BELLEFONTAINE EXAMINER Vol. 128 • No. 255 Wednesday, October 16, 2019 75 CENTS CHIEFS BOOT FORECAST URBANA Tomorrow Bellefontaine opens tourney play 52º 37º PRECIPITATION: .32” | Month 0.95” | Year 42.37” with 8-0 rout ALSO AVAILABLE ONLINE @ www.examiner.org WEST LIBERTY-SALEM BOARD OF EDUCATION Renewal of five-decade-old permanent Memorial wall to be constructed improvement levy sought Nov. 5 AMANDA TONOLI for the Memorial Wall will “The biggest impact as EXAMINER STAFF WRITER reimburse the permanent to why we were a C this [email protected] improvement account. year is our Progress The West Liberty-Salem School District seeks renewal of 50-year-old Another construction Component (grade) which permanent improvement renewal levy on the Nov. 5 election. A memorial wall will project in progress is the is a D,” HIssong explained. The five-year 1.5-mill levy generates approximately $155,000 per year soon be constructed at cooling tower. “(The Progress Component and was first passed in 1969. It expires at the end of this year. West Liberty-Salem Superintendent Kraig grade) looks at how kids The levy is not to be used towards the field house project, employee Schools. Hissong told the board performed based on where salaries or benefits and costs the average taxpayer $46 per year, according During a Tuesday Tuesday that its design is they were projected to per- to information from the the school district. evening regular board of to be complete by the end form. In the past we had A permanent improvement project is an item or initiative that has a five education meeting, the of January which is when it A’s — A’s on the past three year life-span or longer. Permanent improvement levy dollars help support board approved the should go out to bid. The maintenance and repair of school property; acquisition of school busses; $13,000 construction to be years … I really don’t know construction is to begin in purchasing equipment including computers and technology, instruction performed by Link exactly how they calculat- March and will be com- materials, textbooks and school furnishings. Construction. plete by the end of June ed it. My two-cents is I’m School officials assert the levy dollars make up the difference between The construction is 2020. not sure how we can go funded through donations Hissong also gave a from an A to an F that what the state funding payouts and what it actually costs to operate public of $3,575 and the balance brief overview of the state quickly and have it make a schools. State allocations and federal funding provide only a portion of the will be paid using the dis- report card results. whole lot of sense. It frus- local dollars needed to operate a public school. trict’s permanent improve- The district scored an trates us a little bit.” Permanent improvement levies like these fund necessary long-term ment account. overall C grade on the projects, school officials said. Any future donations report card. See WL-S on Page 3 BELLEFONTAINE POLICE DEPARTMENT OSU director of Public Safety to speak at annual awards banquet BY THE EXAMINER STAFF Officers and support staff will be recognized for their service to the community at the eighth annual awards banquet set for Thursday, Nov. 14, and hosted by Bellefontaine Police Department. The event is occasion to recognize the work of police officers, dispatchers and all who support the tireless work of MOLL local law enforcement. Keynote speaker for the event is Monica Moll, Director of Public Safety at the Ohio State University. “This event is a time set aside by the police depart- ment to honor its own for their exceptional work,” Police Chief Brandon Standley said. “Director Moll has been instrumental in leading the agencies at OSU in keeping the thousands of students, EXAMINER PHOTO | BYRON SCOTT faculty and visitors safe. She works daily with her team to incorporate best practices in college campus safety. County Road 28 replacement work under way “With some of the nation’s top educational opportu- Prep work is under way by the Logan County Engineer’s Office to replace a bridge along County Road 28, south of Pickrelltown between Township nities and sports teams, she will discuss her duties Road 164 and County Road 29. The bridge was washed out during heavy rains and flooding that occurred on May 17. The bridge will be replaced with while applauding the work of the Bellefontaine Police a precast concrete four-sided box culvert structure and precast concrete wingwalls. The bridge is scheduled to reopen Nov. 22, weather permitting. Department in the community they serve.” Cost for the project is expected to be reimbursed from the state of Ohio by way of disaster relief funding. A social hour begins at 5 p.m., with dinner to follow at 6 p.m. RSVP may be made to Kim Tackett, 599-1010, or by