The North Union Board of Education heard a presentation from Richwood resident Joe Rhea about forming a club shooting program in the schools.
A member of the county Pheasants Forever organization and an avid clay target shooter, he asked the board to consider implementing a club for North Union students. He said he has been approached by several parents who would like to see a program begin.
Currently, Rhea is a coach in the Olentangy Liberty School District. He said that there are two seasons, in the fall and spring, although if board approved, it would not be able to begin until the spring of 2022.
There are several hurdles to jump over.
Superintendent Rich Baird asked Rhea if the sport is recognized by the Ohio High School Athletic Association, which Rhea was unsure of. Other school districts in central Ohio that have clubs include Olentangy Liberty, Buckeye Valley and Highland. They compete with other schools who also have the program.
The Ohio Clay Target Association is the State Chapter. He has contacted Blackwing Shooting Range near Delaware and if the board gives Rhea the go-ahead, the team would practice at Blackwing once a week.
There would be no cost to the school district. Rhea said there would need to be a school liaison to serve as a go-between with the team and the school district. He said he hopes to approach several organizations seeking grants to help fund the club and also accept local individual donations.
Each participant would pay dues to the state chapter. Rhea would need a minimum of 20 students involved in the club. He also would need parental involvement, which would involve sharing rides to the practice facility and hauling the necessary equipment to and from events.
Rhea has spoken to several members of the community and some members of the local gun club, who would volunteer as assistant coaches. Rhea said he needs a coach for every five students.
He feels as though he may have to limit the club to 25 students, and high school students would get first chance. If he needs more students for the club, he would welcome middle school students to join. Rhea mentioned that the high shooter in points on the Olentangy team is a seventh grader and the second shooter is a girl.
Rhea would prefer students use 12-gauge or 20-gauge shotgun. Students would be required to watch an online class on gun safety before they would be able to shoot. Rhea stressed that gun safety is paramount in the club.
The school board seemed very interested in the prospect of a clay target club.
Baird talked with the board about building reports, department reports and an end of the year report. He stated that the district will be at the Richwood Independent Fair, distributing the year-end report to the public, so they will know where the district stands, especially after a difficult year dealing with COVID-19.
Bev Wasserbeck, food service manager, gave a report to the board. Plans for the 2021-2022 school year are in progress and they are excited to get back to a normal process. The cafeterias will be going back to serving lunch on trays instead of styrofoam containers and taking down the plexi-glass. At the high school, they will return to the ala carte system and the hot bar with some modifications, get lunchrooms back. Some things that will remain are the extra cleaning measures, hand cleaning and sanitizing, breakfast in the classroom and spreading lunch periods out to allow for distancing students in the cafeteria.
Wasserbeck said the USDA announced in May that they will be offering free meals to every student for the next school year. Since the reimbursement for these meals is more than what they receive for a paid meal, it will help the food service recoup for last year’s losses.
For summer meals, the district has partnered with ONCall meal solutions to help with our July meals. This will give the food service staff a much deserved break. The company will package and Fedex meals straight to the homes of students (similar to Hello Fresh). The meals meet all school meal guidelines and are packaged in an insulated bag with a thermometer to insure freshness. Each meal kit will contain seven days of breakfast and lunch. All children between 1-18 years of age qualify for these meals and the guardian will need to sign for the delivery.
In other business, the board; set July 19 as the next regular board of education meeting. The finance committee will meet at 5:30 and the board at 6:30 p.m.;
In other business, the board:
•Recognized Kurt Grunert for his 21 years of service.
•Accepted donations to pay off high school students fees, for two scholarship funds and to the North Union Robotics program.
•Accepted the bid of $297,017 for new pavement for the bus garage and new practice field at NUHS. The bid was approved to Byrne and Jones Construction.
•Accepted the resignations of Abigail Anderton, elementary school teacher; Brittany Kuess, elementary school teacher; middle school track coaches Zach and Alexis Maenz; and Zak Hanmilton, effective at the end of the 2020-2021 contract year.
•Approved the shared services agreement between North Union and Ridgemont Local school districts for food service manager.
•Approved summer custodians on an as needed basis for June-August, 2021.
•Approved an overnight stay for the North Union volleyball program to Maumee, Ohio, July 23-25.
•Hired Katelynn Russell as fifth grade teacher; Amanda Howard as a fourth grade teacher and Mitchell Loomis as a second grade teacher.
•Approved Peg Curts as high school assistant athletic director; Christian Koch as high school assistant varsity football coach and Ethan Hoffer as middle school football coach; Dawn Draper, middle school athletic supervisor and Josh Sowder as high school assistant varsity football coach.
•Hired Jennifer Davis as fifth grade school teacher;
•Approved a contract between North Union and Mechanicsburg Exempted Village School District regarding sharing of Treasurer for the period from August 1, 2022 through July 31, 2027.
•Approved to hire Isabella Weirick as an elementary summer school teacher for the summer.