HANOVERTON — The bulk of August’s regular school board meeting was dedicated to preparations for United Local Schools to begin in their new digs.

Although students don’t officially return to the classrooms until after Labor Day, officials still had a little fine tuning to make sure they are ready in a new facility, which is being dedicated at 11 a.m. Saturday.

During Wednesday night’s two-hour meeting, board members met in the media center of their new building, where they learned work continues on the electric, furniture installation, elevator and phone system.

Board members learned that gym usage is scheduled; however, they are having the most challenges at the junior high level.

Watering for athletic fields will be done by running generators, and fence installation is pending at the football and soccer fields.

School board president Denise Rhodes inquired about lowering season pass prices if students are admitted free, and officials will research and report back to the board.

Hiring security staff for athletic games has been difficult, explained United Local schools superintendent Lance Hostetler, who encouraged increasing rates from $100 to $140 like other entities have.

Mostly positive comments have been received from school staff about the new facility as they continue to prepare for the upcoming year.

Board members also went into an executive session for 45 minutes at the conclusion of action items for the consideration of employment of a public official or employee. They took no action.

September’s regularly scheduled board meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10 at the high school media center.

Among the action items earlier, board members also:

— Accepted a $50 anonymous donation to the board.

— Agreed to increase lunch prices 25 cents for both adults and students in the upcoming school year, while keeping the remaining meal prices the same as last year.

— Approved an agreement between the district and the Columbiana County Educational Service Center to join the IDEA Early Childhood Special Education Consortium.

— Agreed to transfer the remaining funds out of the building renovation fund as it is no longer needed. The $3,464,945.97 will be moved into Fund 004-3021 to mark it easier to track expenditures.

— Contracted with the OME-RESA aggregation for electricity pricing with Freepoint Energy Solution to pay $.0629 per kilowatt (fixed with capacity passed through) for a 48-month term.

— Approved fundraising requests of ticket and T-shirt sales for the alumni game to benefit cheerleaders as well as banner and T-shirt sponsorships to benefit the golf program.

— Accepted the following volunteers: Cory Allen, Tabatha Colian, Rachel Conway, William Conway, Lisa Duvall, Brittany Edwards, Rebekah Kiko, Brittany Logan, Tara Smith, Emily Taylor and Ethnie Wright.

— Adopted updated open enrollment, truancy, student conduct, electronic device, home school, extracurricular activity, religious instruction and budget policies as well student, employee and athletic handbooks for the upcoming school year.

— Contracted with Mike Pusateri Excavating to remove the temporary road west of the soccer field and restore the area affected.

— Approved a districtwide student tech fee of $20 per incident that would go to replace missing or damage devices. This would be for beyond normal wear and tear and is the same amount as last year.

— Accepted the resignation of bus driver Brittnee Purvis effective Aug. 4 and seventh-grade head coach (no sport denoted) Cade Wood.

— Approved one-year contracts with custodian Sarah Dustman and lunchroom aide Carrie Pierson.

— Employed the following supplemental staff: marching band director Nome Baker; ninth-grade assistant football coach Joseph Brooks; percussion band director Jason Minand; assistant band director Sonya Minard and majorette/flag advisor Rebecca Teutsch.

— Hired Lyne Mercer to oversee substitutes, including Eric Chronister, Kandace Cleland, Matthew Courtney, Peggy Altenhof, Ryan Funk and Brittnee Purvis.