By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
It was an emotional night for the Wynford Board of Education as it was the final meeting for both Superintendent Steve Mohr and Board President Jeff Schiefer. Board members took the time allotted for open discussion to say thank you to both Mohr and Schiefer.
Board member Rhonda Rowland began the discussion focusing on Schiefer as she read off a list of how a board of education member should act. As Rowland read off each of the actions the other board members were in agreement that Schiefer was representative in that quality. After reading off the list Rowland thanked Schiefer for his time serving on the Wynford Board of Education.
Rowland, who was board president when Mohr was hired, gave a presentation on all of the accomplishments that the school has attained while Mohr was superintendent, from developing a district chain of command to playing a big part in the Leader in Me and Community Connectors grant.
Board member Debbi Gifford spoke to Mohr.
“You won us over. It has been a wonderful journey. It feels like I have known you forever and it has been great to get to know you better,” Gifford said.
Steve Crall thanked both Mohr and Schiefer.
“When I first arrived as a board member I had that deer in the headlight look, and I found mentors in the both of you,” Crall said.
Fred Hendricks spoke briefly to Mohr and Schiefer on their character in their positions.
“It has only been a short while that I have been on this board. Jeff, I have enjoyed the harmony on the Board, and I think it speaks volumes of your leadership,” Hendricks said. “Steve, in the short time I have known you I have enjoyed your time as the CEO of this School District.”
Treasurer Leesa Smith agreed with all that was said about both Mohr and Schiefer.
“I agree with everything that has been said about Jeff and Steve,” Smith said. “I appreciate the work and dedication that the both of you have given to this district.”
Schiefer gave comedic anecdotes while speaking of his time knowing Mohr. As he closed his speech he took a more serious tone.
“Mohr instilled a family first philosophy. He was there for me and my wife as she was battling cancer,” Schiefer said. “Thank you for serving this school district.”
Schiefer thanked the board members, staff and administration, his wife and family and closed out by saying that at the end of the day it is all about the students.
“When faced with hard decisions and feel overwhelmed in the end it is about the students. Graduation day can’t be forgotten. That was the best part. Thank you all and God bless you all,” Schiefer said.
During his report to the board, Mohr left the members with parting comments.
“This is my 120th Board of Education meeting. If anything that has happened that has been positive it has happened because we did it as a team,” Mohr said. “We have given Wynford stability. There have been 19 different superintendents in the area school districts during the past nine years.”
“People congratulate me and it is hard and bittersweet. I love Wynford, I love this job, but cancer doesn’t respect timelines,” Mohr continued. “The best part has been looking down and seeing all the greatness that is happening in this school district. I will miss the hugs from the students.”
Mohr thanked the administration, the staff, the community, and his family.
“This community is a special place. The community supports our schools. I personally found out the support is overwhelming,” Mohr said. “I would like to thank my family; I am looking forward to actually practicing what I preach with spending what time I have left with my family. I can’t think of a better place to end my career than here. It is something I will always feel blessed and honored to have served as the superintendent here.”
After the meeting, Mohr thanked the community by saying that he was truly lucky to have served the school district.
“It has been an honor to be able to be the leader of the Wynford School District,” Mohr said. “Wynford, I have learned professionally and I have especially learned personally, that Wynford is a special place. It has been nothing short of an honor, the biggest honor I have ever had in my entire life, and I don’t think I will have anything that will ever top it. And I am just a very lucky guy to be able to say that have said that I have been able to spend my last nine-and-a-half years of a 37-and-a half-year career at Wynford. There are too many people to thank, except for me, to this entire community to thank them for their support, and their help, and their prayers, and I am just very appreciative for that.”
Mohr, in his tenure at Wynford also coached the boys’ varsity basketball team for one year. Stops for Mohr in his professional career have included Buckeye Central, Shelby, and Colonel Crawford as well as other school districts. Mohr has coached, taught and served as an administrator. He and his wife, Donna, also served as honorary chairs for the Crawford County Relay for Life
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The board approved rescinding the supplemental contract of Amy Taylor-Sheldon as fall weightlifting coordinator, as well as the supplemental contract of Renee Christian for Fall Drama.
The move was made to share the duties with other staff as Taylor-Shelden will split the weightlifting coordinator role with Jason Engel, and Renee Chrstian will share 1/5 of the Fall Drama supplemental contract with assistant for Fall Drama, Kathy Smock.
Board members approved all personnel items on the agenda including the hiring of new Spanish teacher Katelyn Lawhun from Jan. 4, 2016, through the rest of the school year as well as a one-year contract for the 2016-2017 school year.
“We were fortunate to find her. Even at peak times it is difficult to find a Spanish teacher,” Mohr said.
The school board approved all items on the operational items portion of the agenda. Among items approved included the hiring of school nurse Crystal Marks for the remainder of the school year, and contracts with North Central Ohio Educational Services for a gifted supervisor, pre-school supervision, and occupational and physical therapy services.
In the treasurer’s report, Smith noted that everything is on course with the five-year forecast with the exception of insurance rate changes, the purchase of a Ford Expedition, and the NCES contract.
High School Principal Jeff Holbrook spent time talking about the Blue, White, and Grey weekly student raffles during his report. Holbrook noted that the community service criteria to enter the raffle will be returning next school year. Holbrook noted that he is working on holding a math lab for the students along with English and Language Arts to increase student ACT scores.
Don Brooks’ reported to the board he noted that the lights outside of the elementary school have been converted to LED’s. Brooks noted that the lights make the area brighter and cuts down on the electricity bill. Brooks noted that he is getting quotes for the gymnasium.
In Technology Director Missi Grove’s quarterly report to the board she noted that the school has had a lot of changes to the infrastructure with replacements to all of the switches in both buildings as well as made updates to the servers and WIFI.
Athletic Director Tim Ehrsman commented on the successful football season, and noted that the football team will be adding more difficulty to the schedule with Lima Central Catholic replacing Crestline on the football schedule for the next two seasons.
In Andy Schiefer’s report to the board he noted that two buses are set to show up next week with Wynford being above state average for student-to-bus ratio.
During Caleb Duty’s food service report to the board he noted that the lunch is relatively similar to last year; however, the breakfast participation was up two percent, a rise which he attributed to Elementary Principal Nelle Nutter.
The next board meeting will be the annual organizational meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 13.