WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE — At the Washington Court House City School District Board of Education meeting on Monday, the resignations of two varsity head coaches and several staff members were approved, and several bits of information regarding the 2023-24 school year were also discussed.
Mark Schwartz, head varsity baseball coach, and Rick Foose, head varsity softball coach, officially resigned from their respective positions on Monday. Foose also resigned from his positions as a high school math teacher and middle school athletic director.
Washington High School Athletic Director Greg Phipps gave a comment regarding the service of these two individuals.
“Coach Foose was not only a softball coach but also helped out supervising games for our athletic department. I would like to wish him continued success at Teays Valley. Coach Schwartz has had great success with the baseball program. The last three years he coached for the Blue Lions and didn’t get to see his son play college baseball that much. He is now going to be able to watch his son, Ryan, play in his senior year. I want to thank both of these gentlemen for their countless hours spent getting fields ready, coaching the game, and everything else that is involved in being a head coach.”
WCHCS also accepted the resignations of Jennifer Miller, intervention specialist; Tessa Distel, high school math teacher; Scott Gorslene, middle school social studies teacher; Michelle Gernert, third grade ELA teacher; Kelly Howley, high school art teacher; Tiara Leisure, pre-school teacher; Chelsey Seeling, K-12 prevention coordinator; Brandi Runnels, intervention specialist; Amy Brown, Deeper Learning coordinator; and Lori Chrisman, educational aide.
Caleb Brannigan was hired as the middle school cross country coach, Madison Brown was hired as a volunteer volleyball coach, John Moon was hired as a volunteer varsity football coach, and Justin Everhart was hired as a volunteer middle school football coach.
Information regarding enrollment for new students and those entering kindergarten was shared. Enrollment for new students K-12 can be done using OneView Online Registration. Full details are on the school website under “registration.” Also, the next in-person kindergarten registration is Tuesday, Aug. 1 from 8:30-11:30 a.m. at Cherry Hill Primary School. Pre-school registration will take place directly with Cherry Hill Primary School.
Each school year, parents and guardians of all currently enrolled students are asked to update any changes in a student’s address, phone number, contacts, medical information, permissions and any other important information on OneView. Updated school handbooks and bus routes are found there as well. It is mandatory that this update is done every school year.
Meal prices were approved for the 2023-24 school year during the meeting. Meal prices are as follows:
Student Breakfast – $1.50; Reduced Breakfast – 30 cents; Student Lunch – Grades K-5 – $2.75; Student Lunch – Grades 6-12 – $3.00; Reduced Lunch – 40 cents; Milk – 50 cents; Adult Lunch – $5.
All families should complete one meal application per family, unless a letter is received stating that the children will already receive free meals by direct certification. Meal applications are found online on the school website, in the One View account, or paper copies are available in every building.
School hours for each building were approved during Monday’s meeting.
The school hours for each building are: Cherry Hill Primary School (Grades PS-2) 8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.; Belle Aire Intermediate School (Grades 3-5) 7:50 a.m. – 2:35 p.m.; Washington Middle School (Grades 6-8) 7:20 a.m. – 2:05 p.m.; Washington High School (Grades 9-12) 7:20 a.m. – 2:05 p.m.
Details surrounding school opening dates for the 2023-24 school year were approved during the meeting.
The first day of instruction on the district calendar is Thursday, Aug. 17. For students at Cherry Hill Primary School, Belle Aire Intermediate School and Washington Middle School, in order to accommodate parent/student orientations at those buildings, the staggered start details are as follows:
Thursday, Aug. 17, Friday, Aug. 18, and Monday, Aug. 21 are parent/student orientation days with appointments established in advance between teachers and parents. Therefore, the first day in the classroom for all K through eighth grade students will be Tuesday, Aug. 22. For kindergarteners at Cherry Hill Primary School, students with the last names beginning with A-M will attend on Tuesday, Aug. 22 and students with the last names beginning with N-Z will attend on Wednesday, Aug. 23. All kindergarten students will be together in their classrooms on Thursday, Aug. 24.
Finally, it was announced during the meeting that the district was awarded a literacy grant for $450,000 and that money will be used for Tier 2 and Tier 3 remediation.
Two administrators were also hired at a special board meeting on June 20. Jeff Conroy was hired as the interim principal at Washington Middle School and Andrea Faulkner was hired as the assistant superintendent.
WCHCS held a special board meeting on Sunday, July 9 where several staff members were hired, including Amy Brown as the director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment; Keturah Bennett as an intervention specialist at Washington Middle School; Jared Butner as a social studies teacher at Washington Middle School; Nicole Flora as a third grade teacher at Belle Aire Intermediate School; Cade Harper as a sixth grade math teacher at Washington Middle School; Katie Manns as an art teacher at Washington High School; and Sarah Helsel as a language arts teacher at Washington Middle School.
The next WCHCS board meeting is set for Monday, Aug. 14 at 7 p.m. in the district office.
