Fostoria far from needing to reschedule snow days

FOSTORIA — With Wednesday marking the 10th snow day Fostoria City Schools has used during the current academic year, the district has plenty of time before it would have to schedule make-up days, Superintendent Jason Longbrake said during Tuesday night's board of education meeting.The state Department of Education no longer has a set number of "calamity" days allowed; rather, it requires students in kindergarten through sixth grade to be in school for at least 910 days during a year, while those in grades 7 through 12 have 1,001 hours required.Longbrake said Fostoria must take into account more than motor-vehicle travel conditions when it comes to declaring snow days, and it's a factor that few other area districts must consider. "We have a lot of walkers," the superintendent noted during the meeting.Though little snow has fallen since the weekend's storm dropped approximately a foot on Fostoria, wind-chill factors have dropped into double figures below zero at times. Classes hadn't taken place through Wednesday of this week. Among the topics of discussion during the meeting was including in rental contracts language dealing with damage to school property.Longbrake said nothing of significance has happened during his 18 months as superintendent, and he believes the community values facilities such as the athletic venues and the Wainwright Performing Arts Center and Legacy Hall at Fostoria Junior/Senior High School.He said the sole reason for such language in contracts would be to cover the district if something serious were to take place."The biggest thing is people who use our facilities usually take a lot of pride themselves and they don't want that," Longbrake said. "It's a small town, you know? They're not going to come in and trash the place. There have been accidents and stuff where something breaks, but it's not malicious."Board members on Tuesday night formed its standing committees for 2026. Dr. Thomas Guernsey and board Vice President Betsy Bringman compose the audit and finance committee, while the policy development committee includes board President Nichole Jones and Carol Wines. The negotiations/personnel committee includes Wines and Thomas Wade, and Wade and Bringman are on the buildings/grounds/transportation committee.Longbrake and Treasurer Daniel Russomanno are standing members of the committees.Board representatives serving as standing members of school-affiliated organizations are Jones, athletic board; Wade and Bringman, Redmen Club/Fostoria Athletic Boosters; Wines, Music Boosters; and Bringman, Parent Lighthouse Team.The board accepted donations to five different funds totaling $2,400. It also authorized Russomanno to pay stipends of $131.25 apiece to teachers Jessie Grine and Wendy Myers to mentor student teachers from Bowling Green State University, with funds supplied by BGSU.Also approved were registration fees of $395 each for Jones and Wade to attend the the Ohio School Board Association's Capital Conference in Columbus; and a payment of $17,024 to JB Networks of Bluffton for information technology services.The hirings of Erica Kauffman and Ali Tatum as substitute teachers were approved, along with Jamel Fant as behavior support provider, Anne Turner as crossing guard, Kayla Hackworth as cafeteria monitor, Raegan Miller as substitute paraprofessional, Anitra Bolden and Toni Pullom as assistant high school track and field coaches and Kynzie Science as head softball coach.Also, resident educator mentor assignments were approved for Margy Brennan-Krueger and Dawn Skornicka.The board OK'd advancement on the salary schedule due to additional coursework completed to Brady Bowser and Ashley Miller. It also approved acknowledgement, for the purposes of filling the vacant position, Kris Santos' termination of her teacher's contract, effective Jan 15, 2026, after July 10, 2025, without consent of the school board.Board approval also went to the annual Sixth-Grade Outdoor Education Trip to YMCA Camp Willson Outdoor Education Center in Bellefontaine. Chaperones for the trip, scheduled for April 29 through May1, will include select sixth-grade teachers, administrators and, possibly, a student resource officer.