CRESTLINE — The Crestline Board of Education voted on a variety of topics and recognized one of its longtime members during Monday evening’s meeting.
The board voted to apply for a position in the Northwest Central Conference for the 2021 football season.
This conference features Waynesfield-Goshen, Hardin Northern, Upper Scioto Valley, Ridgemont, Elgin, Lima Temple Christian, Lima Perry and, beginning in 2021-22, Ridgedale. Crestline’s other sports will remain in the Mid-Buckeye Conference.
Crestline tried to join the Northern 10 and Firelands conferences but were denied.
During the meeting, Tom Clutter celebrated his last board meeting after faithfully serving on the Crestline Board of Education for 18 years. To honor his time, the other board members and superintendent Matt Henderson, got him a clock with an inscription that read, “Thank you, Mr. Thomas Clutter, in recognition of 18 years of dedicated service to the students and staff of Crestline.”
Clutter expressed his gratitude to the schools and his fellow board members he has worked with over the years.
The school also is looking to partner with the Crestline Police Department to hire a school resource officer. Chief Jeff Shook spoke to the board on his thoughts on the matter.
“We are looking to partner with the schools to further our relationship inside the schools, and our relationship inside the schools spills over into outside the schools,” Shook said. “It’s important to understand that by us placing a school resource officer in this building, it will improve the safety of the students and the staff. A lot of times when people think of safety inside the schools, they only think about our children and not our staff, too.”
Should the school go forward with this, the district will pay the SRO for the months when he or she is working in the building, and during the summer months, the officer will be paid by the police department where he or she will work.
Board members asked to be a part of the interview process when it comes to hiring a new officer to be the SRO so that they feel they are getting the best fit to the school.
The board also created a plaque for John Arthur “Jack” McDonough, who was very involved in the Crestline Exempted Village Schools during his lifetime.
At each board meeting, his plaque will be set on the chair that he always sat in for the meetings, in order to honor his love and dedication to the school.
The next board meeting is Jan. 13 with an organizational meeting at 6:30 p.m., with the regular meeting to follow at 7 p.m.