Conneaut receives good state report card

By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon

October 07, 2008 08:27 pm

— CONNEAUT — Fears that the Conneaut Area City School District would backslide on the latest state report cards were unfounded, Board of Education members learned at a special meeting Tuesday morning.
The district was awarded an “effective” rating by the Ohio Department of Education on its official report card, which contains detailed information and an annual rating of every school in the state.
Administrators initially thought the district would drop to “continuous improvement” status based on a few indicators, but that wasn’t the case, said Superintendent Kent Houston.
Conneaut High School received its fourth consecutive “excellent” rating from the state, Houston said. Conneaut Middle School and Lakeshore Primary were rated “effective,” while Gateway Elementary was given a “continuous improvement” rating, he said.
In other business, the board approved a $15,650 bid for snowplowing service from Penniman Brothers, a local company. The board was obliged to act quickly on the agreement to allow the business adequate time to order road salt, which is expected to be in short supply nationally this winter.
Members also learned a faulty control panel left Gateway Elementary without any fire alarms Tuesday morning. Sprinkler systems in the building were functional, Houston said. The defective part was detected late Monday and quickly shipped out for emergency repairs, Houston said. The part was scheduled to arrive back in Conneaut late Tuesday morning, he said. Staff was members were made aware of the alarm’s status and were instructed to call 911 manually in case of trouble, Houston said.
After the regular meeting, the board convened an executive session to discuss personnel and contract negotiations.