Board of Education Regular Meeting

Mr. Clark motioned to open discussion of the meeting minutes. Mrs. Mann seconded the motion. Mr. Bennett provided a moment for the Board members to state any comments or concerns with the meeting minutes as presented, hearing none, he called for a vote to approve the meeting minutes as presented. 

Mrs. Mann motioned to open discussion of the Board Commendations. Dr. Butcher seconded the motion. Mr. Bennett asked Dr. Hire if there were any comments on the commendations. Dr. Hire stated that most of these commendations were acknowledged at the Board meeting in the previous month, but that there were some changes to some student commendations that are added in bold print. Dr. Hire added that the commendations were added in their complete form and not just the changes so that we had one place where the student's accomplishments are listed for historic purposes as public records. Mr. Bennett then read each of the students' names and their accomplishments then called for a vote of the Board to approve the commendations for each student listed. The Board approved the student commendations as presented.

Mr. Bennett introduced Mr. Meiser. Mr. Meiser shared how excited he was to be named the K-2 principal this year and share some of the things going on in the building. He stated that Project Based Learning was one of the new and great things going on in the classes. Both Kindergarten and 2nd-grade classes are already implemented during the first few months. This allowed them to tie Academic Standards in with some of the 21 Century skills that lead right into the Portrait of a Learner work we have been doing the last couple of years. He then showed pictures of students working on projects and explained what they were, providing more information to the Board. Mr. Meiser went on to present more projects and activities taking place in Coshocton ES. He showed classroom project-based activities during the holiday season. He also showcased Hagerty's practices of teaching phonological skills to students that help with decoding ability as students are learning to read. He showed a video of Mrs. Swigert, one of our Kindergarten classes, incorporating this program into her classroom. He showcased classroom holiday decoration contests, explained themes and purposes.  He also mentioned Megan Crook created provided a site that offers a great deal of teacher support by creating an organized resource that teachers can use to find tools that support their classroom activities and needs. MTSS Multi-Tiered System of Support provides a more equitable environment for our students by looking at the whole child to see what is preventing them from being on grade level. Kristen Osborne is here on Wednesday to support us as we continue to implement this. His #1 goal starting this year was to make our building an exciting and inviting place to work in. He cited his staff for doing such a great job at making this happen. He invited the Board members into the building at any time.

Mr. Bennett thank Mr. Meiser commencing that it was a great presentation.

Dr. Hire stated that he puts this on the agenda so document that the information has been provided to the Board of Education

Dr. Hire expressed his gratitude to the Board members for their dedication and service to the District and presented them with certificates and a gift. He commented that being a board member is a thankless task but on behalf of the students, staff, and administration, thank you for all you do. Each January we try to provide the board members with a gift. This year Lonie was searching for the perfect gift and she picked out something that Mr. Hire thinks the Board with enjoy.  He also stated that January is Board member appreciation month.  OSBA also provided certificates of recognition to the Board members. Dr. Hire stated that we wanted to also present each of the board members with a certificate of appreciation from the school District. He also gave each of the Board members the gift picked out by Lonie for the Board members. He called up each of the Board members. Dr. Hire commented on Mr. Clark's invaluable service to our District always helping out in any way he can. Dr. Hire also mentioned Mr. Hunt who was at the Zoom meeting, while he cannot be present, he thanked him for his continued service. He also thanked Mrs. Mann, our newest Board member. He also thanked Lonie again for always finding great gifts for our Board. He again thanked all of the Board members and stated that he is looking forward to a new year. 

Ms. Eyerman introduced Mrs. Poth from the Wilson, Shannon, and Snow Accounting Firm to the Board. Mrs. Poth explained the current status of the audit, and shared that the Coshocton City School District 2021 Audit was a clean audit. She continued, explaining that this was the 1st year of a 5-year contract through the auditor of the state's office. The audit report was submitted to the Auditor of State's office before the end of the year. There are no management letter or issues to go over. The report is still considered a draft with the Auditor of State and therefore is not a public document. It should be reviewed by the Auditor of State's office in a week or so and at that time will be available for public distribution.  One thing she noted was a new GASB Implementation. It was not specific to the district it was a nationwide implementation. She pointed out that in Note 3 they will see there is a reclassification of funds from fiduciary to general-purpose it does not impact the financial report, it is just a change in how these particular funds are reported. Also, Note 21, was a caveat for the potential impact of the pandemic - this is the language the Auditor of State has recommended be added to the Auditor's report for public entities. It states that we cannot quantify the impact or what any future expenditures could be to the district as a result of the pandemic. Other than that, there were no difficulties in performing the audit, no disagreements with management, no complications related to standards, no other findings or issues. the Auditors also performed the Single Audit under Uniform Guidance. This year they tested ESSER funds. There were no issues or findings on how the district is handling those funds.

Mr. Bennett asked if there were any questions, there were none.  They thanked Mrs. Poth for coming to present to the Board. 

At this point, the Board meeting continued at item 8.0

The hearing was already presented at the beginning of tonight's Organizational meeting.  This is the presentation of the Tax Budget resolution to be approved by the Board as required in order to submit it to the County Auditor.

Ms. Eyerman presented the monthly financial reports. She discussed the New State funding formula - She explained that the state is changing the way funds in and out are recorded and reported. This will cause some confusion in our reports until the books and state funding are in alignment. The state is expected to have all of the new information by March. At that time, the District will also finish making the changes - at this time, the April or May reports should be aligned (depending on the State). 

Seminar state that we should be finished by March. Coshocton CSD doesn't have until March due to needing to file an updated forecast by February 28th. Ms. Eyerman plans to present the changes to funding that are available to date on January 20th, then implement what she can as she developed the updated forecast with the HB110 state funding to bring to the Board at the February regular meeting. This forecast will be updated again in May with the final state adjustments. But we will file what we know as of now in February. 

Ms. Eyerman also let the Board know that the Insurance committee training would be on Jan 25 & 26th as required in the negotiated agreement. 

She provided a balance of the Self Insurance fund stating that the balance increased a little this month and we continue to watch it closely.

This item is requesting the Board to approve new numbers to be set up for the funds listed to align with the new GASB requirements - not to use fiduciary fund numbers for these types of scholarships. 

Ms. Eyerman expressed gratitude to those that made donations to the Theatre/Drama fund. 

Dr. HIre provided an update on COVID cases at the district and provided a copy of the Dashboard tally to the Board.