North Union’s Board of Education members were given their yearly appointments at their first meeting of 2023 on Saturday.
Brian Davis was elected to serve as president of the board again, and Matt Staley was chosen to continue serving as vice president of the school board.
Shelly Ehret and Matt Hall were appointed to serve on the 2023 standing committee for revisions of the Board of Education Policy Manual and Administrative Regulations, with the superintendent serving as the third member of the committee.
Bradley DeCamp will serve as the legislative liaison to the state and the Ohio School Board Association for the 2023 calendar year, while Staley will serve as the student achievement liaison to the Ohio School Board Association.
Davis was appointed as the Ohio School Board Association business delegate for the 2023 calendar year, with DeCamp as the alternate business delegate.
The board also appointed Treasurer Scott Maruniak, Superintendent Richard Baird and Board President Davis to serve as the North Union Local School District Records Commission for the 2023 calendar year. Maruniak and Baird were appointed as board member representatives to fulfill House Bill 9’s Record Training Requirement.
Additionally, the board agreed to appoint Director of Special Education Thomas Lish-Brown as the sexual harassment grievance officer, the Title VI grievance officer and the Section 504 grievance officer for the 2023 calendar year.
Davis and DeCamp will serve as the 2023 standing committee on the Finance/Audit Committee, with the treasurer also serving as a member. The superintendent will be an ex-officio member.
The board voted for Staley to serve as board parliamentarian.
Lastly, the board appointed Baird to serve as a Union County Tax Incentive Review Council (TIRC) member to review all tax incentives in the Enterprise Zone.
Baird explained that the council reviews requests from area businesses, like Richwood Banking Co.
“They review previous tax incentives to make sure that the entities are compliant with what all is set forth from our earlier tax incentives,” Maruniak added.
He said he and Baird started attending the council meetings to see what the advantage of the tax incentives would be for the school district.
TIRC is scheduled to meet Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 8 a.m. Baird said other board members are welcome to attend the meeting as well.
In other business, the school board:
– waived competitive bidding based on urgent necessity and authorized a contract with Waibel Energy Systems, Inc. for the HVAC controls improvement project. The cost to renovate the controls system is $219,300. Maruniak said the project will be funded from the capital maintenance fund.
– established the board’s meeting schedule for 2023. The board meets on the third Monday of every month at 6:30 p.m. Most meetings are at the district offices, 12920 Route 739, Richwood, but the location does vary. The board will host meetings at the local schools between August and November. The board will arrive at the schools at 5:30 p.m. for tours, followed by the meetings at 6:30 p.m.
– established a service fund for 2023 at $15,000.
– established petty cash accounts under the supervision of the treasurer for a maximum of $10,000 collectively, from which the athletic director and middle school athletic supervisor may withdraw funds for the payment of officials. The account shall be replenished up to its maximum upon request from the athletic director provided receipts for all transactions are furnished to the treasurer.
– approved indoor track and trap shooting as club sports at North Union High School for the 2022-23 school year.
– accepted the resignation of Kaitlyn Lafferty, a high school math teacher, effective on June 2, 2023.
– approved Owen Davis as a graduate of the class of 2023. He has completed all requirements for graduation as of Dec. 21, 2022.
– approved in a 3-2 vote that the superintendent and treasurer be paid up to the maximum allowable per contract for vacation days annually in lieu of taking these days as vacation upon submission of a written request. Board members Ehret and Hall dissented, stating they believe the superintendent and treasurer should use the vacation days they have earned.
– approved a list of substitute personnel, athletic coaches, volunteers for the athletic programs and a high school sweeper/cleaner.
– authorized participating in the Union County Chamber of Commerce for 2023 at the cost of $1,000.
– authorized participation in the Council for Union County Families for 2023 at a cost of $2,000.
The next board meeting is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the district offices. The policy committee will meet before