By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com

Colonel Crawford said goodbye to two longtime servants Monday night, as the Board of Education formally accepted the retirement of Principal RuthAnn Noblet, and Board President Mike Tinkey was in charge for his final meeting.

Board members and Superintendent Todd Martin were not shy with the praise and gratitude of Noblet.

“At the old Whetstone building, I remember kids stopping by to give her a hug,” Norm Huber said. “She’s one of a kind.”

There will be an open house for Noblet from 4-6 p.m. on Friday in the middle school library. This will precede the boys’ basketball game against Buckeye Central and, in the words of Martin, “We’d love to get everybody here we can to say goodbye.”

Friday will be Noblet’s last work day. She served 21 years in the district and 35 years overall.

Jen Sautter was approved as Noblet’s successor in the Hannah Crawford Elementary Principal role and will take over as of Jan. 1.

“Thanks for the opportunity to mentor with her,” Sautter said, “Hopefully I do half as well as her.”

Tinkey was presented with a plaque commemorating his service to the district, in particular his work on behalf of the school in Columbus. He recalled being told by his boss, Raymond Shealy, when he moved here 20 years ago, “I don’t care where you live as long as it’s in the Colonel Crawford District.”

Tinkey made it quite clear that this was not a decision he regretted. “It’s been an honor to serve.”

Come January, the board will be busy planning for the building project. Martin will be having a meeting Dec. 19 to discuss the timeline and delivery system. As of right now it appears the timeline will be: bidding and filing in time for April, demolition to begin in May, and construction in the fall, but with the reduced nature of the project the timeline might be quicker.

In conjunction with this project, the board will be returning to the ballot for the half mill continuing improvement levy. The administration feels that going out more than two years in predictions does not yield sound enough information that maintenance of the buildings can be kept up without this levy. The filing deadline to be on the May 2014 ballot is February 5 and the administration must have the amount certified with the county auditor as wells as the submission into the electors before this date.

“We gotta get after it in January,” Martin said.