DELPHOS — More than 100 Franklin Elementary students and four teachers have been displaced due to a structural failure at the school building, Delphos City School Board members learned Monday.
A large crack in the bricks on the south wall off the playground of the school has been found.
According to Franklin Elementary Principal Tim Larimore, the crack is due to insufficient steel reinforcement in the wall.
Structural Engineer Willard Lawler from LJB, Inc., of Lima examined the crack in the wall and removed a portion of the brick to study the infrastructure. He deemed the portion of the school unsafe and two fifth-grade and two second-grade classrooms were evacuated Monday afternoon.
“We got the blueprints out for the school and they show steel columns all around the building except that brick wall. Basically, it’s a free-standing wall holding up the second floor in that location,” Larimore reported to the board. “I thought I had seen everything in my 34 years here. I was wrong.”
St. Peter Lutheran Church officials have offered the use of Sunday school rooms and its fellowship hall in the church on Pierce Street behind Franklin for the district to use.
Students who will be walked to the church for classes each morning will return to the school grounds for recess, lunch, physical education and special classes such as music and art.
The city has agreed to close Pierce Street from Fifth to Fourth streets during school hours. The roadway will be open after 4 p.m. on school days and open all weekend.
A kindergarten student noticed the crack last Wednesday while on recess and reported the find to the teacher, who relayed her concerns to Larimore. Larry Lee of Lee Construction was called to examine the damaged wall and he suggested the school contact an engineer to evaluate the problem.
Also affected was the room for speech therapy, which has been moved to a corner in the library for the remainder of the school year; and the guidance counselor’s office has been closed. The hallways in the portion of the building have also been cordoned off.
The next step for the district is to have some exploratory work done on the wall and to have a plan for repairs and a cost estimate submitted to the district.
Treasure Brad Rostorfer was unsure if the repairs would fall under an emergency situation, eliminating the wait for a bid process for the work since the students have been given a place to attend classes.
Franklin Elementary School was built in 1960.
Another item on the agenda brought nearly 30 parents, teachers and concerned citizens to the meeting.
A proposal to make Delphos a satellite location for Vantage in the areas of vocational agriculture and family consumer sciences was discussed.
The one-year proposal was received last week and was brought up in the Finance Board meeting Thursday due to a more than $180,000 cost savings to the district. If Vantage runs the programs and pays for the materials, equipment and all other expenses related to the programs, the cost would be paid by Vantage, which receives approximately 79 percent of its funding from the state, compared to the 32 percent Delphos City Schools receives.
Teachers affected by the decision are Scott Elwer and Lucy Bambauer, vocational agriculture; and Joyce Larimore and Bev Tuttle, high school and middle school family consumer science, respectively.
“This is in its infancy stage,” Board President John Klausing said Monday. “We are going to explore all avenues of this proposal. We notified the affected teachers on Friday so they would be in the loop. If the teachers are not on board with this, there is no sense in moving any further.”
Several members of the public addressed the board with their concerns.
Juergen Waldick, parent of a vo-ag student and FFA member, cautioned the board in making a hasty decision.
“I have seen time and time again what the unforeseen consequences of a quick decision or what seems to be too good to be true,” he said. “I just want the board to look at the number of implications and unintended consequences. If you do decide to go with the Vantage proposal and save the $180,000, what are you going to do with it? A lot of times if the state sees a district has unexpected funds, they cut the state funds to reflect that. It may not save the district anything. You could lose more in the long run.”
Klausing concurred.
“We have a lot of questions for Vantage. We will also talk to Paulding and Van Wert, who are using Vantage now and see how it’s working out,” he said.
Bob Elwer expressed his concern about the reputation of the local school’s vo-ag and FFA programs.
“We have great programs and great teachers who have made the departments number one in the state for two years. We need to keep the system working on all eight cylinders,” he said. “We are proud of our kids and proud of our teachers. They also do a lot for our community.”
Vocational Agriculture instructor Scott Elwer outlined why he does what he does.
“The kids. That’s why we’re here. We don’t want our kids to suffer; we don’t want the program to suffer,” he said. “We appreciate all the support we have received. We need to do this quickly but rationally. We need all the ‘i’s’ dotted and the ‘t’s’ crossed.”
