, who has 10 years of experience in school counseling, was hired as a school-based service coordinator.

Olsen's position will be primarily grant-funded for a year and is the result of the need to coordinate the "amazing resources" available in the county for services and mental health support for students, Tudor said.

Tudor expressed appreciation for employees who took part in the district's summer school program.

The board also approved fiscal year amended appropriations of $65,412,792.23. Treasurer Amy Welty discussed the measures, which included the board approving fiscal year 2024 temporary general and other fund appropriations of $66,068,655.

General fund expenditures look a lot like last year, Tudor said, the only difference being the end of pandemic-related federal elementary and secondary school emergency relief fund dollars.

In other action, the board:

  • Gave a first reading of student handbooks for the preschool, elementary schools, middle school and Wooster High School. Also under consideration are the athletic handbook and handbook on the use of Chromebooks.

  • Approved overnight excursions for a variety of groups: Wooster High School drama club spring 2024 trip to New York City for a Broadway Student Summit; Feb. 29-March 1, 2024 trip to the Washington, D.C., Holocaust Memorial Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture for students in the courses called "Dangers of Indifference" and "Civil Rights and Intolerance;" Wooster High School wrestling team request to attend the West Virginia University wrestling camp in Morgantown from June 28-July 1; and the high school boys and girls cross country team trip to Camp Nuhop Aug. 5-6,.

  • Approved the first year of a new five-year contract for Sodexo Food Service management for the 2023-24 school year.

  • Established accounts for two new groups − $1,800 for the Best Buddies Club at Wooster High School and an Ohio Attorney General safety grant of $18,307.83 to be used for the purchase of radios across the district as an increased student and staff safety measure.

  • In comments from the board, member Danielle Schantz recommended the public pay attention to legislative decisions being made in Columbus. The biennial budget will include policies and materials related to public school education, she said. "(School) Funding could be impacted as well," Tudor said. Board member Jody Starcher asked how the board can help the public be made aware of information impacting schools. Schantz and Board President Sue Herman recommended following the Ohio School Boards Association for legislative and other updates.

The next regular session of the board will be held at 7 p.m. July 31 in the large group instruction room, Wooster High School.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Wooster City Schools board approves personnel changes