The Galion City Schools Board of Education started its Oct. 17 meeting by recognizing recent outstanding achievements and actions from students and employees within the district.

Four students across the district were present at the meeting and were acknowledged for exhibiting the “Portrait of a Tiger” trait: Resiliency. Each student was given a framed certificate as well as a keepsake coin from Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Hartmann. Those recognized were second grader Carter Smith, third grader Winter Clavier, sixth grader Nolan Claus and GHS senior Jonathon Shope Williams.

Also given special recognition by the members of the board was Matt Eusey, who is a current custodian at Galion Intermediate School. Earlier in October, Eusey noticed a student who was struggling to breathe during lunch. Eusey acted quickly by using the Heimlich maneuver to remove the hamburger that was lodged in the students airway causing her to choke.

“Mr. Eusey is our afternoon custodian and master of all trades,” said Intermediate Principal Kayla Heimann. “He is one of the hardest workers I have ever had the privilege of working with. Anything I need, he comes in to ask if there is anything else I need him to do. The building is beautiful, and he is great with the kids. You could not ask for a better employee, and we just wanted to say thank you.” Heimann’s words were met with applause from everyone in the room.

The board then moved to review and approve the HVAC Controls Retrofit proposal for Galion High School with Gardiner Service Company out of Solon for a total cost of $154,711.

“If the board approves this, the purchase order will be generated tomorrow,” said District Treasurer Charlene Parkinson. “The initial schedule is for a walk-through over Christmas break while students aren’t in the building for Gardiner to do a site review and map out a plan. And then the install will happen over Christmas break.”

In the superintendent’s update, Hartmann spoke to the board members about the recent Hall of Fame dinner held during Connections Weekend and the success of the evening.

“One of our sixth graders rode his bike in the rain to help serve at the dinner,” said Hartmann. “He peeled off a wet hoodie and went to work with all of the other students who were there that night, and all the kids worked with no incident. They all did a great job.”

Hartmann then went on to discuss a recent meeting with Ohio Guidestone, a mental health agency with the potential to provide two therapists to the campus at Galion City Schools.

“Our principals are very much correct in their assessment that our kids need mental health support now,” Hartmann said. “In the conversation with Ohio Guidestone, they have led us to believe that they could provide us with support within three to four weeks.” Hartmann then went on to explain that Ohio Guidestone also prefers to inform parents of the district about its presence in the schools, and that a notification would be sent out on final forms.

With that said, Hartmann suggested scheduling a special meeting in advance of the next regularly scheduled monthly board meeting in the interest of moving forward with Ohio Guidestone as soon as possible. The meeting would cover the approval of the newly adopted Student Code of Conduct Policy, therefore allowing Hartmann the opportunity to combine the notification on final forms for the ease of parents.

Board members agreed with Hartmann to schedule a special meeting to do what is in the best interest of the students and will be working to come up with a date in the days to come.

Contact Erin Miller at 419-512-2662.