WESTERN RESERVE SCHOOLS Board talks about operating levy

No deficit is predicted this year.
BERLIN CENTER -- The Western Reserve Board of Education talked Thursday about the 5.7-mill operating levy on the March 2 ballot.
The district is predicted to end 2004 without a deficit, but if current funding levels continue, Western Reserve will face a $574,000 deficit in 2005.
The district's levy committee held its final meeting Feb. 8, and state Superintendent Susan Zelman spent Feb. 3 looking at the district's facilities and programs. Zelman told district residents that local communities in Ohio must provide the means for school funding for at least the next year and a half because the state cannot afford to grant any increases.
Young artists
In other business, the board recognized seven pupils with a Young Artist Award, meaning that their work has been selected to hang in the area in and near the superintendent's office for the next grading period. Fourth-graders Sarah Hernan and Erica Harmon, eighth-graders Brittany Boyer and Brittany Weimer, and high school students Doug Hedrick, Beth Allcorn and Mark Blevins were presented with the awards.
Katie Serensky and Joe Serensky, both of Berlin Center were hired as volunteer assistant softball coaches. The board voted at its November meeting to hire only head coaches for spring sports for pay.
Board members also approved Jan. 23, Jan. 26 and Feb. 6 as calamity days because of weather conditions and added names to the certified and classified substitute lists. The board also renewed its membership in ACCESS (Area Cooperative Computerized Educational Service System) for the 2004-05 school year for $29,151.