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LISBON -- The Lisbon school district agreed recently to take advantage of a free program offered by the Counseling Center of Columbiana County for suicide prevention education for students.
Superintendent Joe Siefke said the great part about the program is that the instruction can be tailored to the needs of the students. The program will teach students in grades 6-12 about suicide prevention and fulfills a requirement of the Safety and Violence Education (SAVE) Students Act.
The act passed by the Ohio legislature and signed into law by the governor a few years ago required schools to provide health education instruction in suicide prevention, violence prevention and social inclusion beginning this school year for 2023-2024, according to the Ohio Department of Education website.
The law requires students in grades 6-12 to receive at least one hour or one standard class period per school year of evidence-based instruction in suicide awareness and prevention.
The Lisbon school board approved a memorandum of understanding with the Counseling Center for the provision of suicide prevention education effective Aug. 1, 2023 through July 31, 2024.
An agreement was also approved with Travco Behavioral Health Inc. to provide counseling and wellness services to students at the junior high/high school at a rate of $140.45 per day not to exceed $25,000 for the school year.
The board also approved an agreement with the Red Zone, a school-based behavioral health help to students at the elementary school and the junior high/high school for this school year at no cost to the district.
Siefke said both programs are "fantastic for our kids."
In other business, he reported the district received the fresh fruit and veggie grant again this year for $22,138 to provide fresh fruit and vegetables to students at McKinley as a morning snack. The funds are not to be used at meal time or in the cafeteria.
The board accepted a $5,000 donation from the mission team from New Lisbon Presbyterian Church on behalf of an anonymous donor. An amount of $1,250 each will be dispersed to McKinley's Principal Fund, McKinley's Make-A-Difference Fund, DAHS Principal's Fund and DAHS Make-A-Difference Fund.
During his report, maintenance supervisor Roger Tullis reported the new desks had arrived and he wanted to thank Scott Sears of NAPA for use of a fork lift and Jack Cutright, who helped unload the desks.
In personnel matters, the board approved the following academic stipends: resident educator lead mentor Missy Kemats, $500; resident educator mentor Missy Kemats, $300 each for mentoring David Toot and Juliana Blangero; resident educator mentor Emily Long $300 each for mentoring Lauren Stauffer and Cory Wonner; resident educator mentor Teresa Crawford, $300 for mentoring Leah DeSalvo; resident educator mentor Carrie Smith, $300 for mentoring Madison Daugherty; LPDC Chair Nikol Mundy, $200; LPDC members Mary Matthews, Kellie Seidner and Kristi Slagle, $125 each; and Saturday school monitors Linda D'Ippolito, Bill Stanton, Ryan Snyder, Meredith Deichler, Lisa Baker, Dan Votaw and Sarah Julian, $50 a session.
High school academic supplemental contracts approved included senior class advisor Michael Miller, freshman class advisor Kristy Cox, English festival junior high Teresa Crawford, English festival DAHS Michael Miller, junior high science club advisor Nikol Mundy, student's Voice advisor Alex Walker, Olympian, junior high yearbook and web page advisor Ashley Wallace, pep club advisor Alexa Cardone, art club advisor Heidi Swift, junior high academic challenger advisor Janet Lane, math counts advisor Ryan Snyder and DAHS science club advisor James Watt.
The board approved $50 per student per course stipends for the following online instructors during summer credit recovery for 2022-2023: Ashley Wallace and Meredith Deichler, one student each; Nikol Mundy, two students; Michael Miller, five students; and Jon Burnett, 27 students.
Lauren Glenn and Melissa Walton were approved as home instructors for the school year at a rate of $25 per hour for students who need the service.
In other personnel moves, the board accepted the resignation of Brian Lowther as custodian, approved Courtney Morrell as custodian and approved a salary adjustment for Angela Sims who moved from bachelors to bachelors plus 150.
The next board meeting is 5 p.m. Wednesday at the administration building.