Once the celebration of student achievements was completed, the Bucyrus City School District Board of Education turned its attention to two important items during the regular meeting Sept. 17.
The first dealt with the recently completed financial audit. Treasurer Ryan Cook shared details of the annual review with the board. While final results are yet to be shared, Cook believes his office will receive high marks again this year.
“We concluded our post audit conference prior to the board meeting,” Cook said. “I expect another clean audit, and so far there have been no blemishes.”
Additionally, Cook shared the current state of the district’s finances with the board. During his review of the August financials, he showed the board that the district’s spending did not exceed the income received for the month.
“The Bucyrus City School District appears positively positioned at this point heading into a new school year,” Cook said. “We continue to be cautiously optimistic as the financial landscape for school districts is always changing.”
The other item, which began as a discussion on the board’s agenda, dealt with the state required Emergency Operations Plan for the district. While specifics of the plan weren’t shared for security reasons, Superintendent Kevin Kimmel discussed the process for the plan’s development and training that took place over the summer.
“The purpose of the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) is to provide information on how to respond to emergency incidents by outlining the responsibilities and duties of Bucyrus Secondary School and its employees,” Kimmel said. “This plan provides parents and other members of the community with assurances that Bucyrus Secondary School has established guidelines and procedures to respond to incidents/hazards in an effective way.”
The district participated in a two-day Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) training program over the summer. The training involved 30 first responders, teachers, administrators and parents.
“This training program was provided to the district at no cost to our taxpayers,” Kimmel said. “The training program brought together key school safety and security decision makers in our community to discuss the planning and preparedness for, response to, and recovery from a school-based crisis.”
The Board of Education voted unanimously to adopt the district’s Emergency Operations Plan. All other items on the board’s agenda were passed.
