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Revere board honors departing member



Revere administrators and school board members honored departing board member George Seifert at the Feb. 25 meeting. Shown from left are Treasurer Rick Berdine, Superintendent Matthew Montgomery, Seifert, board President Diana Sabitsch and board members Keith Malick and Mike Kahoe. Photo: Chris Partis

The Revere Local Schools Board of Education honored departing board member George Seifert at the Feb. 25 meeting.
Seifert tendered his resignation, effective March 5, concluding 10 years of serving on the school board, and said he will be leaving to become the Assistant Fire Chief for the Richfield Village Fire Department. Seifert, who formerly was a lieutenant fire medic with the Bath Fire Department, said he made the decision to resign to avoid any conflict between his new job and his work with the district.
Superintendent Matthew Montgomery noted Seifert was first elected to the board in November 2009. He credited Seifert for being instrumental in developing the district’s strategic plan, hiring a superintendent and treasurer, passing tax levies and passing the bond issue for the district’s comprehensive building and renovation project.
In lauding Seifert’s service, Montgomery said, “When he goes, I will be losing a great board member and friend, as well as an avid supporter of Revere schools.”
Board President Diana Sabitsch said Seifert will be missed on the board.
“We’ve always worked well together; that’s one of the things that makes a great board,” she said.
The board must act within 30 days of Seifert’s resignation to fill the vacancy, according to district officials.
Also at the meeting, the board heard a presentation from Revere High School (RHS) biology teacher Olivia Pettigrew, who was accompanied by four senior students from her class who demonstrated how their class is engaging in a program using modeling clay to form muscles, joints and internal organs as they study human anatomy.
Pettigrew showed a short video of her students constructing and using the clay models, and afterward the four students showed and explained their models to the board.
During the principals’ reports to the board, RHS Assistant Principal Doug Faris said all 10 of the school’s National Merit Scholarship semifinalists have reached finalist status and will now be eligible to receive scholarships.
He also commended the RHS Mu Alpha Theta (MAT) mathematics honorary society members who, following a number of math league contests, are ranked first in Ohio, sixth in their U.S. region and 17th out of 200 teams worldwide.
Faris noted a dozen members of the RHS speech and debate team will be competing for top honors at the Ohio Speech and Debate Association state tournament March 6-7.
In RHS athletics, Faris announced the boys varsity basketball team captured its third Suburban League championship in a row, and its fifth in the past 10 years. He also said coach Dean Rahas has been named District 3 Coach of the Year and during the season earned his 200th victory as head coach at RHS. [See related story on Page 16.]
Revere Middle School (RMS) Assistant Principal Anthony Stretar said the RMS renovation project kicked off on Feb. 24, five weeks ahead of schedule. He also said the RMS eighth-graders have been performing “exceptionally well” in academics, with RMS students filling three of the seven spots that will advance from the Summit County Spelling Bee to the Regional Spelling Bee.
He also said the RMS speech and debate team finished first among the 15 middle schools competing in the Solon tournament Jan. 25, which he noted was the largest middle school speech and debate tournament ever held in Ohio.
Richfield Elementary School (RES) Principal Julie Gulley said her entire school is excited their school’s renovation project has been completed, with just some programming of the new LED lighting still to be completed.
Bath Elementary School (BES) Principal Dan Fry said the BES Girls’ STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Club recently went on a field trip to the Bridgestone Research Center and had the opportunity to interact with female research scientists at the facility.
Fry also said BES hosted the “Transforming Learning” professional development day for district teachers Feb. 14 and he heard many positive responses from attendees.
In other business, the board:
• approved the treasurer’s financial report for January;
• accepted donations of $1,250 to the Revere Schools Athletic Capital Campaign, $500 to RHS for the Friends of Richfield Library Scholarship and $50 to the Revere Athletic Department for the softball program;
• adopted a resolution accepting the amounts and rates of district tax levies as determined by the Budget Commission and authorizing the necessary tax levies and certifying them to the Summit County Fiscal Office;
• approved a lease/purchase agreement for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system for the new RHS building through the Huntington Public Capital Corp., not to exceed $1.4 million over the 10-year agreement period;
• approved a Government Program Service agreement with PlanConnect to manage compliance with all IRS aspects of the retirement savings programs offered by the district, particularly to comply with recent IRS regulation updates;
• approved the district’s annual membership in the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA) for $8,707;
• approved the OSBA Legal Assistance Fund Consult Service contract for 2020 for $250;
• approved a change order for the tear-off and replacement of the roof on the existing 1995 building, which is being renovated and incorporated into the new RHS building, at a cost of $183,706;
• approved a GMP (gross maximum price) amendment for RMS renovations to $5.1 million;
• approved the RHS varsity baseball team overnight trip to Cincinnati and Kentucky April 3-4;
• approved the RHS MAT members trip to the MAT national convention in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, from July 19-24 for up to 10 students;
• approved the RHS varsity and junior varsity volleyball teams overnight trip July 12-13 to Sandusky for tournaments at the Cedar Point Sports Center;
• approved the RHS Speech and Debate team trip to Wooster March 5-7 to compete in the state-level speech and debate finals;
• approved an agreement with The University of Akron and Stark State College to provide College Credits Plus programs for district students;
• heard from state Rep. Bill Roemer (R-District 38), who congratulated Seifert for his service on the board and updated the board on the EdChoice private school voucher issues currently being debated in the state legislature; and
• approved the superintendent’s agenda for certificated/licensed personnel, classified personnel and other business.
The board will next meet for a work session March 10 at 5:30 p.m. in the Administration Building, 3496 Everett Road, and for a regular meeting March 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the BES cafeteria, 1246 N. Cleveland-Massillon Road.