WESTERN RESERVE SCHOOLS District improves state grade

The board hired head coaches in five sports.
By JoANN JONES
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BERLIN CENTER -- Charles Swindler, Western Reserve schools superintendent, delivered some excellent news on the rating the district will receive when the state report card for 2002 comes out.
Swindler used an overhead projector at Thursday's school board meeting to show how the district met 21 of the 22 state standards, thus moving from an "effective" rating the previous year to an "excellent" rating.
Proficiency tests in grades four, six and nine make up 15 of the standards.
Western Reserve pupils reached proficiency on all tests but fourth-grade math.
In addition, 85 percent of the district's sophomores have passed all the ninth-grade tests, giving the district five more points on its report card.
Standards
Finally, the district met the 93 percent attendance rate and 90 percent graduation rate marks.
Last year the district met 22 of 27 standards.
Five of the standards have now been dropped because no proficiency tests were given to high school seniors last spring.
Swindler said all district report cards should become public within the next month.
Before the regular meeting, the board reorganized and elected Craig Myers as president and Sue Randall as vice president.
The board also set regular meeting times for 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at the high school.
Coaching positions
In personnel action, the board established coaching positions for track, baseball, softball, football, volleyball, cross country, and golf and also hired head coaches for five of those sports.
The board hired Robert Topoloski of Canfield, a district teacher, as varsity boys track coach.
Marjorie Topoloski, his wife and also a district teacher, is the varsity girls track coach.
District employee Paul Henderson of Berlin Center is the varsity baseball coach while Joseph Serensky, also of Berlin Center, is the varsity softball coach.
All four head coaches will be paid $4,170 through their contracts.
The board hired Lew Speece of North Jackson, and a district resident, for a second year as head football coach. His contract calls for compensation of $5,796.
The board hired Dale Moore of Canfield, a district resident, as junior varsity baseball coach.
Gary Ferrando of North Jackson, a district resident, and teacher Harry Owen of Berlin Center, will serve as junior high girls and boys track coaches, respectively.
They each will receive $2,780 for their duties.
The board also renewed its liability insurance for the district through the Harcum-Hyre Insurance Agency of Columbus and declared Jan. 2 as an inclement weather day.