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LISBON -- Lisbon village schools Superintendent Joe Siefke retired effective July 1, but he'll be back Aug. 1 with a new five-year contract for less money after the school board agreed to rehire him during a recent meeting.
"I appreciate the vote of confidence," Siefke told the board.
Siefke was one of three longtime school employees who opted for a retire/rehire option, along with McKinley Elementary guidance counselor Melissa Kemats and high school English teacher Dan Votaw.
On June 29, the school board hosted a public hearing that is required whenever an employee retires and then is rehired, but no one attended. With a retire/rehire scenario, the employee can begin collecting retirement benefits and come back to work after taking some time off. According to the Ohio School Boards Association website, the retire/rehire option is a way for school districts to reduce costs and keep experienced staff members.
"It's a savings to the school district," Sieke said.
In Lisbon's case, Sieke will drop to step 0 at a salary of $107,398 beginning Aug. 1. His new contract will continue through July 31, 2028. His annual salary had been $117,156, but according to district Treasurer Jennifer Coldsnow, he had been slated for an increase, so the savings will total more like $15,000 or more.
There's also a savings created by the retire/rehire of Kemats and Votaw, who both drop to step 0 on the teacher scale for masters plus 15, dropping them each to $42,138 for a limited one-year contract effective July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024.
In other business, the board approved a one-year service agreement with Tremco Roofing for preventive roof maintenance at a cost of $14,561, with maintenance supervisor Roger Tullis thanking them for making the move.
In personnel matters, the board: kept the pay rates for classified substitutes at $16 per hour for bus drivers, $25 per hour for home instructors, $12 per hour for custodians ad secretaries and $11 per hour for cooks and aides; accepted the resignation of Dave Rankin as junior high football coach; hired Danny Donahue as seventh grade football coach and Alexandria Kerchofer and assistant varsity cheerleading coach; contracted with Stephanie Myers for athletic training services for the fall sports season for $1,500; paid $250 each from Title II Maddie Crawford and Delania Link for completing LTRS training; hired David Kuhns as a bus driver; named the following classified substitutes, bus drivers Tab Bailey and Rick Cox, aide Jenni Felger, secretary and aide Lisa Kerr, Anna Madison for aide, secretary and cafeteria and nurse Stacy Wick. Bus routes were approved, keeping five bus routes in place.
In routine matters, the board approved second reading of the students handbooks for the new school year, accepted the high school fees (no increase), again eliminated instructional fees for grades K-8, authorized a plan in the event of excess calamity days for students to complete classroom instruction online (blizzard bags), approved the drug testing policy for student athletes and students in extracurricular activities and continued the agreement for testing with Great Lakes Biomedical at $18 per test, and agreed to participate in the OME-RESA cooperative purchasing program and inservice program for superintendents and treasurers.
The board also approved an agreement with the Columbiana County Educational Service Center for Project Inspire services not to exceed $17,632 retroactive to July 1 and continuing through June 30, 2024.
Cafeteria prices for adults at both buildings were set at $2.75 for breakfast, $4.75 for lunch and 65 cents for milk.
The board accepted the district harassment, intimidation and bullying incident reports for 2022-2023, approved membership in the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding for 2023-2024 and approved Weston Hurd LLP for future legal services.
The next school board meeting will be held at 5 p.m. Aug. 10, with the location to be announced.
mgreier@mojonews.com