Belpre BOE renames schools

By JOLENE CRAIG
BELPRE — Belpre City Schools District Board of Education continued to work on the district’s reorganization of schools Monday.

The board decided to change the name of the current Belpre Middle School to Belpre Elementary School and the current Belpre Elementary School to Belpre Junior High School.

There was some discussion concerning the name of Belpre Elementary School for the current middle school because of confusion over the current elementary school near Belpre High School.

“I do feel very strongly it should no longer be called Belpre Middle School,” said Superintendent Harry Fleming.

As another sector of the reorganization, the board approved to hire Ruth Kunze on a one-year limited administrative contract as assistant elementary principal on top of her current duties as Reading First coordinator.

“(Kunze) will not only be the assistant principal, but she will continue to do her current job,” said board president Rod Hineman.

Board member Bobbi Simmons voted against Kunze’s new position because she felt the teacher lacked administrative experience.

Fleming said he will continue to meet with parents, students and district unions to work out the reorganization, which was voted into effect during a meeting March 31.

The reorganization includes consolidating grades kindergarten through sixth at Belpre Middle School and seventh through twelfth grades at the Belpre High School campus. The younger students will likely be in the Belpre Elementary School building and kept away from the older students, Fleming said.

The changes could save between $400,000 and $470,000 in the coming school year.

During the regular March board meeting, it was said the district will be operating in a more than $2.9 million deficit in five years if nothing is done to save operating money. Most of the savings will be made in staff cuts as well as operational cuts for the closure of one building, Fleming said.

Hineman said the reorganization will bring the district back to what it was throughout all of the 1990s and through 2001.

Fleming said there will be more motions to approve further changes to make the reorganization possible until the summer months.

In other business:

? Fleming discussed capital projects for the district during the summer months that could include four new light poles at the high school football stadium.

It has been determined the 85-foot light poles (from the scoreboard down the visitor side of the stadium as one, three, four and five) need to be replaced or removed, Fleming said.

It will cost the district roughly $4,800 to remove the poles or $27,100 to replace the poles, using the same light fixtures, Fleming said.

Last year, Fleming said the lights were turned off by American Electric Power because they were old and antiquated with poles falling apart and the crossbars are rusted through where live wires could fall through and hurt people.

If it is decided to not replace the poles, the district will have to reschedule all football games to be during the day.

“I don’t think we have much of an option,” Hineman said. “I think we really have to go ahead and do this.”

? The board approved for 97 Belpre High School students to graduate this spring, contingent upon completion of graduation requirements, payments of fees and fines and other responsibilities required of them.

Fleming said the district has a 97 percent graduation rate.