The Delaware City Schools Board of Education on Monday discussed the rest of the school year and approved union contracts.
Superintendent Heidi Kegley brought up Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s recent announcement that he will lift mask mandates in June, and she noted DeWine sent a letter to Ohio educators saying the lifting of restrictions will not apply to schools.
“In order to maintain consistence and model safe behavior for Ohio students, these changes do not effect the existing order requiring the use of facial coverings and other health protocols for our schools,” DeWine said in the letter. “With limited number of students vaccinated, it’s important that we continue these safety measures through the end of the current school year.”
Kegley said the district is keeping current with all guidelines and information from the CDC and from the Delaware Public Health District, and district officials are already preparing plans for next school year.
“We don’t know what the future holds when we come back in the fall,” Kegley told the board. “We’ll continue to update you and have those discussions over the next few months.”
Later in the meeting, the board approved one-year extensions with two of the unions in the district: OAPSE and UE. The district’s other union, DCTA, had its contract renewed at the board’s last meeting on May 3. Kegley said she’s thankful the district could come to an agreement with the unions.
“I appreciate everyone’s willingness and hard work to make that possible,” she said. “Our union leadership has done an exceptional job of keeping everything moving this year for the school district.”
The board also heard from student board member Mackenzie Collett, a senior at Hayes High School, who said the school year is over for seniors. Collett added she’s looking forward to the senior events this week, including graduation, which will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Cornell Stadium.
During Monday’s meeting, the board approved several staffing changes, including the resignations of Mark Tegtmeier, a music teacher at Dempsey; Montana Blevins, an educational assistant at Dempsey; and Caleb Naegele, a technology specialist at Schultz. The board approved the employments of Natalie Ritchie, a music teacher at Conger; Garrett Eiben, a science teacher at Hayes; and Bailey Stainbrook, a speech language pathologist at Hayes.
The board will meet next on June 7.
