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ST. LEON – Superintendent Dr. Jeff Hendrix applauded the efforts of staff members who worked over the summer to prepare for the new school year, which began Aug. 13.

On Aug. 9, he told trustees, “People have put in a lot of hard work  … if you drive around the district, you will see a lot of projects that were done on the outside and inside of buildings.

“Principals have been working very hard preparing new schedules with full-day kindergarten, hiring new staff members and making things work.”

He also expressed appreciation to human resources director Mary Ann Baines, financial operations director Charlie Blake, support services director Tom Harris and technology director Nathan Louden.

“I have been working with teachers on our strategic plans and putting teams together. Principals have done some professional development .... (and) we have officially begun negotiations with our teachers’ organization, and it’s going pretty well.”

Hendrix admitted there is some anxiety about the new evaluation process. “Some of the teachers are afraid of it, and the principals have some fear about it, too ... but I think we’re up to the challenge.”

“I think it’s going to be a great year,” he added.

MORE SDCSC NEWS

- Personnel recommendations were approved: new: Linda Ascherman, East Central High School study hall monitor; Tina Waechter, ECHS business teacher; Amanda Sells, Leah Clark, Diane Albanese, Debra Nieman and Erin Kollmann, Bright Elementary School instructional assistants; Lauren Kreinest, BES teacher; Melissa Lowe, BES special education teacher; Elizabeth Walters, Lisa Messmore and Meredith Luckhaupt, North Dearborn Elementary School half-time instructional assistants; Cristin Dietz, NDES half-time teacher; Emma Dickey and Julie Johnson, NDES instructional assistants; Rachel Posey, Sunman Elementary School teacher; Anne Marie Rogers, SES library supervisor; Nichole Oswald and Bridget Thie, SES instructional assistants; Brian Parido, SES and BES music teacher; Elisa Carr and Douglas Dawley, Sunman-Dearborn Middle School instructional assistants; Teasia Tesseris, SDMS administrative assistant; Abigail Blair, SDMS teacher; January Bauman, speech therapist; Elizabeth Cecil, ECHS long-term substitute; Jason Seiwert, SDMS seventh-grade football assistant coach; Andrew Race, ECHS varsity basketball assistant; Nick Powell, ECHS boys golf coach; Daniel Foster, ECHS freshman football assistant; Lori Miller, bus driver; Cynthia Andres, bus assistant; Grant Schiering and Kelly Brown, Sunman-Dearborn Intermediate School instructional assistants; resignations: Derek Rehage, NDES and BES teacher; Jill Wilson, SDMS administrative assistant; Maria Sohns, ECHS instructional assistant; Jill Siegel, SES instructional assistant; Bryan Bitner, SDMS instructional assistant; Heather Kidwell, NDES food and nutrition services associate; Merrill Hutchinson, ECHS boys wrestling assistant coach; Melinda Craig, BES instructional assistant; Tammy Kraus, ECHS food and nutrition services associate; Cristin Dietz, NDES instructional assistant.

- Hendrix explained the reason for so many ROD personnel resignations. “Since ROD (Ripley-Ohio-Dearborn Special Education Cooperative) is an interlocal agency, we (SDCSC) are no longer the lead education agency for them. They (their personnel) had to resign from our district and be hired by them.” Resignations: Cheryl Corning, ROD director; Sue Baer, Darryl Gibbs, Fran Moore and Tara Moorman, ROD social workers; Ashley Clements, Melissa Duvall, Kimberly Hackworth, Jamma Kelly, Janelle Rainey, Renee Rogers, Diana Swartz and Steve Wagner, ROD psychologists; Karen Gates, Peggy Norman and Jane Vorbroker, ROD speech therapists; Werner Hallabrin and Angela Adkins, ROD teachers; Melissa Jones, ROD assistant director; Yvonda Kramer, Shirley Lemon, Melissa Lowe, Lesa Stenger and Daelle Woolwine, ROD educational consultants; Cristy Nuhring, ROD preschool coordinator; Sarah Watts, ROD hearing impaired teacher; Rae Lynch, ROD physical therapy assistant; Marcia Fullenkamp, ROD administrative assistant.