By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com

The Colonel Crawford Board of Education closed out the 2014 fiscal year Monday night and then turned its attention to the future.

In order for Treasurer Vickey Stump to close out the 2014 fiscal year the board approved transferring $19,287.31 from the General Fund to the Pre-School Fund and $60,825.67 to the Food Service Fund to cover each deficit balance. Thirty-three thousand dollars of the Food Service Fund deficit was due to borrowing to pay off the previous year’s shortfall.

“With the new standards for what you can serve and what you can’t serve and the amounts, it is not popular with kids, so your participation rates are going down across the board for everybody,” Superintendent Todd Martin said. “So we are all struggling a little bit from what the government says we are allowed to serve our kids.”

The board also approved temporary appropriations to carry the school into the 2015 Fiscal Year.

New Colonel Crawford staff members Josh Schieber (vo-ag instructor), Deanna Durham (intervention specialist), and Jennifer Price (library/computer lab aide) were introduced to the board. Also approved were contracts for the 2014-2015 school year for Chuck Huggins (softball coach), Joe Swartzmiller (baseball coach), Preston Foy (boys track), and Jody Grove (girls track).

The Colonel Crawford Board unanimously approved the third and final reading of the Crawford Board Policy Manuel which revises board policy per OSBA recommendations including adding language pertaining to e-cigarettes, as well as social media language regarding data and records retention.

All other items on the agenda were also unanimously approved..

Martin opened the board meeting commenting on Colonel Crawford students’ performance on the OGT’s with 95 percent passing reading and writing, 92 percent passing math, 91 percent passing social studies, and 85 percent passing science. Colonel Crawford also bested the state average of passing all parts by 11 points with 82-percent of Colonel Crawford students passing all five tests compared to a 71-percent state average.

“Each class is different, we didn’t know how well they would do, but they performed really well,” Martin said. “I know my staff, they know what they need to cover material-wise and they do a good job and the kids give us a good effort. We are blessed.”