Date of Meeting: 8/14/2024

Format: In-person

Streetsboro Board of Education Meeting

Meeting Summary:

The Regular Meeting of the Streetsboro Board of Education was called to order on August 14, 2024, at 5:45 PM.

President Kristin Bedford opened the meeting with a Roll Call and the Pledge of Allegiance.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: There were no public comments.

The Regular Meeting Minutes from the 07/11/2024 Regular Meeting and the 08/02/2024 Special Meeting were approved.

The Board welcomed the new Superintendent, Cynthia Deevers.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT: Ms. Cynthia Deevers introduced Russ Bennett and Paul Pendleton, who presented the process for developing the district’s new Strategic Plan. The process will take place throughout the school year, and the proposal will not cost anything. Many stakeholders, including community members, school staff, and students, are involved. The nine-month Strategic Planning Process will involve a needs assessment, a retreat, and a plan for implementation with clearly stated goals. Implementation will begin in Fall 2025. A calendar has been laid out for the process, and it will start with a pre-planning meeting with the superintendent, staff, and board. A Lead Team will be named and meet one time. This team will comprise 15-20 well-connected individuals in the school and community. Their task will be to create about thirty small groups and identify people to represent each group. These lead individuals will be called the Steering Committee and asked to meet in December. They will be given an orientation into the process steps and invited to participate in a series of meetings. They will conduct small group meetings in homes, churches, and schools. These meetings will be a part of the Data Collection process. The Steering Committee, staff, teachers, and students will attend a day-long retreat in January. At the retreat, participants will discuss the most critical topics and establish a set of beliefs, a vision, and a mission. What do we do here? What are the external and internal forces at play? Through a group process, the participants will identify the specific needs of Streetsboro schools and establish goals based on those needs. Then, the process moves into an action phase. Small groups called Action Teams, led by a staff member, will develop plans for achieving the stated goals.

• As part of the Communication Plan, Ms. Deevers reported that work is being done to establish a quarterly newsletter, with the target date for the first quarterly newsletter being October.
• The district is currently working on a cell phone policy in response to HB250, which requires districts to have one. The plan is to restrict cell phone use during academic times; guidance will go to building principals. The law requires a policy in place by July 2025, and Ms. Deevers desires to get one in place well ahead of that time.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Brian Haines reported the need to create an account for another federal grant. General Funds have a higher balance this past month. Mr. Haines noted some alarm about property taxes in Portage going up with the new assessments. He said the increases will be smaller in Streetsboro and should not impact the district's ability to pass two renewal measures on the November ballot. All employees, new hires, and volunteers must have training regarding public funds. A video has been created to meet the requirement, and efforts are being made to get everyone to log in and complete the training video.

CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER REPORT: The PTA will hold a Tailgate event at the August 23 Football game. The Campus Traffic patterns have been posted. Expect a Police and Fire presence during the first few days of school. The Bus Garage project is done and looks great. Window graphics are being installed at Henry Defer. A graphic will also be installed in the Cafeteria window at the Middle School. The network infrastructure projects are completed. Custodians have the buildings looking great for the start of the school year. A new van is being purchased as the old one will not hold up for another year. The old van will be traded in.

BOARD REPORTS: Tonia Epple reported that Impact studies are being done on all Fall Athletes. The studies create a baseline in case any athlete gets hurt during the season. The Men's and Women’s Golf Teams have already participated in competitions. Next month, the athletic strategic plan will be presented. Sara Scott gave a legislative update. The State is sending out public service announcements to remind everyone to stop for school buses. HB68 is moving through the process. It will ban transgender youth from sports and bar them from medical reassignment. More will be coming on that.

All Board members approved CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS B-W.

There was no NEW BUSINESS.

There was no OLD BUSINESS.

The Board adjourned to an Executive Session at 6:29 PM.

The following members of the board/council were present: Kristin Bedford, Tracy Campbell, Tonia Epple, Kelly Rich, Sara Scott. All board members were present.

Was there a public notice of the meeting that included the time and place of meeting: Yes

Was an agenda of the meeting or handouts available to visitors: Yes

Are minutes from previous meetings posted/available: Yes
https://go.boarddocs.com/oh/streetsboro/Board.nsf/Public

Name of Observer: Diana L Skok