Talawanda board approves new staff positions on 3-2 vote

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect that the time for a special session meeting March 26 has been changed from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

After months of discussion, the Talawanda Board of Education voted 3-2 to create several new positions for the 2025-26 school year despite uncertainty about how this year’s state budget will impact public education funding.

Last November, board member Pat Meade asked superintendent Ed Theroux and treasurer Shaunna Tafelski to come up with proposals for new staff positions to invest in education. The district’s five-year forecast at the time showed that the district would end fiscal year 2029 with a cash balance above $30 million, well over the 90-day cash balance of $11 million required. In December, Theroux presented five and a half staff positions that would cost $360,000 to $485,000 in the first year.

Since then, Ohio lawmakers have indicated that state spending for public education could decrease in this year’s budget cycle. Tafelski estimated in February that one cut could lead to a loss of two months’ cash on hand by fiscal year 2029 if implemented.

At the Board’s March 20 meeting, Theroux presented an updated proposal with an estimated cost of $160,000 to $240,000 in the first year. That would allow the district to hire two elementary Title Teachers for fourth and fifth grade, plus a full-time psychologist or a Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) coordinator for Talawanda Middle School.

The original proposal had called for a half-time counselor at the high school, but school administrators created a cost-neutral alternative to hire a full-time guidance counselor instead by changing course offerings and not replacing one retiree this year. The district will also add a cost-neutral educational assistant at the middle school. Theroux had proposed hiring two additional elementary teachers to reduce classroom size and a district-level instructional coach in December, but those positions were not included in the final March proposal.

“I’m too concerned about the state funding and where we’re gonna land there,” board member Chris Otto said. “I understand the need to do it right away so you can get people hired, but I don’t feel comfortable given all the changes in the economy that are coming.” Otto and board member Dawn King both voted against creating the new positions.

The state budget won’t be finalized until June 30, and the last day teachers can terminate their contracts and find new employment each year is July 10. That timeline means districts like Talawanda need to make decisions on whether to fund positions before knowing how state funding will change in budget years.

Meade said spending the money to meet students’ needs will better serve the district than by letting money sit in the bank, despite state budget concerns.

“I believe we have money to invest in our children,” Meade said. “Five years down the road, we may say, ‘Oh, now we need to cut these two jobs.’ But for those five years, we will be able to serve five years’ worth of students and improve their lives.”

Board member Matt Wyatt, who has been vocal about state funding concerns since being appointed to his position in September, voted in favor of creating the new positions. The Title teachers in particular, he said, would be a wise investment for the district. Title teachers provide extra academic support to students to make sure they meet proficiency standards in reading and math.

In a separate vote Thursday, the board approved a contract for a new guidance counselor at the high school 4-1. The position will give the high school one additional counselor, but the plan won’t increase staff spending, Theroux said. By allowing one teacher to retire without a replacement and restructuring the district’s language curriculum, the position was cost neutral.

“Adding another high school counselor, I think we’ve had three at least since 1997,” 

“It’s kind of hard to justify,” said King, the lone vote against the move. She cited a 10% drop in high school enrollment over the past four years and asked if a less expensive alternative like hiring a clerk to handle counselors’ paperwork and data requirements could work.

“The counselors are required to do more data than ever … There’s stuff that these counselors have to do that is counselor-related,” Theroux said. “If it was easier, I would love to do what you’re saying, to get a clerk.”

On Monday, March 24, the district will co-host a community forum with the Oxford League of Women Voters to discuss the state funding impact on public education and how to contact legislators.

Board unanimously approves turf field replacement

While new staff positions split the board, members were unanimous in their support of a contract to replace the high school’s current turf field.

At a board meeting last September, athletic director Jake Richardson explained that the current turf field was installed in 2011 and has outlasted its expected use. The field’s deterioration has led to safety concerns, he said, and replacing it with a new turf surface was a cheaper option than switching to a grass field.

“The field has just kind of turned that corner where it’s given us all it has,” Richardson said in September. 

The contract awarded at the March board meeting is for $570,205 to the Motz Group, a company which installed the original field 14 years ago. The board also approved a contingency fund of $50,000 in case the project goes over-budget. Based on the schedule laid out in the contract, the new field will be substantially complete by Aug. 1.

The Board of Education’s next regular meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 17 at Talawanda High School. A work session is scheduled for April 14. The board is also set to hold a special meeting with executive session at 7 p.m. March 26.