District, teachers reach contract

By STEVE COLON

Expositor Editor

The Wauseon Exempted Village School District has reached an agreement with its teachers. The two-year agreement was reached and ratified by the board at its meeting last week.

Under the newly penned agreement, all classified and administrative employees will receive a two percent pay increase each year of the contract, said Superintendent Marc Robinson. The agreement begins Sept. 1 and will last through Aug. 31, 2010.

This agreement comes after a one-year contract with staff that saved the district $122,000. The classified staff agreed to pay higher premiums and more out-of-pocket expenses for medical coverage. In turn, the wage increases were possible under the newest contract.

In addition, the board unanimously selected Keith Leatherman as the new high school assistant principal. Leatherman was previously a math teacher at the high school. He replaces Bill Hanak who became the high school principal earlier this summer. He was given a three-year contract.

The board also approved the hiring of Marcy Koenig as the new Elm St. Elementary secretary.

The vocational agriculture department was at the meeting asking the board to once again consider a study-abroad summer program for July 2009.

The trip would be for about 10 students to travel to Brazil to study agriculture in that nation. In 2007, the class took a similar trip to the Dominican Republic to study agricultural issues, do a service project and experience another culture.

The board will consider the request and make a decision at its September meeting.

The school board also:

* agreed to a five cent increase in school lunch fees

* entered into a contract with First Call for Help at a cost of $1.80 per student or a total cost of $2,088 to the district.