By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
It was standing room only in Bucyrus City School’s Lincoln Administrative Center Thursday night for a Board of Education meeting that may have been better suited in an auditorium.
A large portion of those in attendance were members of the school system’s staff who were dressed in black with a blue sign which read, “You can’t put students first if you put teachers last.”
Rick Rawson, who has been a math teacher for the Bucyrus City School system, explained why the staff attended the meeting.
“We are here to support our negotiations team,” Rawson said. “They are in mediation on Monday and we were going to take advantage of this board meeting to let the board know we are behind our negotiating team as they enter into the tough process to try to find a fair contract.”
“The Bucyrus Board of Education and The Bucyrus Education Association bargained in good faith starting in the spring and going through the summer,” Bucyrus City Schools Superintendent Kevin Kimmel said in a prepared statement. “A tentative agreement was reached locally in October that was signed off by both the association leadership and the representative of the board of education. This tentative agreement was presented to the teachers who voted it down. A meeting is scheduled for Monday evening (Nov. 25) with the assistance of a federal mediator.”
With board president Sandra Stone choosing not to run for re-election this year, the school board announced that school treasurer Matt Cook will begin accepting letters of interest to fill the vacant Board of Education seat in January when Stone’s term ends.
“We do have one opening that is open and available, which the board which the board will be excepting will be accepting from interested candidates up until Dec. 27,” Kimmel said. “Then at the organizational meeting on January 13, which was scheduled tonight, they will appoint a new member into that position.”
Stone has been a member of the Bucyrus Board of Education for 20 years.
Tom Grandy spoke to the Bucyrus Board of Education to discuss a $6,000 donation to the district in the memory of his father, former BHS teacher and coach Jim Grandy. Grandy asked that the school spends the $6,000 on new bleachers at the tennis courts, a tree line near the courts, on-site running water with a water fountain at the tennis courts and backboards.
The Bucyrus Board of Education approved both certified and classified staff as well as all business items on its agenda.
Prior to the board conducting business 36 students were commended for achievement. Thirteen commendations were to students for their artwork, while 23 were commended for receiving the 2013 OAA Achievement.