6/28/2012 - South Side Leader
     

The Coventry Local Schools Board of Education approved changes to class schedules at the June 26 meeting.

According to board President David Andrews, classes will begin earlier each day, which will eliminate the need for five school buses and create a significant savings for the district. New class times for Coventry High School will be 7:30 a.m. to 2:35 p.m. Coventry Middle School classes will be 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Erwine Intermediate and Turkeyfoot Elementary classes will be from 8:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

District Superintendent Russell Chaboudy said plans are being made to accommodate parents’ schedules. The buildings will be open for extended hours, and staff members will be present in the schools. He said other measures might be necessary, and although plans have not been finalized, the board will be sensitive to the needs of parents and students in response to the schedule changes.

Also during the meeting, Treasurer Aaron Butts presented information regarding fund transfers for fiscal year 2012, and the board unanimously approved a resolution for the final 2012 appropriation. Also approved was the fiscal year 2012 final amended certificate of estimated resources. The General Fund total was $22.2 million, he said.

In other business, the board:

• renewed a contract with Akron Children’s Hospital to provide medical services in the schools.

“I’m happy to renew that,” said Coventry Board member Vicki Travener. “They do a nice job. We appreciate that they come into the schools and treat the kids like they would treat their own”;

• approved a contract with Epiphany Management Group to provide technology maintenance and repair;

• approved a contract with CompManagement to provide risk management and a Workers’ Compensation Group Rating Program, at a cost of $5,655; and

• approved a three-year contract with Waste Management Inc. at a cost of $43,200. Four part-time custodial workers, who were scheduled to be furloughed June 30, were transferred instead. They will be classified as summer help and will be placed where they are needed, and their hours and salaries will remain the same.

Board members are asking the community for help in passing a 5.99-mill levy/bond issue that will be on the Aug. 7 Special Election ballot. Funds will be used to build a new state-of-the-art high school and make necessary improvements in other school buildings, whose deteriorating conditions are draining much needed funds, according to district officials.

Budgetary shortages have necessitated the reduction of staff and services, and district officials have been running a campaign to educate community members about the need for the levy. For more information on the levy, visit the levy website at www.SupportCoventry.com.

“We are in survivor mode at Coventry, and all our decisions have been based on that fact,” said Butts. “We are trying to survive as a district and remain out of state receivership [fiscal emergency].”

The next Coventry school board meeting will be July 17 at 6 p.m. at Coventry High School, located at 3089 Manchester Road.

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