Issuu

February 10, 2011

Village may relinquish pool management By TARA STUBBS-FIGURSKI ThisWeek Community Newspapers Canal Winchester Village Council heard the first reading Monday of legislation authorizing a $168,280 contract with a company to operate the village swimming pool for the 2011 season. Finance director Nanisa Osborn said most of the money for the contract with Columbus Pool Management Inc. would

be pulled from the budgets of various departments, including wages and benefits, operation and maintenance, contract services, utilities and capital outlay. The village will use $141,100 from existing accounts and would need an additional $27,180 for the contract. Osborn said village officials hope Columbus Pool Management will be able to fill village needs.

“None of us of have appropriate training to maintain and keep up a pool,” she said. “We think the people at the pool — lifeguards, managers — need more training than they are getting from us.” Osborn said the idea was to find a company that manages pools on a regular basis that could provide better service and for a better rate. She said every village department is involved at some point in keeping the pool operational.

“Every day of the summer, one department is there taking care of things,” she said. Councilman John Bender asked if the company plans to keep existing employees. “Absolutely,” Columbus Pool Management Inc. general manager Dan Phillips said. “It is important for us to keep the community relationship that has been here. It is important to have expe-

rienced lifeguards and a management staff who knows how things have been done.” Bender asked what type of training the village can’t provide. Osborn said every year the village struggles with opening and closing the pool. “We are not experts at what pools need to have,” she said. “We manage it. We See VILLAGE, page A3

Council considers adding HR position

SENIOR APPRECIATION

By TARA STUBBS-FIGURSKI ThisWeek Community Newspapers

By James D. DeCamp/ThisWeek

Canal Winchester High School’s Hanna Landis, right, gives flowers and a hug to senior Cadyn Krauss during a senior appreciation ceremony before the start of the team’s game against Teays Valley High School Saturday, Feb. 5. Canal Winchester lost to Teays Valley 70-51. Krauss added nine to pace the Indians against Teays Valley.

School board

Finances are the focus during retreat By TARA STUBBS-FIGURSKI ThisWeek Community Newspapers The Canal Winchester Board of Education devoted much of its time at a Feb. 5 retreat to finances. Roger Hardin, assistant director of the Office of Finance Program Services at the Ohio Department of Education, spent about an hour of the three-hour meeting reviewing school district finances in Ohio, using maps that show the number of districts anticipating budget deficits increasing throughout the state — from 10 in fiscal year 2011, to 102 in fiscal year 2012 and to 235 in fiscal year 2013. He cautioned, however, that the data on which the maps were based were formulated for last October’s required

five-year forecast submission and finances may have changed for some school districts. Additional revenue for ballot issues approved in November is not accounted for in the fiveyear forecasts and additional revenue may have already eliminated some of the projected deficits, he said. Treasurers are usually conservative in their projections and may have projected a 10- to 20-percent decrease in state funding and lower real estate tax collections for several years, he said. “Experience tells us that the majority of the districts projecting deficits resolve those deficits through expenditure reductions or increased revenue,” he said. The bottom line is that while the number of districts in the red is some-

what staggering, it does not mean all of them will end up in fiscal oversight, Hardin said. Even so, he said, his assessment is that Canal Winchester isn’t alone in its financial struggles. Board member Brian Niceswanger said he found the information and the maps “pretty stark.” Hardin suggested Canal Winchester school officials continue to pore through comparisons with other districts, using various online tools available through the Ohio Department of Education website to see where they might make cuts. He noted that although salaries in some school districts may appear higher, other factors can come into play. For instance, he said, the Berne Union district outsources all of its cleaning and food

service so those items show up as purchased services rather than salaries. One of the pieces of data school districts can access is personnel service as a percentage of operating revenue, Hardin said. For the Canal Winchester district, that is 75.5 percent compared to a county average of 77.2 percent and a statewide average of 76 percent, he said. “There are a few factors that influence that,” Hardin said. “I can almost assure you, any time you are above 81 percent, you are headed for financial trouble.” The average salary in Canal Winchester is $53,529, but an employee’s number of years of service is a factor, Hardin said. Canal Winchester has a See FINANCES, page A2

