Better parent-teacher conference procedures. Workforce Wednesdays. A SkillsUSA student leadership team on campus.
The Ohio Hi-Point (OHP) Career Center employees who came up with these concepts took home the school’s top innovative ideas awards at the monthly board of education meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 24.
Assistant Superintendent Brad Richardson broke down the winning ideas, chosen out of 15 submissions, which was double last year’s total. The top three awards include a monetary prize.
“This is part of our strategic plan,” Richardson explained. “We want to keep encouraging staff to come up with new and innovative ways to serve our students.”
Ohio Hi-Point 2025 Innovative Idea Award Winners
· First place went to Shelby Clem, who found a way to leverage technology for a more efficient parent-teacher conference scheduling process.
· Justin Silver earned the second place award for coming up with Workforce Wednesdays—a weekly class activity where students research different industry-related careers.
· Shelly Swaney grabbed the third place prize with the creation of a SkillsUSA on-campus leadership team, which facilitates communication and encourages student leadership within the organization.
Submissions are judged by a committee consisting of Anne Reames, board president; Richardson; Ben Vollrath, Logan County Chamber of Commerce CEO; Bailey Hemmelgarn, OHP business satellite teacher; and Melissa Sizemore, OHP campus math teacher.
The other presentation Wednesday night came from Matt Heaston, OHP business operations director, who went over cafeteria updates, especially related to state nutrition standards, along with information about the business resource center.
For lunch, the cafeteria is required to offer five food components: meat/meat alternative, grain, vegetable, fruit and milk. Out of those, students are required to take at least three components, which can be any three they want.
A limit to the amount of sugar in products has presented the cafeteria staff with a difficulty.
“It’s a problem for us trying to find items that meet that [new standard] and that kids will eat,” Heaston said. “We’ve had to get creative.”
Those limits include no more than 12 grams of added sugars per six-ounce service of yogurt and no more than 10 grams of added sugars per eight fluid ounces of flavored milk.
But one of the biggest challenges is the requirement to buy mostly American-made products, meaning no more than 5 percent of non-domestic food purchases. In addition, schools are expected to reduce their sodium levels by 15 percent by fiscal year 2028.
As for numbers, the district saw a 77 percent increase in the number of students buying breakfast last year and a 15 percent increase in lunch meals.
Unfortunately, according to Heaston, “This is the first year we’ve really had poultry problems due to the bird flu.”
As a result, many places will have difficulty buying turkeys for Thanksgiving. This won’t be a problem for OHP, though, since they were able to purchase what they needed over the summer.
“We don’t know what changes are coming down the road,” Heaston concluded. “They say the guideline is going from 168 pages to five, and we don’t know what that means.”
Heaston also updated the board on the Business Resource Center, which, he said, is a little easier to report on as it only employs three staff members.
Challenges there include curriculum changes and outdated supplier support. On the positive side, they renewed their contract with Honda for another three years and have continued to maintain a positive cash balance.
Treasurer Action Items
The board approved the August 2025 financial statement along with the following interest and investments:
§ HNB Gen Op Investments: $37,862.46
§ HNB Bldg Fund Investments: $501.50
§ HNB Bond Trust: $2.69
§ Star Ohio interest: $34,140.49
§ Middlefield Bank interest: $105.90
§ Richwood Bank interest: $1.71
Total: $72,614.75
The board accepted the amounts and rates as determined by the budget commission, authorizing the necessary tax levies and certifying them to the county auditor. The amounts to be derived from levies outside the 10 mill limitation are $8,700,000 from the general fund and $2,000,000 from permanent improvements equaling $10,700,000 total for FY2025-26.
Treasurer Caleb Lang asked the board to adopt the annual appropriations resolution for July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, in the amount of $32,820,249.86 and authorized Lang, Superintendent Dr. Rick Smith and Reames to certify the availability of funds to cover the annual appropriations measure.
Last, the board approved the financial forecast as presented at the Sept. 17 board of education work session.
Superintendent Recommendations
Smith presented the following for approval:
· Internship agreements with Bunsold Monarch Athletic Association, Marysville; Dependable Companions, East Liberty; Handy Randy Contracting/HR Contracting, Marysville; In Step Dance Center, Marysville; Indian Lake Moose Lodge 1533, Lakeview; Keith’s Hardware, Inc, Ada; KMS Heating and Cooling, Maplewood; Newman Network LLC, Kenton; NTC Metalwork LLC, Urbana; Rustic Tractor Tails Pet Grooming, Kenton; Scott’s Equipment Sales-Rental, Bellefontaine; Sodexo at Ohio Northern University, Ada; Thomas Tool & Mold Company, Westerville.
· Salary scheduled movement for additional coursework as documented on official transcripts to Robert Carder, Mary Gist, Megan Mast, David Rowe, Heather Smith, Mary Trudgeon.
· New job description for the cafeteria coordinator; and employment, classified staff, for Kristina Slagle, cafeteria coordinator.
· FY26 bus contract with Bellefontaine City Schools
· Resignations of Christopher Grant, media arts instructor, and Erica Rice, school nurse.
· Out-of-state professional development requests for Luke Ahern, Marysville High School performing arts satellite instructor, to chaperone the school’s art students to New York, NY, Oct. 16-19, all costs paid by Marysville EVSD with no cost to OHP; and for Mary Gist, Bunsold Middle School ag/CBI satellite instructor, to chaperone the eighth-grade class trip to Washington, D.C., Oct. 21-24, all costs paid by Marysville EVSD with no cost to OHP.
· Rescind the Aug. 27 approval of the disposal of a 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche for scrap.
· College Credit Plus stipends to Leslie Bradley, $575; John Brown, $575; Bailey Hemmelgarn, $2,900; Tyler Hodge, $575; Douglas Hughes, $2,325; John Kenerly, $1,150; Megan Schneider, $575; Melissa Sizemore, $575; Heather Smith, $1,750; Mary Trudgeon, $2,325; Lindsay Wyan and Monica Young, $1,725 each.
Other board action:
· The September Campus Students of the Month are Maria Casanas Mejias, cosmetology, Bellefontaine High School, and Luke Hensel, heavy equipment, Kenton High School.
· A successful active school shooter drill was held at the school on Sept. 18. Smith said they are still putting together the final survey on the event.
· Smith attended a ConneCT professional development and network event in Tiffin on Sept. 19. He also reported on the Needs Assessment for Perkins lab, which he described as the most productive meeting he’s attended toward improving the Perkins process.
· Richardson reported on a CRA agreement with the village of Lakeview regarding an abatement. The amount is below the threshold for needing board approval.
· Though campus enrollment is down slightly this year, satellite student numbers are the highest yet.
· The district received a five-star rating on their latest state report card.
· Once again, the school honored the Sloan family’s contributions to the school, which includes over $12 million in donations, at a celebration on Sept. 25. Some of the people who work at the Sloan investment firm flew in from Boston to participate.
· Plans to open a Community Health and Wellness clinic have been delayed until at least next year.
“It will take more conversations and collaborations to determine the next step,” Richardson said, “including what funding will look like.”
In the meantime, the space intended for the clinic will still be renovated for use as an on-site testing center.
The next OHP board of education meeting is 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22.
