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CALCUTTA -- A sense of normalcy after a year controlled by COVID-19 is within sight for Beaver Local Schools. At Monday night's board of education meeting, superintendent Eric Lowe gave a surprisingly normal report to the board.
"I'm happy to report on some normal school activities," Lowe said.
Board president John Campbell noted that it was nice to see the district returning to a somewhat normal rhythm thanks to the staff and administration.
"It's nice to see all the hard work that the staff and administration is doing here at the schools and that we're getting back to where the kids see some kind of normalcy at our schools," Campbell said.
Lowe said that prom and graduation will be happening for the high school per Gov. Mike DeWine's recent announcement of approval for modified, under capacity gatherings. Graduation will now be held outside at the high school's Fighting Beaver Stadium on May 28 and will be moved to May 29 or May 30 if needed in the event of inclement weather. The structure of prom, which is to be held May 7 at Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown, is still being explored as the school district tries to comply with DeWine's order that indoor events must be held at 25% capacity or below. The dance itself at Stambaugh Auditorium should comply with the order, but the annual grand march in the high school gym that takes place immediately before might need to be adjusted.
While outdoor events are allowed to be at an increased 30% capacity, it still raises a challenge for the district as they navigate upcoming sporting events such as the track invitational which hosts 16 different teams and usually brings a rather large crowd.
"We're going to have some challenges there so we're exploring how to best handle that crowd, because that's one of our larger ones that will probably be one of the few times where the capacity limit might be an issue," Lowe said.
In other business, Lowe presented the board members upbeat video showcasing highlights from in-person classes over the past 100 days school has been in session.
In new business, the board approved contracts with Access for the 2021-2022 school year for internet access, voice services, application services and internal broadband services.
The board also approved proposals from the Ohio Floor Company for recoating and painting of all three gym floors.
The board moved to rescind the approved supplemental contracts of assistant wrestling coach Josh Henderson and boys assistant track coach Justin Osborne. A supplemental contract for the new assistant wrestling coach, Doug Hoppel, was approved. Members also approved Joe Carr as a mentor for high school math and Michele Pruden as a mentor for second grade.