LISBON –Beaver Local Schools Board of Education members passed multiple ordinances and made several announcements regarding their readiness for the start of the new school year during Monday’s board meeting.

Renovations for the interactive media and information technology lab are going ahead as planned. But they may not be done by the time school starts but should be done close to it.

Health Academy student Emma Julian participated in the Skills USA Nationals competition in Atlanta in June where she placed 11th out of 19 competitors.

In-service for the high school staff takes place Aug. 14-16. Junior orientation be held Aug. 15.

The first day of school for all high school students will be Aug. 19.

The Back to School Bash will be held behind the school on Aug. 21 from 3-6 p.m. Kindergarten through eighth grade open house will also be held on Aug. 21.

Freshman orientation will be held on Aug.23 along with the distribution of Ipads for students in grades sixth through 12th.

Middle school staff is getting everything ready to go. Five middle school teachers have participated in training for the new Meta quest Virtual Reality system which will be used for seventh and eighth grade science and eighth grade math.

Through a grant from the county, the high school is also looking at utilizing VR (Virtual Reality) headsets. The county acquired about 45 headsets through a grant which it will loan out.

Enrollment is strong at the high school with 142 freshman, 144 sophomores, 141 juniors and 156 senior students.

The sports teams and the band have returned from summer break. The band went to the Drum Corp International Marching Band competition last week in Canton.

The district has implemented a new cell phone policy mandating all students keep cell phones put away during instructional time. Most students will be allowed to have their phones during lunch and on the bus. Students in grades seventh through twelfth will be permitted phones during lunch. Primary students will not be permitted to have phones during school hours. Violation of the new policy could result in discipline including suspension. Execptions will be made for those who use phones for medical reasons.

Parking lot repairs are completed.

The district has two positions needing to be filled: an intervention specialist and a paraprofessional. There are multiple applications for the paraprofessional position, but it has been a challenge for the intervention specialist/special education teacher. Superintendent Eric Lowe said it seems that is a position that is drying up and there are not enough people to fill those positions. The district is looking into other options.

During the new business portion, board members unanimously adopted seven resolutions and put one on first reading.

Resolutions include the student IPad user agreement; the bus route master schedule; the approval of the Project Inspire Contract with Columbiana County CESC, the Rising Scholar agreement with Kent State University; Blizzard Bags; an intent not to provide career-technical education for seventh and eighth grades; and, adult meal prices at $2.85 for breakfast and $4.10 for lunch. These prices are a five-cents increase per from last year.

A resolution for the use of a therapy dog in the district was placed on first reading.

Personnel matters included the approval of FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) for Michele Pruden and Gianni Colaizzi; and the approval of the following volunteers as coaches: Rick Prescott for football and wrestling; Donovan Hickman for boy’s golf and Kelly Jones for girl’s golf.

Hannach Cochran, Maribeth Zurcher, Jonathan McCullough, Ryan Smith and Nick Sesonsky were approved for a Masters pay adjustment. Abby Murray was approved for bachelor 150 pay adjustment.

The board approved the treasurer’s report which included the financial reports for August as presented to them.

The Beaver Local Schools Board of Education meets the second Monday of each month at 7 p.m., in the eighth-grade pod. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Sept. 9.