Central Ohio Today

The Bellefontaine Board of Education learned more about the district's ongoing technology upgrades during their monthly meeting Monday night.

District Technology Coordinator Marc Stakey gave an overview of how ESSER funds will be used for several projects over the next few months.

BCS will replace all 1 gigabyte edged switches with 10 gigabyte capable uplinks.

This will cost $200,774.

The district will also upgrade wireless access points to handle the high density traffic in classrooms. Chromebooks have increased traffic the last two school years.

This portion of the project will cost $163,960.

ESSER funds will help pay for both projects.

The work is tentatively scheduled for next spring.

Stakey said, "With the latest round of funds being made available, we will be finishing much needed upgrades to our network infrastructure. Due to more reliance and availability of online classroom tools, our network continues to require updates to accommodate these needs. Our network controls everything from classroom technology to security and telephones to computer hardware and HVAC systems.

"We are continually approached about possibilities of adding features and curriculum-driven technology that we absolutely want to be able to support. These upgrades also help to remove limitations on the use of technology in classrooms."

In other action, the board approved the annual Washington D.C. Trip.

Eighth-graders will visit our nation's capital on May 22-25, 2023.

Students will visit The White House, nearby monuments, and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

In personnel, the board accepted the resignation from longtime high school French teacher Shannon Hodge.

Hodge will retire on February 28th, 2023.

She has served BCS for nearly 28 years and has been in education for 34 years.

Diann Jordan was approved as a home instruction tutor.

Lyric Kindle was hired as an educational aide.

John Vicario was hired as a food service worker.

Cadence Latimer, Aubrey Stolly, Derrick Linniman, Tayteum Vigansky, and Laney Mitchell were hired as substitute teachers.

The following substitute appointments were approved:

Brittany Foulk - Food Service Worker

Tammy Schneider - Educational Aide/Secretary

Brian Rohrig resigned as the high school quiz bowl advisor.

These supplemental contracts were approved:

Maverick Aldo - Musical Production Assistant

Katie Buffkin - High School Softball Coach

Jason Calton - High School Boys Tennis Coach

Jere Daniels - Musical Production Assistant (50 percent pay)

Ben Davis - High School Boys & Girls Track Coach

Sean Egler - High School Track Assistant Coach (50 percent pay)

Keri Fergus - Musical Production Assistant

Robin Henry - Musical Production Assistant (50 percent pay)

Brian Hogan - Musical Production Assistant

Drew Jackson - High School Boys Basketball Assistant Coach

Jeremy Karg - Musical Production Assistant

Hunter Pool - High School Boys Wrestling Assistant Coach

Jim Robinson - High School Track Assistant Coach

Cody Sigrist - High School Track Assistant Coach

Doug Walters - High School Softball JV Coach (50 percent pay)

Stacey Wilson - High School Track Assistant Coach (75 percent pay)

Larry Young - High School Track Assistant Coach (75 percent pay)

The following volunteer coaches were approved:

Rick Gildow - High School Softball

Meredith Richters - High School Swim

Chris Stricker - High School Softball

Michelle Zedeker - High School Softball

Blake Lantz and Meredith Richters were approved as athletic workers.

The board accepted the donation of $2,000 from Pam Taylor in memory of Kristen Siler Vennekotter.

The board appointed Colin Yoder as President Pro-Tempore for the organizational meeting on January 9th.

Yoder will succeed Brenda Sanford as the board president.

Sanford led the board for the last two years.

Finally, the board recognized December Seniors of the Month Julia Nelson and Alex Caudill.

The next board meeting will be January 9th at 6:30 p.m. in the Distance Learning Center. The organizational meeting will be followed by the regular meeting.

Original source can be found here