Policies that regulate many activities at Wayne Community Schools and the possibility of creating a co-op for the Wayne High wrestling program were among the items discussed at length during the Wayne Community Schools' Board of Education meeting on July 10.
Prior to moving into the action item portion of the meeting, three people spoke during the Communications from the Public section of the meeting,
Raegan Maas, Jason Trautman and Levi Pofahl addressed the board on the subject of creating a co-op with Laurel-Concord-Coleridge for wrestling.
All three noted that there has not been enough information provided in regard to the item and expressed concern about the lack of space for practices if additional students are added to the program.
Maas asked the board "how will anyone in Wayne benefit?"
Trautman and Pofahl both told the board that many of their concerns had already been addressed and that they will work to make the "program beneficial either way. We do not want our wrestlers to not succeed because of space."
During the action item portion of the meeting, board members discussed the co-op and Superintendent Dr. Mark Lenihan talked about details of the agreement.
He said he had met with representatives of Laurel-Concord-Coleridge (L-C-C) and told the board that a recent co-op between L-C-C and Randolph had ended and there were approximately five students from L-C-C who would like to have the opportunity to wrestle.
He said that the co-op agreement would be for two years, the team would retain the Blue Devil mascot and L-C-C would be responsible for transporting the students to Wayne for practice.
Board members indicated that they felt the district was being rushed into making a decision and "want to make sure we are taking care of our students."
Dr. Lenihan told the board that "the co-op can be beneficial to everyone and I have full confidence in our staff and students to make it work."
Following considerable discussion, board members voted to move forward with the co-op.
Annual review of policies dealing with bullying, student fees, homeless students and parent involvement.
Superintendent Lenihan went over each of the policies individually and explained some of the details of each.
He told the board that the district works to educate students in regard to bullying, especially on social media and talked about resources available to both parents and students in regard to reporting incidents of bullying.
The requirements for qualifying for assistance with student fees was also explained, as was the items that qualify for assistance. These include items such as Chrome books and band instruments.
Discussion was held on how the district is able to determine if a student is homeless and what services are available to that person.
The policy that deals with parent involvement is required to be a part of the district's policy book for federal regulations. Activities the district provides that fall in this category were outlined.
Also on the topic of policies, the board gave second reading approval to 13 policies that had required changes based on recent legislative action.
Among the topics were option enrollment, student discipline, alternative education, graduation requirements and special education policies.
Other policies receiving first reading approval deal with resignation of certified employees, the ability of the school nurse to administer Naloxone to reverse an opioid overdose and artificial intelligence in terms of school assignments.
A Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Wayne for the hiring of a School Resource Officer was approved.
This person would be in the school (both elementary and junior/senior high) for a total of 10 hours per week during the days when school is in session. The district will pay this person $35 per hour.
The goal of this program is to help build relationships between the students and the police department.
Both the district and the officer are required to take 20 hours of training.
Board members also approved the relocation of the current Tech Mod (building). The move was made necessary due to the upcoming building/remodeling project. The area the building is currently located will be home to the new wrestling area.
Jordan Widner, Director of Maintenance, explained the steps necessary to make the move happen. He said the actual move "will include lots of man hours and moving the building will be much cheaper than building a new one."
The $33,000 cost for the move will be taken from the district's Building Fund.
The possibility of reorganization of the Business Office was discussed, although no action was taken.
Dr. Lenihan said the need to have an additional person in the department was the suggestion of last year's fiscal audit. He explained that as there is a transition in staff, and because of the additional requirements of the office, a one year training period would be necessary.
Additional discussion will be held at future board meetings.
Dr. Lenihan also shared preliminary information on the upcoming line item budget. Board members will discuss the budget in more detail at future meetings.
The Wayne Community Schools' Board of Education will next meet in regular session on Monday, Aug. 14 at 7 p.m. The time change is due to the Back-To- School Open House that night.
