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Kenston Board of Education

LWV Geauga Observer Corps

Meter to Track Energy Production of Turbine Approved by Kenston BOE

Kenston Board of Education Regular Meeting –July 14, 2025 

Original Publication Date: July 20, 2025              Revision Publication Date: July 28, 2025


Meeting Details: 
The Kenston Board of Education (BOE) Regular Meeting took place on July 14, 2025, at 7:00 pm.  The full video of the meeting is posted on the Kenston Website page here and on Kenston’s YouTube page here.  View the agenda online and any attached documents here by selecting the meeting tab, the meeting date, and the agenda.

Pledge of Allegiance led by Board President Tom Manning

4:28 Min Call to order by President Tom Manning at 7:01pm.

Board Attendance: President Tom Manning, Vice President Beth Krause, Ph.D., Jennifer Troutman, J.D., Dennis Bergansky, and Jim Henry

Staff in Attendance: Superintendent Bruce R. Willingham Jr., Ed.D. and Treasurer Seth Cales

Regular Meeting Welcome and Roll Call: This meeting is being held in accordance with Section 3313.15 of the Ohio Revised Code.

5:23 Min Approval of the Minutes: The Kenston Board of Education approved that the reading of the minutes be waived, and approved the Minutes of the June 30, 2025 regular meeting as recorded or corrected.  The minutes of the June meeting can be found here.

5:58 Min Informational Items

  • Legislative Update: Dr. Krause and Dr. Willingham shared news that a Franklin County Judge granted a summary judgment ruling that Ohio’s private school voucher system is unconstitutional. Both parties in the lawsuit are preparing for the appeals process. For more information about the initial court case and ruling, see the article from the Ohio Capital Journal here or the Statehouse News Bureau here.

7:00 Min Superintendent’s Report - Dr. Willingham’s report was accompanied by slides. Highlights include:

  • Dr. Willingham advised that the first ever Corporate Sponsorship event was a success. He highlighted the effort that Mr. Cale, Amy Sparks, and Chrissy Aurich put into bringing the event together. A number of different communities and businesses participated in the event. Thank you notes were sent to all attendees. Kenston is hoping to continue this partnership with the business community.

  • Dr. Willingham noted that there are expected to be some legislative overrides for Governor DeWine’s line item vetoes on Ohio’s House Bill 96 (the State Budget), as Speaker Huffman is recalling the House on July 21, 2025 to do so. Dr. Willingham identified and discussed three potential veto overrides that he believed would be concerning both for Kenston and/or for districts across Ohio: Items 55, 65, and 66 specifically. Observer Note: See Veto Messages from the Office of the Governor here for simpler summaries for Item 55 (pp. 41-42), 65 (p. 48), and 66 (p. 48-55). Dr. Willingham said that Governor DeWine is working to put together a property tax review for the purposes of meaningful property tax reform rather than cutting the community’s ability to levy. 

11:44 Min Hearing of the Public on Agenda Items - No speaker requests.

11:48 Min Treasurer’s Report - Mr. Cales’ presentation was accompanied by slides (no link available). He commented briefly on Ohio legislation and the fiscal year (FY) end.

  • Current cash flow revenue is less than forecast by $52,224.

  • Current cash flow expenditure projection is less than forecast by $396,031.

  • Current projected ending cash balance exceeds forecast by $343,807.

  • Salary, wages, and benefits are around 80 to 81 % of expenditures per Mr. Cales.

  • General Fund Administrative Costs are 13.79% of General Fund Operating costs. With the goal  to keep these costs below 15%, Mr. Cales advised that the district is at a comfortable rate and the focus of the spending will remain on the students.

  • June 30, 2025 cash balance is estimated to be $9,043,733 at the end of the current FY compared to June 30, 2024 actual cash balance of $8,338,004. Mr. Cales advised that this was good news as the district added $705,729 to its cash balance due to careful realignment of spending. This is the largest year over year percentage savings (surplus) in 12 years.

  • Mr. Cales said that the County Auditor Chuck Walder noted to him that Kenston has the lowest cash balance of all Geauga County school districts and may need a levy soon. Mr. Cales indicated that Kenston is actively working to “drive value” and push out the need for a new levy. 

Mrs. Troutman suggested that Mr. Cales, as part of the next financial report, explain and discuss the purposes of a healthy cash balance for a school district and further clarify to the community that a large number in cash reserves is not a simple case of the school being “flush” with money. There was general agreement that this was a good idea. Reviewer Note: This report erroneously stated that Mr. Cales had already provided this explanation when it was originally published on July 20, 2025. This report was republished on July 28, 2025 to clarify that Mr. Cales will provide this information in the next financial report.

 

24:08 Min Agenda approval items 9-18. As the Board President announced at the beginning of the meeting, these items have been reviewed by Board members before the meeting and most are passed quickly and without discussion.

Observer Note: Video times are not noted on the quickly occurring motions and approvals below unless significant changes are mentioned or significant discussions occur. 

Financial Items - All items and accompanying documents can be found here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 9.1-9.11 on the agenda. All Approved. Items that may be of interest include but are not limited to:

  • Contract here with Rising Phoenix Management LLD dba (doing business as) Fast Track Marketplace Auctions to auction the equipment noted in the June 30th Board meeting. 

  • Contract with PowerGrid Partners to provide annual maintenance to the Turbine here

    • Mr. Cales said that this organization will be installing a front end meter on the turbine so that the district can see the kilowatts (KWs) produced in comparison with the costs to operate the turbine in order to quantify the savings in “hard numbers” to share with the community.

  • Contract with Schools of Ohio Risk Sharing Authority (SORSA) in the amount of $215,349.00 for District Property, Liability, and Fleet Insurance for the period of August 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026 here.

Certified Personnel Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here for review by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 10.1-10.3 on the agenda. All Approved.

Classified Personnel Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 11.1- 11.4 on the agenda. All Approved.

Supplemental Personnel Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 12.1-12.5 on the agenda. All Approved.


Exempt Personnel Items
-  These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 13.1 on the agenda. All Approved.

  • Revised Administrative and Exempt Administrative Support Staff Personnel Handbook for the 2024-2027 Contract Years (no link to an electronic copy provided).

Teaching and Learning - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 15.1-15.3 on the agenda. All Approved. Items that may be of interest include but are not limited to:

  • New Curriculum Approval

  • Final approval for Policy 2413 - Career Advising (Bi-Annual Review) and Policy 5136 - Personal Communication Devices (Complete Replacement). Per Dr. Willingham, Policy 5136 is just a placeholder to start the year until NEOLA (Northeast Ohio Learning Associates) creates a new one in line with new legislation.

New Business Items - These items and accompanying documents are available here by selecting the meeting tab, meeting date, and 18.1-18.3 on the agenda. All Approved.

  • 25-26 Preschool Handbook here.

  • 25-26 K-12 Student Handbook here.

  • 25-26 Coaches Handbook here.

35:07 Min Hearing of The Public on Non-Agenda Items- No speaker requests.

35:13 Min Motion was made and approved to adjourn and the meeting video ended at 35:28 min.


Next regular meeting:
August 11, 2025 at 7 pm. 

More information here: Board of Education | Kenston Local Schools


Video Observer: Jacqueline Berger

Editor: Rooney Moy

Reviewer: Sarah McGlone  


Date Submitted: July 18, 2025

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