email, [email protected]. RIVERSIDE SCHOOLS’ BOARD District’s literacy success celebrated Roof replacement project explored BY MANDY LOEHR EXAMINER STAFF WRITER [email protected] Riverside Board of Education members were offered a detailed look at their Tuesday evening meeting at the work and processes that were involved in district’s recent EXAMINER PHOTO | NATE SMITH success on the K-3 Literacy standard on the state report card, where the district was one of 11 school districts in Occupants temporarily stuck in rollover crash Ohio to receive an A letter grade on this measure. Deputies of the Logan County Sheriff’s Office and Bellefontaine Fire and EMS responded to a two-vehicle crash about District literacy coach Brenda Lowery offered an 3:50 p.m. Tuesday on Rush and Dowell avenues, where one of the vehicles had overturned. Deputies report Karen S. overview of this report card section, noting that Collins, 75, of Bellefontaine, was operating a southbound minivan on Dowell Avenue when she entered the intersection Riverside’s 94 percent grade in this component involved and when crossing the eastbound lanes of Rush Avenue, her vehicle struck an eastbound pickup operated by Kelly N. moving 47 out of 50 students from off-track to on-track with their reading scores in 2018-19. The previous school Radmer, 42, of Deltona, Fla. The impact caused the pickup to overturn on Rush Avenue, and the minivan continued off year, the building had 54.8 percent of their third-graders the northeast side of the intersection. Bellefontaine EMS personnel checked both drivers at the scene, but no injuries score proficient on the Ohio Third Grade reading test. were reported. Collins was cited for failure to yield from a stop sign and Radmer was cited for a seat belt violation. As a result of the elementary students’ boost in reading Collins was wearing her seat belt. Damage was heavy to both vehicles, which were towed from the scene. scores, district representatives were invited to present to the Ohio Department of Education’s committee on Teaching Leading and Learning in Columbus during July, DEGRAFF VILLAGE COUNCIL as previously reported in the Examiner. In addition, the ODE and other schools will be visiting the district from 9 to 11 a.m. Oct. 29 to take a look at the reading initiatives on site. Replacement administrator sought Lowery explained that two years ago, Riverside received an ODE’s Early Literacy Grant, and as a result, BY NATE SMITH That executive session included referred for questions on more com- Margo Shipp, regional early literacy specialist for state EXAMINER STAFF WRITER council members and the village plicated repairs, according to dis- support Region 6, has been working alongside district staff. [email protected] cussion Tuesday. solicitor. Outgoing, interim mayor Since that time, all elementary classroom teachers, Beth Neeley was not invited into a Another discussion was had of intervention specialists, paraprofessionals and Title I The Village of DeGraff is growing its back meeting room with the council. staggering maintenance employees’ teachers have been extensively trained in several early lit- search for a replacement village Council also expressed a willing- hours to help improve efficiency. eracy programs, including Heggerty Phonemic Awareness administrator. ness to consider a part-time appli- Currently, both full-time employees Curriculum and LETRS, which provides educators with work 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., but council the background, depth of knowledge and tools to teach Council members in a regular cant for the position. There is a will soon be altering those work language and literacy skills. The training looks at the sci- meeting Tuesday approved expanding pressing need to fill that position hours to stagger one shift from 7 ence of how children learn to read. into Shelby County its advertisements with a qualified applicant, as com- “Through the detailed training that all of the staff have for a new village administrator to a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and 8 a.m. to 4:30 plicated projects begin to stack up p.m., respectively. had, we’re able to look at the data from each student and replace Shane Long, who resigned diagnose where their specific issues are,” Lowery said. that cannot be handled as easily by Council expressed some concern Sept. 6 for the purpose of new employ- “Since we’ve all had the same training, all of the staff is the existing two full-time employ- over the accountability of the ment in the city of Marysville. speaking the same language as well.” ees. Village officials would like to see employees in the month-plus since In addition to the high-quality training, Lowery and Council voted to approve advertis- some of those tasks completed Long’s departure.