In September, the Benjamin Logan (BL) Local School District Board of Education learned their yearly report card rating had improved from 4 out of 5 stars in 2023 to 4.5. That success was reiterated at their regular board meeting on Monday, Oct. 21, when they heard from Michelle Vandemark, a State Support Team 6 consultant.
“You’re trending in the right direction,” Vandemark said, and referred to high ratings in areas like attendance and third-grade reading. Regarding the latter, she said they were at 82.2 percent proficiency and added, “That’s wonderful. I have several districts under 50 percent.”
With regard to attendance, however, Vandermark stated, “Chronic absenteeism since covid is off the charts. It’s everywhere; it’s federal. We can’t get kids back to school.”
BL, however, has the lowest chronic absentee rate in Logan County.
On the positive side, Superintendent John Scheu noted their schools continue to fare well compared to the state average and similar districts. And they’re especially ahead in math and ELA.
Vandemark mostly spoke about the Education Department’s System of Tiered E-Plans and Supports, or ED STEPS. The system “enables educational entities to efficiently and effectively assess needs, plan, and leverage funds to prepare students for a successful future,” according to the website.
This One Plan system replaces all other required plans. As a result, Ohio districts can capture everything in a single three-year plan rather than each school having its own goals.
Sally Stolly, administrative services director, told the board the district had been a pilot group in the program. They created their first three-year plan to be implemented from 2023 to 2026. They’ll write the next one in 2025-2026.
“Now everything will be combined into this one plan,” Scheu said. “So we can focus on community involvement and reading scores.”
Next, Annette Ramga-Alatorre, high school principal, introduced the first of this school year’s Seniors of the Month for September—Sadie Staats and Carter Lyden, and October—Kelley Forsythe and Tristan Sheets.
“These students are the cream of the crop,” Scheu stated.
Financial Report
In her September financial report, treasurer Leah Baker asked the board to approve:
• A $50,000 advance from the general fund to the athletics fund, which will be repaid by July 2025;
• Grants totaling $5,270.32 from the Logan County Education Foundation for classroom initiatives, including: Arbor Day Every Day, $800; Nonfiction Decodable Readers, $362.38; Boosting Spanish Skills for Bilingual Mastery, $420; alternative seating, $455.87; Science of Reading Decodables, $434.85; Engineering with Paper, $304; graphing calculators needed, $500; coffee cart, $496.11; independent living, $497.11; The RC Rover, $500; Programming in the Physical World, $500.
Several personnel changes were accepted, including the resignation of Stephanie Rader, effective May 31, 2025. Rader decided to retire after 34 years at BL.
Board member Scott Spriggs asked to separate the final personnel item—supplemental contracts—from the rest of the consent agenda, as they had done in September. While the other items were approved unanimously, Spriggs abstained from voting on the supplemental contracts.
Other personnel actions:
• Deduct days—one day of unpaid leave on Oct. 16, 2024, for Michele Inskeep
• The following Science of Reading stipends were awarded: $1,200 to Tiann Harner, Paul Jenne, Lori Matthews, Julie Phillips, Sage Caughenbaugh, Brooke Rodriguez, Michelle Lane, Lisa Daniels; $400 to Colleen Miller, Michael Kettler, Kelly Gibson, Lora James, Jostin Lee, Jennifer Davis, Shannon Peterson, Jodie Kavanagh, Jason Smith, Christina Bair, Leann Poppe-Freehauf, Joel Phillips, Andrea Fay, Scott Vermillion, Anthony Eisasser, David Wood, Kayla Null
• New hires—Lyllian Kelley, Raider Care assistant at $15 an hour, effective Sept. 20, 2024; and Jordan McBride, educational assistant, effective Oct. 16, 2024;
• Resignations—Maxine Trout, varsity football and competition cheer coach; Renae Deardurff, high school girls swimming coach; Cole Carpenter, middle school wrestling coach
The board accepted the following donations: wood valued at $200 from Larsen Woodworking for FFA classroom projects; boxes of pencils from Habitat for Humanity Restore; and school hygiene items from Zanesfield United Methodist Church for middle school students in need.
Before adjourning, Mark Himmeger, board president, told Alatorre he was glad to see the high school hosting a veteran’s remembrance event again.
The Benjamin Logan High School Veteran’s Day activities will begin with breakfast at 8 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 11, followed by a ceremony with the band and choir at 9 a.m. Veterans will then have an opportunity to share with the students about their military service.
The next meeting is 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 18.