Canal Winchester village officials are hoping to hire a part-time human resources coordinator by the beginning of April. At the Feb. 7 Canal Winchester Village Council finance committee meeting, finance director Nanisa Osborn said council appropriated money for the new position in November. Council heard first reading of the legislation during Monday’s meeting. She said one of the biggest issues facing Canal Winchester as it becomes a city is civil service compliance. “Recent changes in health care have left Matt (Peoples, public works director) and I scrambling to keep up with human resource issues we need to deal with,” she said. Osborn provided council members with a proposed job description for the new HR coordinator and said all personnel responsibilities will be entrusted to the new employee. She said the HR coordinator will earn $19 an hour for up to 25 hours of work per week. Initially, the coordinator would work about 20 hours a week, she said. Councilman Steve Donahue asked when the position might become full-time. Osborn said that isn’t expected to happen until 2013 or 2014. “We tried to give obvious general duties that would be part of that position in the job description and minimum requirements,” she said. Council President Marilyn Rush-Ekelberry asked if the new position’s duties would overlap any of the responsibilities of community affairs director Carrie Hoover. Osborn said it would overlap responsibilities for everyone. “Right now, everyone has a piece of the job,” she said. For instance, she said, the job description says the human resources coordinator would be responsible for coordinating special events. Currently, Water Reclamation Department manager Steve Smith sets up most training, Peoples is responsible for health insurance training and she herself coordinates general benefits. Osborn said village officials hope to fill the position by the first of April and would likely start interviewing candidates in March. She said after Canal Winchester becomes a city, there are a lot of additional responsibilities the HR director will take on. Village officials are unsure when Canal WinSee COUNCIL, page A2

Indian Trail Elementary

Teachers: Project Achieve has improved student discipline By TARA STUBBSFIGURSKI ThisWeek Community Newspapers

Indian Trail Elementary School teachers and administrators say they have seen a vast improvement in student behavior since the school implemented Project Achieve a year ago. Project Achieve is a national program developed by psychologist Howie Knoff. According to its website, Project Achieve in an evidence-based program that,

among other things, aims to help schools develop effective classroom instruction and academic excellence; early interventions for at-risk, underachieving and unsuccessful students; professional development and staff support initiatives; and assessment, evaluation and accountability systems. Now in its second year at Indian Trail, Project Achieve has led to a substantial decrease in discipline incidents, school officials said. This includes 200 fewer lunch detentions, 20 fewer bus suspen-

sions, 150 fewer bus incident reports and 20 fewer school suspensions. Principal Beverly Downing said school psychologist Kellie Boyden brought the national program to the school, which teaches students in kindergarten through second grade. “A couple of years ago, we were looking at some issues with behavior and asking what we could do to help kids improve their social skills,” Downing said. The school was awarded some

trict spent $6,240.51 on Project Achieve and for 2010-11, Project Achieve has cost $10,628.88 to date, which has included sessions at Indian Trail, Winchester Trail Now in its second year at Indian Trail, Project Achieve has Elementary and Canal Winchesled to a substantial decrease in discipline incidents, school officials said. This includes 200 fewer lunch detentions, 20 ter Middle School. fewer bus suspensions, 150 fewer bus incident reports and Knoff came in three times last 20 fewer school suspensions. year to help train the Indian Trail staff on how to improve student grant money to help fund the na- on the project, including intensive social skills and has worked with tional program, she said. instruction at the Indian Trail teachers this year. Treasurer Joyce Boyer said for Building and a training session Downing said the program gives the 2008-09 school year, the dis- with district bus drivers. trict spent $47,022 in Title 1 funds For 2009-10, she said, the disSee ACHEIVE, page A2

A closer look