Weathersfield board honors former superintendent
By Mary Smith
MINERAL RIDGE
Schools Superintendent Damon Dohar led a minute of silence at this week’s board meeting in honor of William Rummell, 81, of Mineral Ridge, who died unexpectedly Tuesday.
Rummell had been superintendent of schools in Mineral Ridge for 22 years.
Calling hours were Friday at Mineral Ridge High School for the well-known and well-liked former superintendent, followed by calling hours from 10 to 11 a.m. today at First Presbyterian Church of Mineral Ridge.
The funeral will take place at 11 a.m. today in the church.
Dohar said that Rummell will be “sorely missed,” noting he was a good friend of his and his mentor.
He noted Rummell had three children in the district and now has seven grandchildren, and he attended everything in sports and related activities for the children.
“He has been a great supporter for our schools,” Dohar said, noting that Rummell helped campaign to get the district’s bond issue passed for an Ohio School Facilities Commission $25 million project.
Other business
The board approved a “Construction Manager at Risk” contract for Hammond Construction of Canton. The company will have to set a cost for the guaranteed maximum for construction costs for the project and, if the cost goes over, will be responsible for the remainder. Dohar noted the new “at-risk” provision was put into effect by Gov. John Kasich when he came into office in 2011.
In other business, the board approved an agreement for Professional Services and Imaging Software with Strategic Solutions of Colorado.
The company will copy all the district’s personnel and student records before construction starts, because there will not be space to store years of paper records after the remodeling.
Records will be stored in a highly secure location in Colorado, but also will be available on computer for staff and student use here. The company will charge at an hourly rate, but Dohar said he doesn’t know yet how much the final cost will be.
The board also approved the design-development submission for the state for the Seaborn Elementary renovations and addition project, which will total a 60,000-square-foot building, and the Mineral Ridge high-school renovation project, which will increase the size of the school from 83,000 square feet to 90,000 square feet with the addition of a new gym.