January 13, 1999

At the January 12, 1999, organizational meeting of the Shaker Heights Board of Education, the Board took the following actions:

• The Board elected Marvin A. McMickle President of the Board and Freda J. Levenson Vice President, both for a one-year term.

• The Board set the second Tuesday of each month at 8 p.m. as the date and time of its regular monthly meetings.

• The Board designated the Superintendent of Schools or his designee as the Hearing Officer for student discipline matters.

• The Board authorized the Treasurer to request tax advances from the County Auditor and to file complaints as to the valuation or assessment of real property in 1999.

• The Board established a 1999 Service Fund in the amount of $7,500 to cover expenses incurred by Board of Education members.

• The Board approved memberships in the Ohio School Boards Association, its Legal Assistance Fund, and the National School Boards Association. Freda J. Levenson was appointed legislative liaison.

• The Board appointed the following firms as legal counsel: Squire, Sanders & Dempsey; Kelley, McCann & Livingstone; Sebraien M. Haygood and Associates; Coaxum & Hewitt; and Arter & Hadden.

• The Board authorized the Superintendent to establish school lunch and milk prices, class fees, student fees, and other appropriate school fees.

• The Board authorized the Superintendent to seek grants and contracts for funded programs from outside sources including the federal and state governments and private foundations.

At the January 12, 1999, regular meeting of the Shaker Heights Board of Education, the Superintendent reported the following:

• The City of Shaker Heights will present its 12th annual Martin Luther King., Jr., celebration at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 21, 1999, at Plymouth Church, 2860 Coventry Road. The School District will be represented by the A Cappella Choir and by members of the Student Group on Race Relations, who will make a dramatic presentation. Winners of a student essay contest sponsored by the Shaker Heights Public Library will have their works displayed in a booklet to be distributed to those in attendance. Speakers will include Rabbi Ben Kamin and Dr. James Tanner. A Shaker Heights resident will receive the 1999 Martin Luther King., Jr., Award for human relations. A reception will follow at the church. The event, sponsored by the Shaker Heights Human Relations Commission, is open to the public, free of charge.

• Some 640 students from 40 schools in Northern Ohio came to Shaker Heights High School on December 18 and 19 for the pre-district qualifying debate tournament. Shaker students took first place in the oratorical interpretation and four-person team events, and a two-member team qualified for the State tournament in March. Debaters will have additional opportunities to qualify for the State round in competitions at the end of this month. Hosting the event were Shaker debate coaches Robert White, of the foreign language department, Robert Sylak of the science department, and Amy Roediger.

• The season is far from over, but Shaker Heights High School varsity athletic teams already have a lot to be excited about. Shaker wrestlers have participated in tournaments in Brecksville, West Geauga, and Richmond Heights. The women’s basketball team won the championship at the Twinsburg Holiday Tournament. The men’s basketball team, ranked 1st in the Plain Dealer poll and 9th is the USA Today Midwest poll, joined other nationally prominent teams at the Slam Dunk at the Beach Holiday Tournament in Delaware. The ice hockey team won both the Thornton Park tournament and the Cleveland Heights tournament. Meanwhile, the men’s and women’s swim teams spent part of their winter vacation training in Florida.

• The Shaker Heights Youth and Family Counseling Center, in cooperation with the School District, has instituted a new program to assist Shaker students, with the support of a grant from the State of Ohio. Students who have been suspended from the Middle School or the High School attend full-day sessions at the Youth Center, where they are tutored for a half-day so they do not fall behind academically while they are out of school. The other half of the day is devoted to culturally specific and gender-specific activities addressing the behaviors that led to the suspension. Peer discussion groups and artistic expression are used to help students understand and redirect their behavior. A Parenting for Success program is offered to the students’parents/guardians, and students are invited back for weekly follow-up sessions once they are back in school. Since the beginning of the school year, 62 students have benefited from the program.

• The School District has received $598,000 as the first installment of payments as a result of a new law permitting the sale of delinquent property tax liens. This amount represents over half of the payments made by delinquent taxpayers to avoid the sale of liens; another $238,500 is due in May 1999. In addition, the School District expects to receive as much as $980,000 from the actual sale of liens in late January. The District has designated this one-time revenue as a funding source for the gymnasium expansion and renovation at Shaker Heights High School. The payments are the result of House Bill 371, a law enacted in Spring 1998 that permits county treasurers in Ohio to sell delinquent liens to private businesses for collection. (County treasurers are responsible for collecting and distributing revenues from taxes levied by school districts and other local government entities.) Property on which taxes have been in arrears for a year or more is considered delinquent for purposes of the law. The Cuyahoga County Treasurer’s Office has moved aggressively to take advantage of the legislation and is the first county to make payments to school districts and other local taxing authorities under the law. The Board of Education has actively supported the enactment of the legislation and the County Treasurer’s sale of tax liens. The law is expected to deter future delinquencies.

Following a welcome and overview by Delores E. Groves, Principal of Woodbury Elementary School, the Board toured the new Woodbury Library.

The Board heard the following:

• A report of the Task Force on Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools.

The Board approved the following:

• Personnel items, including appointments, special assignments, substitutes, temporary employees, tutors, supplemental contracts, resignations, and tuition reimbursements.

• Reappointment of the Superintendent of Schools for a five-year contract period commencing on August 1, 2000.

• Revision of pay rate for substitute teachers and increase in the tuition reimbursement pool for tutors, teaching aides/assistants and other staff members not covered by collective bargaining agreements.

• Program placement and tuition for a special education student.

• Financial statements for December 1998, interim investments, appropriation modifications and transfer between funds.

• Change orders related to electrical work at the Shaker Heights Public Library and electrical, roofing, and general trades work at Woodbury Elementary School.

• Supplemental appropriations to accommodate grants from the Ohio Educational Excellence and Competency Program and Safe, Drug-Free Schools Program.

• Renewal of the school district’s liability insurance policy and the umbrella liability insurance policy through Nationwide Insurance Company, both for a period of three years beginning February 1, 1999.

• The 1998-99 Tax Budget for the school district.

The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, February 9, 1999, at Shaker Heights Middle School.