December 2, 2010
Grigsby chosen as full-time city manager Base salary set at $180,000; annual ‘longevity’ raises range from 7% to 15% Grigsby to the permanent position of city manager after a special meeting on Nov. 22. “I think that council felt it was wise to first take a look within the staf f to see if a city manager candidate e xisted within our own ranks,” Mayor Tim Lecklider said. The legislation naming the 21-year Dublin employee is expected to be adopted during the Dec. 6 council meetMarsha Grigsby ing.
By JENNIFER NOBLIT
ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Dublin didn’t have to look far for its new city manager. Council members directed staff to draw up le gislation to name finance director and interim city manager Marsha
According to information from city officials, Grigsby will be given an annual base salary of $180,000 with the usual benefits. Her contract will also include the possibility of an annual longevity incentive of 7 percent after the first year, 10 percent at the end of the second year and 15 percent at the end of the third year. Grigsby was appointed interim city manager in September after the post was vacated by Terry Foegler, who left
for a job with Ohio State Uni versity. She also filled in as city manager for nine months in the 2001-2002 and again for five months during the search that netted Foegler, who was with the city for 18 months. Grigsby said she hasn’t never applied for the position, but had recently discussed it with council members. “I previously did not apply and that’s related to the fact that there were things in the finance area I wanted to be in-
volved in and see to completion,” she said. “We’re in pretty good shape now. There are a lot of things I’ve been able to see to completion. I looked at this as an opportunity to take on and accept a new challenge.” Lecklider said it was more than Grigsby’s background in finance that led to the decision to name her city manager. “I want to point out that Marsha has See GRIGSBY, page A2
Task force: Push back high school start time By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Adam Cairns/ThisWeek
Moderately Confused robotics team assistant coach Rajiv Singhal and his daughter, Ria, stand with team members David Feng, Arjun Kumar and Erin Bryden while they practice challenges with the team’s LEGO robot on Wednesday, Nov. 23.
Teams tackle robots, health for league By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Trial and error has been the name of the game for the FIRST LEGO league robotics team “Moderately Confused.” The 10 students on the team that practices at Sells Middle School are among the 206 Dublin City School students in grades 4-8 that are tackling the “Body Forward” challenge this year, pitting the students against injuries, illnesses and disease. “The theme this year is biomedical engineering,” eighth-grader Erin Bryden said. Students must work together to build a robot that will complete challenges on a board about the size of a billiards table. Challenges on the
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There’s a lot of trial and error. The kids have to figure out how far the robot travels. And it’s measured in one revolution of the axle, not the wheel.
SHERRIE BEHR — Dublin Robotics Booster s vice president
board include distributing medicine, setting a bone and unblocking an artery — all with Legos. After students build the Lego robot they must create programs that can run it through the different challenges, Coach Cyndi Bryden said. Although students may not touch the robot after it’s put in the ring, light and touch sensors help guide it through the course.
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A lot of time is spent going through the programs to make adjustments and corrections, said Sherri Behr, a parent and Dublin Robotics Boosters vice president. “There’s a lot of trial and error,” she said. “The kids have to figure out how far the robot travels. And it’s measured in one revolution of the axle, not the wheel.” Students also learn when to dis-
miss an idea and move on Bryden said. Ed Glaubitz said the team spent time working on a cross-bow type Lego piece to complete one task,but eventually had to scrap it. “We decided not to do it because it’s really hard to aim it and it might break (the robot’s) arm,” he said. “We dumped the idea.” Seventh-grader David Feng said he’s enjoyed his first year in the league and liked building a part that helps the team complete a task with a Lego syringe. “I thought it was fun to work with Legos and robots,” he said. Feng also programmed the robot to perform a task and took classes See TEAM TACKLE, page A4
The school reform task force wants to give Dublin High School students at least 45 e xtra minutes of sleep on school nights. The committee that has been meeting for 16 months said studies,surveys and other research led members to believe that pushing the school day back from 7:25 a.m. by at least 45 minutes w ould be very beneficial to students at Dublin’s three high schools. “There is a body of research to support that 45minute barrier,” task force member and Deputy Superintendent Michael Trego said. Tracey Miller, director of secondary education, told school board members the task force came upon reports that said later school times encourage more sleep, which could hold benefits such as improved academics. Some studies also link less sleep for high school students to car accidents,Miller said, citing the headline, “Teen car crashes tied to early start times.” “We wanted to make sure that no stone was unturned,” he said, adding that the practices and schedules of 16 other districts in the state were looked at. Task force members also went o ver the results of surveys taken by high school students, parents and staff members. The surveys listed three options. The first was to keep the current school day schedule of 7:25 a.m. to 2:35 p.m. for high school students, 8:15 a.m. to 2:55 p.m. for middle school students and 9:05 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. for elementary students. The second option included a school day of 8:35 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. for the high schools,9:25 a.m. to 4:05 p.m. for middle schools and 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for elementary schools. The third option,which task force members said received the most support,had the high school day run from 8:10 a.m. to 3:10 p.m.,the middle schools run from 8:15 a.m. to 2:55 p.m. and elementaries from 9:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. The third option presented in the surveys would move the high school day back by 45 minutes,which, according to the task force recommendation,would See TASK FORCE, page A2
Dublin’s oldest homes School district will seek BMI waiver offer history lessons By JENNIFER NOBLIT
ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By LISA AURAND ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Among Dublin residents celebrating the city’s 200th year are five proud people with one thing in common — they own some of Dublin’s oldest homes. Washington Township has 47 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places,but among the most interesting are the three oldest houses, all still in use as private residences, said Herb Jones, president of the Dublin Historical Society. The oldest frame house in the city, 63 S. Riverview, is owned
by Kristin Anderson. “The house was built in 1822 by James Kilbourne,” the founder of Worthington, Jones said. Kilbourne constructed it for his nephew, William Kilbourne, who lived there with his wife, Matilda Sells. Around the 1840s, the house was purchased by the Eberly family, which turned it into Dublin’s first post office, Jones said. The Eberlys lived there for about 100 years, after which the first major renovations of the building began to take place.
The Dublin school district hopes to shed the state-required body-mass-index testing for students for the current school year. School board members last week unanimously agreed to ask for a waiver from the state to skip the new BMI testing requirements contained in Senate Bill 210. The statewide effort to reduce childhood obesity by increasing activity and access to healthy foods in S.B. 210 also requires schools to perform BMI testing on students in grades kindergarten, 3, 5 and 9. Body-mass-index testing is calculated from a child’s height and weight. The resulting number is compared to others in the same age and gender group.
After testing, schools must notify parents and students of the results, and submit the information to the state. The state law also requires schools to allow students to opt out of the testing. During a September presentation to the school board, Janet Gillig, executive director of pupil services, said district responsibilities for the testing include notifying parents, providing information and an opt-out form, performing testing and helping parents and student interpret the findings. Both equipment and staff time will be needed, but the requirement from the state doesn’t come with funding, Gillig said. “Standardized equipment is required. Most clinics do not have the scales and other equipment,” she said in September. During last week’s meeting, Gillig said
the district is still looking into costs and other options related to BMI testing. “Most districts are moving towards a waiver at this time,” Superintendent David Axner said. In other school board news, the first reading of a new course for high school students was heard David Axner last week. A one-semester course, discrete math, will be added to the high school course book if approved by school board members on the third reading. Tracey Miller, director of secondary education, said a requirement stemming from Gov. Taft’s administration says high school See SCHOOL BOARD, page A4
See DUBLIN’S, page A5
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