The Western Buckeye ESC Governing Board held its regular monthly Board meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday October 24, 2015 at the Paulding ESC office. Board President Mr. Billy Poe II welcomed Board members and school personnel to the meeting. Treasurer Kim Jones reviewed the current financial reports, investments and the monthly expenditures with the Board.
Superintendent Brian Gerber updated the Board on the current status of the ESC. He shared a report with the Board of Education regarding that Ohio rural ESCs provide a higher percentage of direct student services than their suburban or urban counterparts. Western Buckeye ESC is in the top 10 ESCs in the state of Ohio that provide the highest percentage of direct student services. It’s also interesting to note that some of Western Buckeye ESCs neighbors are also in the top 10. Those include Northwest Ohio ESC, Putnam County ESC, and Hancock County ESC. The other rural top ESCs in the state our Tri-County ESC, Pickaway County ESC, ESC of Lake Erie West, South Central Ohio ESC, Licking County ESC, and Columbiana County ESC.
Quite honestly, we offer services to our partner schools that many people don’t see or don’t understand. We operate behind the scenes to provide educational services to our partner schools. We have reduced the cost to our partner schools through a shared services delivery model. Shared service delivery includes sharing Speech, Occupational, and Physical Therapists. We also share School Psychologists, Gifted education personnel, and grant writing personnel. ESCs also provide curriculum directors and special education directors to meet the needs of our partner schools. The overall goal of an ESC is to positively impact student achievement.
Other Western Buckeye ESC instructional services include paraprofessional support, preschool special education support, 21st Century after-school programs, and Alternative Schools. Our Alternative School tailors curriculum around the emotionally disabled students to meet their specific learning needs. It also has an Opportunity school that serves those students who need to recover credits in order to meet graduation requirements. The administration and staff at the Alternative/Opportunity School work together with our partner schools to support and develop a standards based curriculum that will allow their students to succeed and graduate. This is directly related to the economic vitality of our community and state. These students range from the most gifted to the most at-risk, including special needs students and other at-risk populations such as dropouts and adjudicated youth.
We are proud that we can service the schools of Paulding and Van Wert County. We will continue to strive to be as efficient, effective, and lean as possible with our services.
Consent Items – WBESC
A. Motion to extend limited contract, December 1, 2015 to June 30, 2017 to Anita King as Payroll Clerk/ Fiscal Assistant, Salary Set by Board.
B. Motion to approve job description No. 1326 Payroll Clerk/Fiscal Assistant.
C. Motion to approve attached Resolution #15-02, to retain certain legal service of Scott Scriven LLP in connection with matters relating to education law and workers compensation.
The October 28, 2015 Board meeting adjourned with no additional Board action. The next regular Governing Board meeting of the Western Buckeye Educational Service Center will be on Wednesday, November 18, 2015 starting at 6:00 P.M. at the Van Wert ESC office.
