Bellefontaine City Schools Board of Education members hired an interim Bellefontaine Intermediate School principal and heard a proposal for a new Esports Club at Bellefontaine High School during their monthly meeting Monday night, Oct. 13.
Relating to the new club, BHS grads Trent Nicholl and Dylan Legge presented the idea to the board. They are the owners of BIO (Best in Ohio) Esports, 120 S. Main St., Bellefontaine.
They talked about the growth of ESports and their desire to see BHS students enjoy competitive gaming.
Moments later, the board approved the new BHS ESports Club.
In personnel, Dave Coburn was hired as the Bellefontaine Intermediate School Interim principal for 111 days, effective Dec. 1. Coburn will succeed Pat Martz, who is retiring on Dec. 31.
He’ll work a few days in December during the transition period.
Coburn was a longtime assistant principal at Indian Lake High School. He retired from Indian Lake Schools in June.
Also during the meeting, Bellefontaine City Schools Robotics Adviser Jordan Reser detailed four out-of-state trips for BCS Robotics this school year. The trips include competitions at Speedway in Indianapolis on Nov. 21-22; Sugar Rush in Hershey, Pa., Jan. 4-5,; Gateway to the West in Triadelphia, W.Va., Jan. 28-29; and Bristol Bots in Bristol, Tenn., Feb. 12-13.
The team hopes to then qualify for the Worlds in St. Louis in late April.
Reser explained that BCS Robotics continues to grow and offer real-world learning opportunities for students.
“Problem-solving skills learned in Robotics helps students apply these lessons to their own life,” he said.
BCS Robotics have seen a surge in students participating the last few years.
This school year, there are four high school teams and between eight and nine middle school teams.
The board will consider approving the BCS Robotics trips at a future meeting.
Members also approved the annual eighth-grade trip to Washington, DC, from May 21-24, 2026, which was presented at last month’s meeting. Students along with chaperones will visit the nation’s capital, including stops at the U.S. Capitol, Arlington National Cemetery, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Ford’s Theatre, National Zoo, Smithsonian and more. They’ll also visit Gettysburg, Pa.
Five members of the Logan County Education Foundation touted the new Bellefontaine Legacy Scholarship, which is designed to help fund the next step for graduates.
The scholarship will be awarded to BHS grads who study at one of the following: a trade school, a technical school, a two-year school, or a four-year school.
The initial scholarships will be worth $500 each.
Logan County Education Foundation Executive Director Lois Stoll, along with LCEF Bellefontaine City Schools trustees Beth Harman, Mark Butler, Libby Zimmerman and Kyle Springs spoke to the board.
If you would like to donate, contact Stoll at 937-599-5195 ext. 5505 or lcedfd@gmail.com.
You can see more at https://www.lcedfd.org/
Treasurer Josh Wasson presented the district’s five-year forecast to the board. This forecast is projecting a deficit of $385,000 in fiscal year 2026.
“This forecast looks quite a bit different from the May forecast because it incorporates the necessary adjustments from the state biennial budget, which was passed this past summer,” Wasson explained.
“The General Assembly chose to not update the inputs for the Fair School Funding Plan. The data used to calculate districts’ State Foundation revenue is from fiscal year 2022. Very few, if any, organizations can function properly using data that is three to four years old. As a result, BCS’ revenues cannot keep pace with our increasing expenditures.”
In other action, the board:
• appointed Matt Gallaway to the Bellefontaine Joint Recreation District Board, filling the remaining term of Lynda Holycross; the term expires on Dec. 31, 2027;
• approved the job description of the athletic media coordinator at BHS. This position helps with the operation of two state-of-the-art scoreboards in the high school gym.
• hired Sherry Fitzgerald was hired as a Title I Reading/Intervention teacher;
• hired the following teachers as home instruction/tutors: Amy Evans, Brandyn Leftrict, Kara Phillips, Melanie Rapp, Deanna Robb, Jodi Smoot, and Gwen Walters;
Jai Abhyankar and Jolene Clary were hired as educational aides.
Micah Haynes was hired as a 2nd shift custodian.
• approved stipends of $750 stipend for serving as the MTSS Coordinator (Multi-Tiered System of Support) at their respective building: Deena Fenske (Elementary), Desnee Wolters (Intermediate), Julie Kurtz (Middle School), and Paula Shaw (High School);
• accepted the following retirement resignations: Krista Belser, sixth-grade language arts, effective May 28; Eric Hamm, BIS guidance counselor, effective May 29; Bill Low, BMS health/physical education, effective May 28; and Cheryl Poppel, BMS health/physical education, effective June 1;
• accepted the following resignations: Leland Henry, second shift custodian; Lyric Lawrence, Tammy Schneider, educational aides;
• approved Stacy Calton and Margaret Hogue as athletic workers;
• approved salary adjustments for the following teachers: master’s plus 30 — Cheryl Daniels; bachelor’s plus 30 — Morgan Ebbeskotte; masters’s plus 45 — Erin Hoyng;
• extended the following supplemental contracts: Nathan Arbogast, Middle School Girls Track Assistant; Meghan Ashcraft, High School Girls Basketball Head; Krista Belser, Middle School Yearbook;
Katie Buffkin, High School Softball Head; Sandi Chervenak, Middle School Model United Nations adviser; Ben Davis, High School Boys/Girls Track Head; Sean Egler, Josh Jones, Drew Jackson, High School Boys Basketball Assistants; Eric Fatzinger, Middle School Boys Track Head; Matt Gallaway, Middle School Boys Track Assistant; Steve Henry, Middle School Girls Track Head; Garrett Jenkins, 8th Grade Boys Basketball Head; Jane Kline, High School Girls Bowling Head; Aaron LaBatt, High School Boys Wrestling Head; Sharon Lewis, High School Swimming Head; Johnny Maurice, Middle Boys Wrestling; Daulton Mosbarger, High School Baseball Head; Tammy Overholser, High School Boys Bowling Head; Zoe Price, Jim Robinson, Cody Sigrist, Stacey Wilson, Larry Young, High School Track Assistants; Meredith Richters, High School French Club; Tom Rose, High School Boys Tennis Head; Debbie Sheehan, High School Swimming Assistant; Kyle Spence, High School Boys Wrestling Assistant
Henry Stolly, High School Boys Basketball Head; Heather Storm, High School Basketball Sideline Cheer Head; Zane Tevis, Middle School Boys Wrestling; Dawsin Tillman, 7th Grade Boys Basketball Head, Randy Varner, Michelle Zedeker, High School Girls Basketball Assistants;
• approved the following volunteer coaches: Jim Ball, High School Tennis; Douglas Clark, Kristen Clark, Amanda Millis, Jennifer Patton, High School/Middle School Band; Rick Gildow, Jeff Morrison, Ric Prine, High School Softball; Garrett Jenkins, High School Track; Haiden Manns, High School Football; David Overholser, Jeremy Ryan – High School Bowling.
• recognized the September and October Seniors of the Month with an achievement pin and a $15 gift card to Ron’s Pizza; September – Lorenz Henry and Elliett Lang; October – Claire Brown and Carter Caudill.
The board moved their next monthly meeting date to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, in the Distance Learning Center at BHS.
