SUNBURY — On June 15, Big Walnut Board of Education member Steve Fujii continued to express his concerns about the policy change of moving the public comment portion of the meeting to the end of BOE meetings.

Fujii said the last meeting had four speakers, who would have had to wait a couple of hours for their three minutes to speak if the new policy were to go into effect.

Previously, Big Walnut had been having the public comment following the superintendent’s report and building presentations, and board members’ items of interest and before taking votes on financial and personnel matters.

“I moved it (public comment) because the business of the board needs to be done in a timely manner,” said Board President Doug Crowl. “I’ve voiced my concern that when we’ve had meetings and dialogue that last longer than three hours, the members’ focus certainly gets lost, so I would like to get all of the business of the board done prior to having a late night.”

New board member Todd Smith said he concurred with Fujii. “There are issues with openness of how government at the state and federal level is behaving, and I think this is just a bad look in general,” Smith said. “It makes us look like we’re trying to hide … it certainly doesn’t do well for our clients who are the general public and the students who we represent. It just doesn’t feel like the right thing to do. I think we should address public right away get it out of the way, let them speak their piece and we can move on.”

“I have no opinion either way,” said board member Alice Nicks. Board member Angela Graziosi was absent.

Many of the speakers have been critical of the board’s actions in recent years, especially the past couple months. Only one person wished to speak on June 15, and she thanked the board for going back to the original policy instead of making the comments seem like an afterthought or to dissuade them. No one requested to speak at the June 29 board meeting.

District boards of education can determine the order of public comment at their meetings. Some put it before the board’s business items, so they can respond on the record to a comment, although a response isn’t required.

The vote to put public comment back to its prior place on the meeting agenda was approved by a 3-1 vote, with Crowl voting no.

Superintendent Ryan McLane then gave an update on enrollment growth in the district. He said enrollment studies were conducted in 2015 and 2019, and based on those results, a separate redistricting report on the elementary school boundaries was conducted in 2019. He noted that enrollment and withdrawal numbers don’t always agree due to lag times.

To summarize, McLane said that although the district has grown, “it has not grown by the amounts and percentages that was predicted in 2015. … We’re out of classrooms, but we’re not out of seats.” The district currently has 4,236 students, an annual increase of 2.7%. McLane said he didn’t think that percentage would continue at that rate, or “jumping to 9%, even with Intel being to our east.”

Fujii said by way of contrast, in May 2013 there were 3,138 students in the district.

To alleviate current overcrowding at the elementary school level, the district has proposed new grade bands for the 2024-2025 school year: Preschool stays at Harrison Street, grades K-3 are elementaries, 4-5 intermediate school, 6-8 middle school, and 9-12 high school. This would free up classrooms at the elementaries, McLane said, giving the district a few years to decide whether to build a fifth elementary or renovate 105 Baughman (the former intermediate building).

“This eliminates the need to redistrict,” McLane said of the new grade bands. He said the plan would also be done in a way to preserve the district’s “clap-out” student tradition. The proposal is pending board approval, McLane said, after he receives more data and gets staff input.

McLane also said an auction of items that were no longer being used from up to five years ago took place on June 10. Several hundred chairs in good condition were taken to Baughman for possible future use.

“We did not make a ton of money. We did not make enough that we’ve solved all of our financial woes,” McLane said. “We brought in just under $16,000.” In addition, the sale allowed space for the maintenance department to move over to the school bus garage from a metal shed behind Baughman.

Lastly, McLane said some previous construction issues at the new high school and Prairie Run Elementary had been worked out, and problems with athletic fields would be handled by another firm, with the prior contractor agreeing to return part of their fee. This was later approved by the board.

Treasurer Darren Jenkins said in his report that they were in the process of closing out the fiscal year.

“We spend almost $130,000 a day in this district, so it comes up to a budget of $1.8 million,” Jenkins said. Crowl had noted that some of the items on a list of $15 million in repairs from 2013 had already been done. McLane said there was a capital improvement list available from the previous administration. Jenkins said a spending plan should be planned around those improvements.

The board later approved putting on the ballot “A Resolution Declaring it Necessary to Levy a Tax in Excess of the Ten Mill Limitation for the Benefit of the Community Library.” “What’s before you is a one-mil replacement levy ($35 per every $100,000 of the auditor’s assessed value),” Executive Director/Fiscal Officer Chauncey Montgomery told the board.

The Community Library serves 21,000 registered members and circulating 275,000 items annually, Montgomery said. He said the library has distributed close 18,000 COVID tests to the community. Laptops, GPS devices, projectors, traffic cones and mobile hotspots are also circulating, he said. Notary and passport services are even available.

“This would not be possible without local support,” Montgomery said. “Prior to 2009 we were almost 100% funded by the State of Ohio.”

Montgomery said the library building at 44 Burrer Drive in Sunbury is 30 years old, but now has a generator so that the community has a place to stay if the power goes out in the summer or winter. In addition, costs are going up about 6% a year but revenue is not increasing at that rate, Montgomery said.

“We want to continue to provide these great services and programs to the community, and that’s why we decided to go with a replacement,” Montgomery said.

Also at the meeting, the board approved:

• Fees for the 2023-2024 school year.

• A renewal of the district’s fleet, property and liability coverage, as well as cyber insurance in the event of being hacked.

• Two new positions, assistant food services supervisor and communications specialist.

Assistant Editor Gary Budzak covers the eastern half of Delaware County and surrounding areas. He may be reached at [email protected].