At the October 13 meeting, the Penta Career Center board of education heard from Callie Haas, school counselor, and Robert Grooms, school resource officer, who recently delivered a presentation at the Ohio School Safety Summit titled “Threat Assessment: Lessons Learned.”
They spoke about the establishment of student assistance teams for those who are heading in an inappropriate direction.
Officer Grooms said one lesson they learned early on is that it is easy to assess a student when an incident occurs, but “unfortunately, there is no good way to track them beforehand.”
To resolve the issue, they developed a paper-based tracing process, assessing students–all of whom attend Penta in their high school years–through a trail of students’ histories prior to arriving at the career center.
The officer said establishing a pattern of problems is not hard. Finding the resources to treat and over time, point them in the right direction, “that’s the hardest part.”
Through student assessment teams, each group works to create a plan for the individual moving forward, he explained.
Superintendent Ed Ewers said the teams use software and other tools to monitor threat assessments and help students.
“The work that keeps us out of tragedy situations is what these people who come together do daily,” he added.
Stakeholder Engagement Meeting Mr. Ewers presented an overview of a presentation he gave at an October 19 all advisory committee meeting.
He noted staff are committed to achieving excellence and delivering results and that the center’s mission is to be a high-performing school with real-world learning and partnerships with business and industry that lead to productive citizens.
Toward that end, Penta is solution oriented, he explained, aligning training with regional in-demand jobs.
Students demonstrate competency through careertech state testing, opportunities to earn college credits and industry credentials, and work-based learning options, he explained.
The superintendent said the 2020-21 school report card showed strong ratings with technical skill attainment, 90.1 percent; career and post-secondary readiness, 83.9 percent; graduation rate, 99.3 percent and post program placement, 93.5 percent.
Beginning this school year, Mr. Ewers said, they implemented work-based learning Mondays.
Students use the day to engage in learning opportunities created by their teachers and respective career tech partners. Those include college visits, soft skills training, business/industry visits, training options, job shadowing, clinical experiences, internships and work experience. To date, 1,072 students have worked 395,537 hours, he said.
Mr. Ewers concluded with an update on program changes that better align with area businesses. Advanced manufacturing is now precision machining, and industrial automation systems will now be known as robotics and automation. “Both programs are part of the advanced manufacturing academy,” he added.
“We are committed to the success of every student by improving access, enrollment, engagement and performance with an intentional focus on students in special populations and subgroups. Achieving equity means students’ identities will not predict or predetermine their success,” he said.
Other Business
In other business, the school board:
•Employed certified staff. They are Rita Haddad, high school state tested nursing assistant program coordinator, $30 per hour, October 14 to June 20, 2022; Brenna Loxley, agriculture instructor, effective October 18; Sandra Miller, long-term substitute teacher, starting October 14, and Susan Hany adult education Aspire instructor, part time, October 14 to June 30, 2022, $25 per hour.
•Accepted the retirement resignation of Michele Flick, intervention specialist, at the conclusion of the 2021-22 school year. Ms. Flick has been at Penta for 41 years, Mr. Ewers said, noting that she was named teacher of the year in 2018-19.
The board also accepted resignations effective September 24 for Stacey Lawniczak, job coach, and Whitney Short, satellite agriculture instructor at Anthony Wayne.
•Hired support personnel Chad Detterman and Candace Odenweller, job coaches, effective October 1 and October 18 respectively, and Tonya Thorbahn, substitute cafeteria worker, $13.23 per hour, October 14 to June 30.
•Reviewed the financial report submitted by Carrie Herringshaw, treasurer. She said the career center is on track with expenses this year and will have the five-year forecast for the board’s approval in November.
Despite a delay in state funding due to implementation of the new funding model, she believes the forecast will be pretty close to what the district is expecting.
•Heard from Mr. Ewers that the outstanding alumni awards program will be held November 18. “We will recognize last year’s and this year’s recipients,” he said, noting that COVID-19 forced the district to cancel the 2020 dinner.
•Received an update on career center activities from Mike Harrigan, assistant director. Mr. Harrigan said a student professional development day was held in conference format.
Students could choose from a variety of 40-minute sessions to attend on a wide range of topics such as FAFSA grants, home buying, building job skills, etc.
Following the conferences, students were surveyed to determine possible future topics.
•Heard from Bob Falkenstein, assistant superintendent, that the district, like its neighboring school systems, continues to face a shortage of substitute teachers.
“We are looking at getting some more substitutes,” he said. “Some districts are raising [pay] rates, but I’m not necessarily sure that is the answer.”
He credits staff and those who substitute for keeping things running smoothly. Mr. Harrigan agreed, adding, “We rotate staff to fill openings.”
•Heard from a parent who asked the board to reconsider its mask mandate for students.
•Approved 28 requests to attend professional meetings, including All Ohio Counselors Conference, National FFA Convention and SkillsUSA leadership conference.
The next board of education meeting will be at 5:15 p.m., Wednesday, November 10, in the board meeting room of the career center, 9301 Buck Road, Perrysburg, and is open to the public.
