Mill Valley Elementary School Principal Amey McGlenn is pictured above presenting a placque to officer of the Marysville Police Department in recognition of the agency’s partnership with the school. Pictured accepting the award are, from left to right, officers Josh Dillahunt, Joe Petzinger and Don McGlenn. Officers from the department regularly eat breakfast with selected students at the school and also partner to offer rewards, such as a ride in a police car, for fundraisers.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Chad Williamson)
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A substitute teacher working in the Marysville schools attended Thursday night’s board meeting to urge the district to increase the pay temporary instructors.
Les Hull, a retired teacher from the Freemont area with 46 years of experience, said the district has difficulties finding substitute teachers because of the daily rate it offers – $90. He said other substitutes he has talked to have indicated that if they offered a variety of assignments on a particular day, the daily pay rate is the deciding factor.
Hull, who has moved to the area and substitutes exclusively at Marysville, said $90 is on the low end of the spectrum for area schools. Hull said some districts offer up $105 per day or higher and substitutes will choose to work in districts paying more.
He said Marysville is experiencing trouble finding substitute teachers and this difficulty could be lessened if the district would increase its per-day rate.
After the meeting, Marysville Superintendent Diane Mankins explained that the district obtains its substitutes from a pool of educators provided by the Central Ohio Educational Service Center. Central Ohio school districts relay their daily substitute needs to the service center, which then pairs applicants to the openings.
Mankins said the shortage of substitute teachers is a problem that extends throughout all of central Ohio. She confirmed that the district pays $90 per day, regardless of grade level, but felt that many schools served the by Educational Service Center pay in the $90 to $95 range.
Mankins said the district looked into the shortage in recent years and tried to survey substitutes to determine how to lessen the impact to the district. She said the survey results showed that travel distance was the top determinant listed by substitutes in determining where they would work. She noted that Marysville can be seen as an outlying school district when compared to close proximity of districts in the Columbus area.
Mankins said compensation was not listed as a top determinate among respondents.
“The survey responses we received said it is not about money,” Mankins said.
Board president Sue Devine said the district administration would look into the matter further to see if the current rate is appropriate.
Rick Smith, superintendent for the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center in Bellefontaine, was on hand at the meeting to talk about a permanent improvement levy the school will be putting on the May ballot. The center serves 14 school districts, including Marysville, in five counties, meeting career training needs for 548 students on its main campus and another 3,400 in satellite courses.
The center places 92 percent of its students into careers or college.
Smith said Hi-Point will be seeking a .6-mill permanent improvement levy to help the district provide renovations to the main campus in order to provide new technology, tools and equipment for students to train on.
“In every field, we see a need to change how we are teaching,” Smith said.
Smith said the Bellefontaine building was constructed 43 years ago and needs updated to handle new technology used in the workforce.
Levy information Smith provided indicates the levy would generate $1.8-$2 million per year. Of that annual number, $1.5 million would be put toward renovations with the remainder being used for new equipment. Money from a permanent improvement levy can not be used for operating costs or salaries.
If approved, the levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $22 per year.
Smith noted that the career center has not asked voters for any new money in 40 years and currently operates on money generated by a 2-mill levy.
In other business, the board:
–Approved the renewal of the lease for the former East Elementary School with the Hope Center for 2018. The Hope Center, operated by the Marysville Area Ministerial Association, will lease the 54,000-square-foot former school for $42,000 per year, the same as 2017, but the center will see a rollback in the cost. Because the district is using some space in the building for its new Tri-Academy for at-risk students, the final figure was reduced by $8,000.
-Approved a $98,268 bid from Heiberger Paving Inc, of Canal Winchester, to recondition the high school tennis courts. The courts, installed in early 2000s, have seen temporary improvements over the years but are in need of a total resurfacing.