Upper school officials respond to viral post

By LONNIE McMILLAN

Sports editor

Upper Sandusky Exempted Village Schools Superintendent Eric Landverischt, board members and a principal all addressed concerns and rumors shared both during the meeting and through social media in recent weeks at Monday evening’s meeting.

Jared Platt raised questions about the district’s performance, asking the board if it confirmed the superintendent’s previous statement that state report cards were encouraging. Platt noted a declining graduation rate and increasing chronic absenteeism.

Upper Sandusky Middle School Principal Patty Parrott gave a presentation that showed the district is better than the state average in many of the areas of concern and that many of the identified problem areas are statewide trends.

According to state numbers, Upper Sandusky’s chronic absenteeism rate has remained below the state average, and although it is higher than most neighboring districts, it rates well when compared to other districts of comparable size and other demographics.

Additionally, the state’s measurement of students not graduating is misleading because it does not account for students who unenroll from the district and graduate from another accredited institution. Only about 3% of the student body does not graduate at all, she said, not close to the almost 10% indicated on the state report card.

Parrott also showed that the superintendent salary in the district is more on par with neighboring districts, slightly lower and slightly higher than some others. However, the board did make an increase to the position’s pay because it was at one point nearly 5% lower than the next-lowest in the area.

Many of the districts test scores have improved in recent years, including at the high school level, most notably in algebra and U.S. government. Some have gone down and the district is taking action to get them back up, including the Portrait of a Ram initiative and StudySync curriculum.

Additionally, Parrott noted that the recent comments about the district may have consequences.

“I hope that we can all come together for what is best for our students and staff because the negativity that has flooded these meetings in the last several months is not going to appeal to any new staff that may consider moving into our district to work or to live,” she said.

Applications for teaching positions already have declined to a fraction of what they used to be – another statewide trend.

In a second session, Platt asked questions about Landversicht’s hiring after the retirement of Laurie Vent on Dec. 31, 2020. At that time, Landversicht served as board president.

According to Platt, there were no executive sessions or emergency meetings from the time Vent announced her retirement to the time that Landversicht resigned from the board Jan. 25, 2021. He submitted his application for the position the next day and was hired two weeks later.

Platt said it raised many questions to hire someone with as little experience as Landversicht, who also allowed his superintendent’s licensure to lapse.

However, Landversicht said the description is not accurate. He has more than 20 years of experience in education, has worked for the Ohio Department of Education and has administrative experience on top of that.

He also noted he has never received a raise of 18% as alleged and that the only increases he gets are based on the district’s salary schedule and increase in wages that are districtwide. He said he never has asked for a raise or negotiated pay.

Landversicht also noted that many of the issues the district faces like chronic absenteeism are nationwide and that he hates to blame it on the COVID-19 pandemic, but that is when all of these trends began. He also said there is little the district can do about absences.

“That’s a problem that starts in the home,” he said.

Additionally, he noted the purchase of Chromebooks was just over $200,000 over the course of multiple years and came from pandemic relief funds. The district now uses Chromebooks in place of textbooks, leading to cost savings.

Also addressing a social media post, he said that the money the district spends is transparent and that over 80% goes to salary and benefits – about 90% when contracted services are included.

Board member Beth Richman also read a statement, noting that district cannot answer some of the questions that previously has been posed because of medical privacy and attorney-client privileges.

“The board has nothing to hide, but not everything can be made public,” she said.

She said the superintendent had rights to make decisions regarding the Luke Swavel workers’ compensation case because he is the executive officer of the district according to Ohio law and serves as chief administrator. Landversicht sought input from others and had the right to make the decisions he did, she said.

Board member Gary Book also spoke at the end of the meeting, noting that he has served on the school board for 18 years without facing opposition because “nobody wants this job.”

He also stood up for Landversicht, saying that he has known other superintendents who were there to pad their pockets and leave, but he is not that way.

“This guy cares,” Book said.

Book also said it is past time to move on from the negativity, that it would be nice to read positive comments on social media for a change and things would be better if everyone treated one another with more kindness altogether.

Former teacher Jan Stoneburner also addressed the board, saying that the one thing she never has been is anonymous, so any letters that board members might have believed came from here certainly did not.

She encouraged the board to continue to work to address the district’s issues.

“There’s a lot of creativity we can use to solve these problems,” she said.

