By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Wood County school superintendents are scheduled to meet with public health officials soon to discuss the best plan for starting back to school with the pandemic still lingering.
Bowling Green Superintendent Francis Scruci told the board Tuesday evening that the district is planning to make masks optional when students return in August.
The plan maintains protocols for physical distancing, handwashing, the COVID reporting process, cleaning of facilities, contact tracing, diagnostics and screening, vaccination information, and accommodations for children with special needs.
“We’re going to start the year where we ended – except masks are optional,” Scruci said last month.
However, Scruci reminded the board that the district must be flexible.
“We may have to punt if things change,” he said.
“We know the best way for kids to learn is to have them in the classroom, in front of teachers,” Scruci said.
In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, the school board voted to hire a family outreach coordinator using money from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.
Scruci said the district realized the need for a coordinator dedicated to community outreach and student wellness. Deb Ondrus was hired for the position, with a base salary of $89,937.
The board also learned that an audit of the human resources department in February showed that the district is short on staffing in that department.
Currently, Dawn Dazell, the HR director, is the only employee in a department that should have four staff according to the industry standard of one person per 100 employees.
“Human resources has morphed into a lot more,” Scruci said.
The board voted to add one more person to the human relations department.
In other business, the board:
- Learned that the district applied for funding for mini-split air conditioning systems for the high school, Conneaut Elementary and Kenwood Elementary.
- Appointed board members Tracy Hovest and Ginny Stewart to the finance audit committee.
- Agreed to purchase two new school buses, with $185,750 from the capital improvement fund.
- Learned of the donation of 20 books to Conneaut and Kenwood elementaries in honor of retiring librarian Tami Lynch, and two books in memory of Judy Snyder.
