North Union is among several districts in the state recognized by the Ohio Department of Education for how they plan to engage families in the Reset and Restart Education for the coming school year. According to a release, family engagement is a key strategy to enhancing student achievement, especially when learning remotely. By ensuring families are receiving consistent communication, districts can ensure that support for at-home learning and connections to key community partners can be met during the reopening of schools. This guide identifies three areas of family engagement that are critical to student success: Communication, support learning at home…
Author: Sherryl Sheets of the Richwood Gazette
With only a few weeks before school begins in the North Union Local Schools, the Board of Education met Monday evening to determine how the school year will look. A partnership with the state and county health departments, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, school districts in Union County and Educational Service Centers has released “Reset and Restart” guidelines. North Union has put those guidelines into effect and will have a blended learning plan in place Sept. 8. Guidance counselors are working at all three buildings to match children in the same family to be able to attend two days…
For several years, the Richwood Police Department (RPD) has trained many officers. Shortly after completing their training, many officers have taken jobs in other law enforcement agencies, due to the opportunity to earn higher wages. Monday night, village council members approved a resolution increasing the number of hours a part-time patrol officer can work in one week, to a total of 30 hours, and not to exceed a yearly total of 1,500 hours. The previous arrangement was that four part-time officers could only work a total together of 30 hours. The resolution was declared as an emergency and takes effect…
Summer is half over the students, parents, and school staff are all unsure about the start of the 2020-2021 school year. COVID-19 has turned the world upside down and every day more news comes out about taking precautions to stay safe. So the North Union Local School Board of Education approved a plan at Monday night’s regular meeting. Using guidelines from Governor Mike DeWine and the Director of Health, North Union School Superintendent Rich Baird has created his “Reset and Restart Proposal. He stated there are four learning levels for the students, depending on the level the county is in…
Since the Village of Richwood had a web site developed online, there is one information section that states “under construction.” That is regarding making payments of water and sewer bills, purchasing permits, reserving the park’s shelter houses, etc. For many people in today’s world, they don’t carry cash, only a debit or credit card. Sarah Sellers, the village clerk told council members at Monday night’s regular meeting, that she has looked into a few companies who offer the availability of paying their bills through a credit card company. She said that she looked into Pay Star. The company offers three…
Everyone will agree that the year 2020 has been nothing less than challenging in our daily lives, work lives, school, you name it. We want to get life back to normal, and the Richwood Fair Board is hoping to do just that. The board has voted to hold the annual independent fair, set for Wednesday, Sept. 2 through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7. The general idea is to continue to host a Junior and Senior Fair, with a few adjustments. All guidelines set by the State and Union County Health Departments, are updated almost daily. It makes it challenging for…
For several years, residents who live on the east side of Dudley Circle have been waiting for a paved street in their neighborhood and have been told repeatedly that it would be finished. Richwood Village Council has met with contractor Jason Wills and finally have approved a design and a timeline for the long awaited street. Several Dudley Circle residents came to Monday nights village council meeting to see what plans were in place to get the project started. A few months ago, council told Wills that they did not want a cul de sac, they wanted to have both…
At Monday regular monthly meeting, North Union Superintendent Rich Baird talked with board members about how students and staff dealt with the coronavirus during end of the school year. On March 16, Gov. Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency in Ohio and all schools were closed. The governor and the Ohio Department of Education suggested that schools work to provide education by alternative means during the school closures. The Ohio House Bill 197 was signed into law by Governor DeWine permitting boards to adopt a plan of distance learning for students during the school shutdown. The North Union School…
Residents on Dudley Circle have had enough of a dusty, unpaved road and vehicles turning around in private driveways. One resident on hand at Monday night’s Richwood Village Council meeting has lived on the dirt and stone street for 14 years and is tired of excuses as to why it has not been paved. Residents also told council they are tired of there not being sidewalks, curbs and storm sewer drainage. Council members Von Beal and Lauri Elliot Shea each stated that residents of they area have been exceedingly generous in waiting to get a street installed. The officials promised…
Richwood Council met Tuesday evening for its regular meeting with council member Lauri Eliot Shea and Village Administrator Monte Asher absent from the meeting. Councilman Reddy Brown asked Mayor Scott Jerew where the village stood on street construction in the Dudley Circle. Mayor Jerew stated that contractor Jason Wills would be invited to the next regular meeting on June 8 to talk options with council. Council decided that it would ask Wills to install a through street and not a cul-de-sac at the end of each street. Council passed a motion for this type of street for better access and…
The North Union Board of Education held its regular monthly meeting online Monday night. Superintendent Rich Baird presented board members resolutions honoring a pair of basketball team. The board passed a resolution honoring the achievements of the eighth grade girls team that had a season record of 19-0 and a conference record of 10-0. Coach Justin Price joined the online and said how well the girls played together and that they will be something to watch in the years to come. The second resolution passed by the board was recognizing the varsity boys basketball team that posted a 21-0 season…
Richwood Council members approved a resolution Monday night to authorize the village to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) of Union County to sell an approximately 8.46 acre tract of land owned by the village. The village is in the process of designating the CIC as the agency for the village in transferring property located in the industrial park on Ira Bean Parkway to the Trans-Cycle Industries of Ohio. TCI is in the business of recycling and disposing of transformers and other oil-filled electrical equipment safely. The company approached council in regards to purchasing…
Richwood Mayor Scott Jerew called a brief council meeting Monday evening to take care of immediate business with council members. Due to the continued “stay at home” guidelines set by Governor Mike DeWine, a normal, full business meeting was not held. One of the questions brought up was “will the village waive late fees on the water and sewer bills for those experiencing a hardship at this time.” Many people have been laid off work with no income or maybe they are waiting for their unemployment to begin. Jerew said setting a time frame for such an action would be…
Richwood Village Council held a short meeting Monday night to discuss three resolutions. After announcing the first resolution, Mayor Scott Jerew stated that he did not want to make this resolution, but after explaining it to council members, felt like it was necessary to bring before council. The resolution was to declare a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and expanding the village administrator’s authority during the state of emergency. Jerew said that in case of a major emergency that would affect the village, if the village was to declare a state of emergency, then the would qualify…
The North Union Board of Education held their regular monthly meeting Monday night to discuss what needs students may have during the closure of school. Taking safety measures regarding the coronavirus outbreak, board members were seated at individual tables that were set six feet apart. The board wants to continue academics for the students from a distance. The staff has gone the extra mile in providing instruction for all grade levels for students. Kindergarten through fourth grade students have received paper instructions for their schoolwork. Fearing that it might be frustrating for the younger students to follow instructions online at…