Klausing said the board had a lot of work to do before making a decision in June or July.
“We have to do what makes the school district stronger,” he added.
School board members will be meeting with Vantage officials in the near future to learn more about the proposal.
Dave Hoffman will be returning to Jefferson next year as a half-time athletic director. Hoffman will retire in June after serving the district for years. His retire/rehire was approved Monday after a short public hearing.
Three new teachers will be joining the school district on one-year certificated contracts in the upcoming school year.
Jill Fischer was hired as third-grade teacher to replace Karen Hartman who is retiring this year. Fischer is an Ohio State graduate and did her student teaching at the former Lowell Elementary in Lima. She has been substitute teacher in Delphos for four years.
Jon Kroeger will fill the kindergarten teaching position left vacant by the retiring Robin Wark. Kroeger is an OSU and Bluffton University alumnus and did his student teaching at Elida. This is his first full-time position.
John Vennekotter will teach high school social studies. Vennekotter is a Defiance College graduate and did his student teaching at Patrick Henry. He has been a substitute teacher in the course since Jim Morris retired April 1 and will take the full-time position.
Supplemental contracts for certificated staff members were awarded Monday. They include: Suzanne Bowman, middle school student council; Damon Ulm, D Club advisor and football conditioning coach; Teresa Anderson, marching band assistant; Megan Ryan, Art Club; Bev Tuttle, middle school FCCLA advisor; Randy Rinehart, girls athletic manager; Joyce Larimore, senior class and high school FCCLA advisor; Beth von der Embse, high school art; Scott Elwer, vocational agriculture advisor; Ryan Carder, junior high head football coach and junior high boys basketball coach; Jeff Rex, Science Club; Kathy Buettner, assistant volleyball coach; Lucy Bambauer, vocational agriculture advisor; Chad Brinkman, sophomore class advisor; Tammy Wirth, show choir director; Denise Lindeman, junior high girls basketball coach; Jen Brinkman, high school student council advisor and Spanish Club; Jamie Lewis, assistant girls basketball coach; Joy Early, freshman class advisor and junior high volleyball coach; David Hoffman, girls basketball conditioning coach; David Stearns, marching band, pep band and musical stage band director, musical accompanist and music business manager; Terry Moreo, boys athletic manager, special education coordinator, asbestos coordinator and junior high girls basketball coach; Jon Kroeger, junior high football coach; and Vera White, National Honor Society.
Supplemental contracts were also granted to Doug Geary, junior varsity baseball coach; Kristi Hageman, junior high volleyball coach; Julia Geary, assistant football cheerleading coach; Cassie Lindeman, junior high football cheer advisor and half band flag corps advisor; Brenda Drerup, half band flag corps advisor; Todd Grothaus, junior varsity boys basketball coach; Randy McElroy, assistant wrestling coach; Marc Smith, boys basketball conditioning coach; Amanda Hummer, junior high cheer coach; and Heath Wisher, junior high boys basketball coach.
Third-grade teacher Marie Groch was issued a continuing contract due to her completing the master of arts program at Bowling Green State University and Gina Bonifas was granted a .15 certificated teaching position as NPAS tutor at St. John’s.
In other business, the board:
• Approved a list of 74 seniors on track for graduation this year;
• Approved the handbooks for Jefferson High and Middle schools and Franklin Elementary;
• Approved the district’s Athletic Handbook;
• Approved a trip to the Science Center in Fort Wayne for Landeck and Franklin third-graders on Wednesday; and a trip to the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo for first-graders;
• Approved a 3-year maintenance contract with RODOC Leasing Sales and Service for bus repair and service;
• Approved sports ticket prices for the 2008-09 school year;
• Accepted the resignation of fifth-grade teacher Chris Sommers as well as his resignation as freshmen football coach and junior high track coach; and
• Accepted the resignation of Christine Siebeneck as junior class advisor, Arnita Yoder as prom coordinator and junior class advisor, Troy Montenery as sophomore class advisor, Kathy Ulrich as freshmen class advisor and David Hoffman as senior class advisor.
A special board meeting has been scheduled for 8 p.m. Monday to open bus bids.