SALEM SCHOOLS Board to study leadership at workshop

District officials are weighing options regarding where to put a bus garage.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- Several members of the city school board are going to Columbus to study school leadership issues.
Don Finch, board president, Ken Kenst, board vice president, and member Kathryn Gano are attending the workshop, which is set for Thursday.
"It's a learning opportunity," schools Superintendent Dr. Dave Brobeck said Friday of the free, one-day event.
Workshop participants will study such issues as working with the community, operating standards and helping pupils to achieve more, Brobeck said.
Leading the workshop will be Phil Schlecty, an expert in those areas. Schlecty is associated with the Center for Leadership in School Reform, a private, nonprofit organization based in Louisville, Ky.
The workshop is being hosted by the Ohio School Leadership Institute in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Education.
Bus garage
In other school district matters, Brobeck said officials are weighing their options regarding where to put a new school-bus garage to house the district's fleet.
School officials were trying to negotiate a deal to put a bus garage in a commercial building in the 1000 block of Franklin Avenue.
The plan was dealt a setback last month when the city zoning board of appeals determined a bus garage would not be allowed to operate from the location, which is in a residential neighborhood.
Residents living near the site asked the zoning board to reject the proposed use of the property.
Brobeck said the district is postponing any further decisions on a garage location while the owners of the Franklin Avenue property weigh whether to appeal the zoning board's decision.
If the school board is forced to put a bus garage elsewhere, it's considering putting it on school-owned property near the high school or on school-owned property off Whinnery Road, Brobeck said.
Those sites would require the district to construct a garage.
The district's 17-bus fleet is now housed and maintained at a private facility on Prospect Street.
School officials have said the district could save money by having its own bus garage, regardless of whether it installed one in an existing building or had to build a new structure for the purpose.