Lakota BOE org meeting of 2025

KANSAS — The Lakota Board of Education hosted its first organizational meeting of 2025 Monday. Board President Chris Chalfin was re-elected to serve another term and Barb Lehmann was elected as board vice-president. Board member Fred Keith was later appointed as OSBA legislative liaison, board member Tim Woodruff was appointed as student achievement representative and Chalfin and Kieth were appointed as audit and finance committee representatives. The board approved the regular meeting schedule for 2025 and the audit and finance meeting schedule. It later considered the first reading of revised and updated board policies and approved several standing authorizations. The board of education later heard administrative reports and heard from Lakota High School paraprofessional Jolene Smith about the recent holiday help program and informed the board that local donors and businesses provided 106 local children with Christmas gifts. The FFA also provided fruit and a blanket drive provided each family with a blanket. The board later heard about Students of the Month and the Caught Being Good program at Lakota Elementary School. An update from Lakota Middle School informed the board that teachers, staff and students are ready to press on into the second semester of the year with Jan. 17 being planned as a professional development day for teachers and staff. At the high school, auditions were recently hosted for the upcoming student production of "Footloose" with performances beginning in March. In other news, Lakota Treasurer Norm Elchert said a gas tilting kettle was being sold with an approximate value of $5,000 and a new bus had arrived and would be given a route soon. He later thanked the board for the work it was doing for students and staff. Lakota Superintendent Chad Coffman told the board he was planning for staffing and curricular needs to ensure a successful school year. The board later approved the following resolutions: The retirements of high school Spanish teacher Emily Hoile and Title 1 teacher Heather Draeger and the hiring of Stacey Luallen as substitute teacher; Ashley Allen as high school track coach; Aaron Bomer as high school baseball coach. Approving special education model policies and procedures as updated by the Ohio Department of Education in December 2024. Authorizing required third-grade assessments in paper format. Approving the Lakota High School course description book for 2025-2026 school year. Approving several donations. The next regular meeting is 6 p.m. Feb 10.