Carey school board approves top contracts

CAREY The Carey Exempted Village School District Board of Education approved contracts for the high school principal and treasurer Monday night. The board voted to approve a four-year administrative contract for high school principal Peter Cole at $87,652 effective Aug. 1. This replaces his current three-year contract. A five-year contract was approved for treasurer Karen Phillips, effective Aug. 1. Her salary will be frozen at the current year-end amount, which is $94,836. Other personnel matters included the retirement of art teacher Martha Everhart after 21 years of service, the hiring of James Gery as substitute teacher for the rest of this school year and hiring of three coaches. The board also approved contracts with Northwest Ohio Area Computer Services Cooperative and Perry ProTech for printer services. In other news, Superintendent Mike Wank led a discussion about the possibilities of a greenhouse at the new school. Wank said the district can build a new greenhouse or relocate the current greenhouse. Wank said all of the necessary utilities are set up for the greenhouse at the building site. He said a new 1,000-square-foot greenhouse with watering and heat systems and automatic windows would cost about $150,000. Cost to move the existing greenhouse is $10,000 to $16,000, but it has some technical issues and could be difficult to move. Wank said the district could take either option or come up with another solution. It has not committed to the greenhouse project. “We don’t lose or gain anything from the state” on the project, he said. The greenhouse was last used for educational purposes at the end of last year. It is being used by community members, and some of the plants grown in the greenhouse have been used in the school’s cafeteria. “It’s tough to keep a greenhouse program going,” Wank said. He said he would like to see a partnership between the school and community. In other news, the Audit and Finance Committee met Jan. 27 for a general discussion regarding school finances and audit procedures. The committee also met with state auditors for a review of the draft audit report.