The Marysville Exempted Village School District Board of Education voted not only to extend the School Resource Officer (SRO) program for the upcoming school year Thursday, but decided to expand it to include the five elementary schools in the district.
The resolution, which passed by a 5-0 vote, reads, in part:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by this Marysville Exempted Village School District Board of Education that this Board reaffirms its commitment to the School Resource Officer Program and strongly supports extending our current collaborative agreement to include our elementary schools.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Board believes we all play an active and important role in keeping our schools and community safe.
Board Member Bill Keck shares his thoughts on the resolution to the Board:
On a related matter, a presentation was given to the Board asking that it implement what is called the Watch D.O.G.S Program.
Watch D.O.G.S (Dads of Great Students) is a nationwide organization with the mission of improving school safety by getting dads, uncles, older brothers and granddads involved in the schools on a daily basis.
Watch D.O.G.S. are strictly volunteer and unarmed, the Board was told, but their mere presence as positive adult role models have proven to be a boon to the schools that employ such programs. The Watch D.O.G.S. help reduce bullying, enhance the sense of safety among the students and staff, can make sure all ingress and egress to the schools are monitored, check doors, given direction to vendors, helping and escorting visitors and helping arrivals and dismissals, and give a non-judgmental ear to a student who may be having a problem, all to gain a greater understanding of student needs with an eye toward safety.
The Board also learned that the Ohio Department of Education has revised its grading system for school districts throughout the state, going from a using a letter grade (A through F) to a star-based system, with five stars being the highest rating and one the lowest. The MEVSD took a slight hit on its report card in a few metrics during the pandemic – as did every other school in the state – but the Board was told that those metrics are improving, and over the past school year the District exceeded standards in both in language arts and mathematics.
Treasurer Todd Johnson reported that total revenues for the District for the fiscal year which ended June 30, were $6.2 million, $1.1 million of which came from from Tax Increment Financing (TIF). FY 2022 expenditures were $7.94 million, which included high-dollar items such as the renovation of the high school gymnasium, two boilers and a roof replacement and the stadium loan as well as scores of other items.
The next regular MEVSD BOE meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 18, but the Board will conduct a special meeting August 8 to discuss and set the District’s goals for new year.
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