North Central continues to discuss discipline

She said the district had been a “(s***) show lately.”

At that meeting, several board members pleaded ignorance of the situation and had a two-hour executive session to discuss personnel at the end of the meeting.

Amanda Blohm, who taught at North Central Elementary School for 11 years, spoke to the board Tuesday.

In a prepared statement made available to The Bryan Times, she said Hug’s comments were “just the tip of the iceberg.” She said after the April meeting, students were in the office daily for discipline referrals with many of them being repeat offenders.

“For the remainder of the year, NC staff continued to be the first responders,” she said. “NC staff were first responders when students were spewing hurtful words towards one another; staff were first responders to students who had inflicted harm upon themselves; and also staff were first responders when students made threats to seriously harm other students in their class.”

Blohm said the community has been supportive and thanked them for that. Because of their efforts, she said the teachers have felt “heard, understood and supported.”

However, she also said the school district is “still in crisis.”

“They need leadership. They need the board and administration to be strong,” Blohm said. “And most importantly, for the sake of our students and our staff, we need to feel safe when coming to school both mentally and physically.”

According to meeting minutes, School Board President Anthony Burnett responded with statements outlining what they have been doing and said they are continuing to work on the issues.

The Bryan Times reached out to Burnett for further comment, but as of late Friday have not received a response.

The board has held multiple executive sessions since April, all to discuss personnel in one matter or another.

On Tuesday, the board had a roughly half-hour executive session to discuss complaints against a public employee. Joining the board in the meeting were Kent Hutchison, elementary school physical education teacher; Marcia Rozevink, junior high and high school principal; Andrew Mickey, athletic director; and Kim Hutchison, paraprofessional with the Northwest Ohio Education Service Center.

They had a second, almost hour-long executive session at the end of the meeting to discuss personnel, employment and negotiations.

The April and May meetings were recorded and placed on the district’s YouTube channel at https://bit.ly/3MC4qZa.

According to an email from Joie Henry, superintendent’s secretary, the board meetings will no longer be made available on YouTube. In a follow-up email, she said she didn’t know why this decision was made and directed comments to Michael Bute, the new superintendent, who starts July 5.

Separately, the board approved the resignations of Rozevink and Blohm, both effective June 30.

The next meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. July 14 with a work session prior to the meeting at 5 p.m.

In other business, the board:

• Approved athletic ticket prices for the 2022-23 season.

• Approved a proposed technology plan as a foundation for the next five years of technology maintenance, upgrades and development.

• Approved Class of 2022 scholarships payable through North Central.

• Approved annual premium for liability, violence, auto and property insurance at a cost of $21,318.