WELLSVILLE — Garfield Elementary School Principal Shelbie Householder told the Wellsville Board of Education during Monday’s board meeting that there was outstanding turnout for the Rising Tigers Smart Start Week for which more than half the student enrollment attended. She noted that the Smart Start allowed for building relationships and creating appropriate class communities for the new school year.

She also said the year was off to a good start with teachers immersing themselves into the curriculum for math and reading and phonemic awareness, and intervention groups will begin within the next two weeks for students in the tier two and three categories to help them strategically focus on skills where they are showing deficiencies.

Householder also said the district wide pep rally was a great success with students showing their best school spirit and the Wellsville Jr. Tigers were recognized.

NWEA MAP Testing, which will show which students are or are not on track, began Monday and will continue for the next couple of weeks. Householder said she will not have any testing data to present until the October board meeting.

Addyson LaClair and Daniel Derheimer were recognized as Garfield’s Student of the Month for September.

Daw Elementary school Principal Erin Clemmer told the board that the Tiger’s Den Reading Program will return on Oct. 1 and will be led by volunteers and retired teachers Kelly Grimes and Tina Smith.

Clemmer told the board that the Fellowship of Christian Athletes met last week and had their largest turnout yet with 21 students and a large amount of staff present.

Daw Elementary is currently working to dissect the data from the recent school report card and conducting an item analysis of the Ohio State Tests from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, Clemmer said.

Clemmer also told the board that band and choir began on Monday under the new leadership of Logan Gardiner who is planning to announce the date of a Christmas program to be performed by the students. The Daw Daily News will start recording this week and the YouTube channel for it will be shared when available. The Fifth and Sixth Grade Student Council, which is under new leadership, will begin their campaigns soon for which voting will take place on Oct. 30.

Daw Students of the Month are Keiton Murphy-Kriby, third grade; Macie Hackney, fourth grade; Lahaila Shell, fifth grade; and Jules Hoit, sixth grade.

Wellsville Jr. Sr. High School Principal Allison Scott told the board that student attendance has been steady at about 90% for each grade level, with the Junior Class having the highest and most consistent attendance.

“Attendance is a focus of our building leadership team, and we are utilizing a county wide approach for attendance remediation through the Ohio State Extension Office,” Scott said.

Scott also said that all sophomore students have completed Future Plans testing which will give students a match on their top careers. Future Plans will return and complete career counseling with the students.

Junior students have completed ASVAB testing for which post-test interpretation will be posted at the end of the month.

All seventh through 12th grade students will participate in the NEWEA MAP testing for reading, math and science screening beginning this week, Scott said.

“This is a new initiative, and staff has handled this well by putting the time in to learn the system and the new data to be used to influence instruction,” Scott said. “We are utilizing a building wide approach. We will create academic goals for the Jr./Sr. high school after our data is complete.”

The Jr. Sr., high school will be hosting a coffee and community event Sept. 25 which will be open to the community and community partners in an effort to form stronger partnerships and ensure communication is open and transparent. The event was posted on the school’s Facebook page and letters were sent to all businesses and partners.

“It has been a great transition into the role as principal at the high school and, Mr. (Kyle) Exline and I appreciate the support from the Board, Mr. (David) Cappuzzello and the community,” Scott said.

Scott also presented the Jr. Sr. High School Students of the Month. The Junior High Student of the Month is Sophia Dalrymple and High School Student of the Month is Ella Betz. The Care and Share August Student of the Month was Austin Adkins and for September William Lockhart.

During the new business portion of the meeting, board members approved 27 various donations from multiple businesses, organizations, individuals and boosters totaling $10,761.10 for the Back to School Bash, the golf outing and boys’ basketball and cheer uniforms.

A Field trip for Choir and Film Study to Lincoln Park on Oct. 10, with staff chaperones Christa McIntosh, Lindsay Clifton, Tracy Kosek and Lisa Smith was approved.

Allison Scott, Kyle Exline, Erin Clemmer and Shelbie Householder were approved as the District Compliance Officers.

Also approved under new business were the request for the board members to review NEOLA Policy regarding homeless students and confirm no changes are currently needed and the 2025-2026 student handbooks for Pre-K students at Garfield Elementary.

During the finance portion of the meeting, board members approved the treasurer’s report including the financial report, transfers and modification of funds and Then and Now Certificates as presented to them.

Also approved under finance were motions to approve the advisory services contract with Julian & Grube for FY26 in the amount of $3,780, an agreement with D.D.T.A. Services Inc. for the 25-26 school year, the permanent appropriations for FY26, the certificate of resources for FY26, start-up change to Ryan Giusto (Nutrition, Inc.) for all cafeterias, the annual nutrition standards compliance reports for the 25-26 school year and a Memorandum of Understanding with Columbiana County Mental Health Clinic (dba The Counseling Center) for provision of suicide prevention education as outlined in House Bill 123.

Under personnel, board members approved multiple coaches, paraprofessional aides, Camp Fitch chaperones, substitutes, classified and certificated employees, mentors, a bus driver, a bus route coordinator and a one-year contract for Jr. Sr. High School art teacher.

The board voted to go into an executive session to discuss personnel matters. No action was taken following the session.

The Wellsville Board of Education meets the third Monday of each month at 5 p.m. in the Wellsville Jr. Sr. High Media Center, 1 Bengal Blvd. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Oct. 13 at 5 p.m.