Trumbull County

WHAT: Trumbull County Board of Developmental Disabilities organizational meeting Jan. 26

PRESENT: Melissa Baker, Tim Calderone, Jodi Glaser and Kim Hynes

ABSENT: Mauro DiVieste and Larry Larson

The board:

• Named Glaser as board president and DiVieste as vice president.

• Had Hynes sworn in to a new term on the board. She was named board secretary.

• Approved committee appointments: Hynes and DiVieste to ethics; Calderone and Baker to personnel; DiVieste, Calderone and Larson to finance; Glaser, Hynes and Larson to program / policy; and Larson, Glaser and Hynes to building / grounds / maintenance.

• Accepted the retirement of Denise Lindsay effective Jan. 1 as human resource assistant and retirement of Pamela North as custodian.

• Approved the promotion of Heather Meszaros to service and support administration supervisor, the promotion of Tracy Alford and Toni Thompson to service and support administrative team leaders, and Rachel Bailey’s promotion to administrative assistant.

• Hired Hope Zagotti, Kelly Daniels and Julianne Laird as service and support administrators to fill vacancies.

• Approved the 2026-27 school calendar, with the first day for students Aug. 31 and last day May 28, 2027.

• Approved participating in the Ohio Schools Council cooperative bid process for the purchase of a school bus chassis and bodies. Superintendent Ed Stark said plans are to purchase two 72-passenger school buses.

• Set meetings for 5 p.m. the fourth Monday of the month at the Tomaski Center in Niles. There will be a board training session May 18 in lieu of a board meeting.

— Bob Coupland

Mathews

WHAT: Board of Education meeting Jan. 21

PRESENT: Joel Polonus, Beth Haddle, David Wise, Michele Garman and Marc Burcham.

The board:

• Approved appointing Burcham as the board’s new member and administered the oath of office. Mark Haddle filed for reelection and then withdrew, and Kenneth Wallace did not seek reelection. Wise entered the race as a write-in and no one else filed for the other open seat.

• Approved a placement change on school nurse Michelle Bolchalk’s salary schedule from step 0, $38,260, to step 5, $45,131 retroactively to the start of the 2025-26 school year, considering prior nursing experience.

• Approved Nicholas Komara as a long-term substitute for elementary music, effective Jan. 12, at a rate of $130 per day.

• Retroactively approved three unpaid leave days for Carol O’Delle.

• Approved 2.25 unpaid days of leave for Amanda White.

• Approved Victoria Davis on an “as-needed” basis for the secretary position in the elementary school building, up to eight hours a day at a rate of $16.60 per hour. Davis will continue in her previously contracted five-hour classroom aide position and will fill in as directed by elementary principal Michael King.

• Approved awarding Cardinal Bus Sales as the successful and lowest responsible bidder for the purchase of a Blue Bird Vision 72-passenger school bus for $132,631.

— Brandon Cantwell