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BELOIT -- The West Branch Board of Education approved bids for roofing work at Knox Elementary in its July meeting.
The board of education unanimously approved a $181,000 bid from Skyline Roofing and another $189,550 bid from Aztec Roofing. Superintendent Matthew Manley said that Knox Elementary has two different types of roofing, and that Skyline Roofing would be working on the main shingled section, while Aztec Roofing would be working on the flat roof section at the rear of the building near the gymnasium.
"[The board] made a decision, a very wise decision, to go and bid that work instead of using state pricing, and those bids are about $200,000 under where we would have been with state approved pricing. So that was a wise move on the board's part, and I commend [them] for that," Manley said.
The board also approved a memorandum of understanding with the West Branch Education Association (WBA) regarding athletic supplementals, and another memorandum of understanding with the West Branch Classified Employee Association (WBCEA) regarding life insurance.
Treasurer Adam Fisher said that the agreement with the WBCEA updated the represented employee's life insurance coverage from $40,000 to $50,000, mirroring the increase that the district's teachers received in their contract.
Manley said that the WBEA agreement updated pre-season conditioning stipends for the district's coaches. He explained that in the past "only a handful" of the district's coaches received a stipend for pre-season conditioning, but with student athletics increasingly becoming and year-round affair regardless of sport the district and the WBEA agreed to a flat 3% stipend for all coaches in the collective bargaining agreement for 2026-2029.
However, Manley said that several of the district's long-serving coaches that already received the conditioning stipend had been paid more than 3%. He said that under the agreement those coaches were "being grandfathered in" at their original higher rates, and that as they left their coaching positions their successors would receive the agreed upon 3%.
"Sports have changed. They're all year now, and our coaches in all sports are putting in a lot of time before the season begins," Manley said.
The board also approved cafeteria prices for the 2026-2027 school year. Breakfast for all grades will be $1.50, while lunch will be $2.75 for grades K-5, and $3 for grades 6-12. Student milk will be 50 cents.
The board also approved several administrative and personnel matters.
Administrative matters approved included: permission to the West Branch Little Warrior Football to utilize the football fields beginning July 1, 2026, in coordination with the athletic director and building principal; a contract with the Damascus Volunteer Fire Department to provide EMT services at football games during the 2026-2027 school year at a cost of $175 per game; an agreement with the East Central Ohio Educational Service Center to facilitate Title 1 D programming; a contract with the Local Government Services section of the Ohio Auditor of State for the preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for the statements covering fiscal year 2026; and a $45,247.39 payment to the Columbiana County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
Personnel matters approved included: the retirement of Jill Boyle; the hire of Andrew McCarty and Cheryl Libb as Summer Stem Camp Teachers; the hire of Andrea Zippay and Kim Berdine as Nutrition Staff, Kate Flowers and Melissa Goudy as bus drivers, and Amy Sebulsky as middle school secretary for the 2026-2027 school year; athletic supplementals for the 2026-2027 school year; choir and band chaperones for the 2026-2027 school year; the list of title tutors for the 2026-2027 school year; and non-athletic supplementals for the 2026-2027 school year.
The West Branch Board of Education will meet next at 6 p.m. on Aug. 17.