The Washington Court House City Schools (WCHCS) Board of Education was honored this week as part of School Board Recognition Month.
According to ohioschoolboards.org, January is the month set aside to celebrate boards of education that take time out of their schedules to serve the students as the primary decision-making body in the district. Though ohioschoolboards.org suggests to show appreciation year-round, taking advantage of this month ensures that “these important people receive some of the thanks they deserve.”
With this in mind, those in attendance Monday at the board meeting helped WCHCS Superintendent Tom Bailey thank the board for its continued service to the district with certificates of appreciation.
“First, I would like to say that I am really excited to work with this board this year, we have a lot of exciting things we are working on including increasing academic achievement and getting an operating levy passed,” Bailey said this week. “I would also like to thank Jim Teeters who is our outgoing member for his service to the schools over the past few years and say welcome to our new board member, Dennis Garrison. I am looking forward to his work over the next few years. I am also thrilled that (Craig) Copas and (Jennifer) Lynch got re-elected this past November and that we have two of our most tenured members — Mark Chrisman and Ken Upthegrove — who bring a lot of character and knowledge to the board. This is really an exciting time for us and we are looking forward to working with all the members of the board.”
In other news from the meeting, treasurer Becky Mullins and accounts payable coordinator Bucky Caulley made a presentation on the implementation of the “Equal Level Requisition System.” The duo started by comparing the current system — a carbon copy requisition form — and the process surrounding ordering any materials in the district. After the form is given to the proper person it goes through an approval process before it lands at the treasurer’s office to create a purchase order (PO). This then usually results in the employee being able to purchase his/her materials, get his/her service scheduled or continue on whatever the PO was to be used for.
Mullins then explained that the Equal Level Requisition System is a software platform that combines an electronic requisition process, electronic approval, online marketplace and more all into one program employees can use. A particularly interesting feature Mullins said employees should enjoy is that it also comes with an artificial intelligence (AI) savings advisor that will conduct comparison shopping. For instance, Mullins said, if someone order supplies from Office Depot, the AI can see if a similar or comparable product is cheaper from another vendor and make suggestions to cut down on costs.
“Between an expedited process, saving on paper and cutting down on any forms being lost in transition, this system will help employees considerably,” Mullins said. “One of the biggest benefits though is the online market place that allows our employees to shop for what they need. This system takes that process electronically to be approved. All of our vendors are loaded into the system. POs for utilities, classroom supply vendors, it doesn’t matter we can use this system. Not only does it make it faster and easier, but also the costs of this system will be less and the cost-savings AI will be good at meeting the needs of our employees. Thank you to Mr. Caulley and those employees who graciously agreed to help test this platform, allowing for a successful transition. Mr. Caulley and I are scheduled to speak to other school district business officials on how they may implement this platform in their districts as well.”
Finally, the board approved a number of resignations including Max Schroeder and Anita Sheridan. They additionally approved a number of coach contracts, including Ty Leach, Jacob Vallery, Greg Phipps, Brian Ream, Corey Dye, Tim Walters, Marlin Ellis, Tyler Flora, Louis Reid, Michelle Gernert, Eric Downey, Trevor Patton, Wendy Hawk, Caleb McKinney, Mark Schwartz and Brian Yeazel for positions on the track teams, tennis teams, softball teams and baseball teams at both the middle and high schools.
Stay with the Record-Herald for more coverage of the Washington Court House City Schools Board of Education.
Reach Martin Graham at (740) 313-0351 or on Twitter @MartiTheNewsGuy