Stoneburner also was there to see her daughter, sixth grade science teacher Mindy Newell, recognized as the Northwest region’s nominee for state teacher of the year.

Marty Rothey of the Ohio School Boards Association noted that Newell has a passion to make STEAM education accessible to rural students.

“I can’t express to you how fortunate you are to have teachers of this quality in this district,” Rothey said.

The other person to address the board was softball coach Scott Morris, who said the team still has plans to honor former coach Swavel and that he wanted to make sure the board was aware and approved.

Landversicht is having a meeting Wednesday regarding policy for memorials and the board could better address the issue after that. They agreed to let Morris know what he learns.

One other thing Platt noted during his time speaking was the importance of moving forward with plans to find out the district’s options for a new building. Platt said he was pleased to see a resolution on the agenda to participate in the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission Expediated Local Partnership Program and emphasized transparency and community involvement.

“We have to be all-in together,” Platt said.

The resolution will allow for assessment of the district’s facilities and evaluation of costs and enrollment trends. Afterward, the district will find out how much state assistance it qualifies for.

Landversicht said there recently was a meeting with engineering firm Fanning Howey, which said the next step for the district is to form a facilities advisory committee.

Additionally, the district is working with Walker Gottfried and the Ram Boosters about a new track, which is the district’s topathletic need. Gottfried said estimates are between $400,000 and $600,000, and Landversicht said he would like to see the district be able to come up with around $400,000 of its own to address the issue in addition to fundraising.

Landversicht also noted the Northern 10 Athletic Conference has continued expansion talks but it is a complicated issue.

“I don’t think you can get all of the superintendents in a room to agree to anything, so we’re working through that.”

Separately, Landversicht noted the district has used 11 calamity days so far and has six remaining before hours would need to be made up. He is monitoring possible bad weather expected Wednesday night. If school is canceled Thursday, parent-teacher conferences for that night also will be canceled with parents having the option to reschedule at another time.

During the meeting, the board approved:

— Payment of Wyandot County Economic Development membership.

— Dock days for Lisa Kin and Stacy Mullins.

— Placement of a student to attend LEAP and approving additional costs association with transportation.

— Payment to the annual Ohio Ethics Commission for the filing fee for the superintendent and treasurer.

— An Agreement with Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker LLP.

— ESC contract increases with the spring update.

— A contract with Strategic Solutions.

— A quote from School Pride Ltd.

— The quote from Driftnet for East School and Verkada/CDW for USMS.

— An overnight field trip for 27 students and a chaperone for the DECA state competition at the Columbus Convention Center from March 11-12.

— A memorandum of understanding with the Ohio State University Extension for SNAP-Ed.

— The retirement resignation of Keith Miller, high school math, effective May 31.

— The resignation of education aide/para Jessica Porter effective Feb. 13.

— The resignation of Shelly Simon as RESA mentor.

— Supplemental contracts for Reggie Cameron, USHS art club adviser; Angela Massara, USHS dram club adviser; David Headings, USMS choir, USHS choir and USHS musical pit director; Miller, USHS musical sets; Anna Volmar, USHS assistant musical director; Angela Massara, USHS musical props, costumes and makeup; Devin Bramel, USHS musical accompanist; Jerry Smalley, USHS head baseball coach; Brett Smalley, USHS assistant baseball coach; Russell Hall, USHS weight room coordinator (50%); Graham Treadway, USHS assistant boys tennis; Brett Fahle, USHS assistant girls track coach; Dylan Ham, USHS assistant boys track coach; Morris, USHS head softball coach; and Dewayne Morrison, USHS assistant softball coach.

— Supplemental volunteers Russell Craig and Jason Heilman, USHS baseball; Makaela Barnett, Keith Johnson and Justin Swartz, USHS softball; Matt Newell, USHS boys tennis; Chris Shasteen and Elexys Miller, USHS track and field; and Nicholas Herman, USHS wrestling.

— Certified substitutes Grace Vent and Grace Courtad.

— Donations from Great Midwest Sports, monetary donation; from Eastern Stars Warpole Chapter No. 366, hats and gloves for students at East Elementary; Armadillo Solar, monetary donation; and Tessa Swavel, monetary donation.

— A resolution for special education model policies and procedures.

— Membership in the Ohio High School Athletic Association for 2025-26.