Elementary school project on target

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NEW BREMEN – The New Bremen Board of Education met Wednesday to hear progress reports on the new elementary construction as well as plans for class attendance in the 2020-21 school year.

Superintendent Jason Schrader said the district is still expecting to take possession of the new elementary building on Aug. 18, although the contractor would continue to work on minor, finish-up work on floors, painting, windows and doors until the first day of school, set for Sept. 8. He added the new gym floor goes down in another few days. He also said the front parking lot is finished, with work on the back lot to be completed next week.

He also said fencing would be going up around the old elementary soon in preparation for demolition of the old building. The first stage, to start June 30, will be asbestos mediation. Actual knock-down of the building walls is still weeks away.

Schrader is planning to meet with the other superintendents around Auglaize County the week of July 6 to work on plans to deal with COVID restrictions while meeting student educational goals. “We would like to see some consistency across the county,” said Schrader as to how much in-class vs on line education would be employed.

“I believe that students are best educated in the classroom daily or at least as close as possible,” he added. “But it must be done in a safe manner, working with the health department and within state guidelines.”

The district will also hold internal discussions on the subject with staff as well as send out a survey to parents.

In personnel action, the BOE approved the hiring of Chris Lauterbach as new grade 7-12 guidance counselor. Former high school counselor Tricia Wendel moved into a Title 1 teaching position.

Athletic event season ticket prices were also presented. Reserved adult season passes will be $30. Volleyball general admission is $50. Fall sports passes for students are $30. Boys basketball is $60 for adults for reserved adult seating. A winter sports pass is $90 for adults and $40 for students. A Fall family pass is $135 for reserved seating and $125 for general admission. Winter family passes will be $200 for reserved seating and $190 for general admission. Finally, senior citizens 60 and older may obtain a Senior Citizen’s pass for $50 that entitles them to general admission for all home games during the entire year.

Elementary Principal Diane Kramer sent out a thank you to Andrea Quellhorst, teachers, retired teachers, Cardinal Pride, and many other volunteers who made the yard sale a big success. Over $11,000 was raised to be used for buddy benches and trees for the new playground.

Kramer said summer intervention for students entering grades 1-5 started last week. Classes will be held three mornings a week for two weeks of each month in June, July and August. “Students participating are very excited to be back in school,” she said.

Also, Alycia Niemeyer provided teacher training for grades K-2 on the phonics and phonemic awareness program. It was planned that students would receive 30 minutes of the program in the regular classroom this school year. To expand literacy, all reading teachers and grades k_6 will be invited to participate in book study over Equipped for Reading Success by David Kilpatrick.

Marcus Overman, grade 7 to 12 principal, said he had recently completed OTES 2.0 online training and will continue to seek more training on the subject.

He said the interviews for band director are underway with 32 applicants apply for the position. They started round two interviews on Thursday, June 25.

By Sandy Rose Schwieterman

For the Sidney Daily News

The writer is a regular contributor to the Sidney Daily News.

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