CANFIELD — As his first year with the Canfield Local School District wraps up, Superintendent Joseph Knoll briefly recapped the school year and gave insight on milestones he hopes to hit in the near future.

Kicking off his state of the schools address prior to the regular board of education meeting earlier this week, Knoll recapped one of his first tasks when he took over as superintendent last year: finding a theme for the school year.

Following “hard” conversations about where the district needs to go, Knoll said the district settled on honoring the past while shaping the future.

When he came to the district, Knoll promised to work on new ways of communicating within the district as well as the community.

There are various communications efforts, Knoll said Wednesday.

This year, the district’s website was redesigned. There is also a biannual “Cardinal Communique,” a newsletter going out through the school district.

Taking a more personal approach, Knoll launched “Tuesdays with Mr. Knoll,” a “lunch and learn” series where Knoll attended meetings virtually during lunch; all board meetings have been available to view live on YouTube; and the creation of a Superintendent Advisory Committee comprised of parents from each building to “throw ideas at them” and obtained feedback, Knoll said.

For the next school year, Knoll is hopeful to show personal growth to connect with students and the community by launching an Instagram, work with the Canfield Rotary for a student of the month program and work on strategic planning for 2022.

This summer, the process will begin to start creating a new strategic plan. The current plan expires next summer, Knoll said.

He anticipates the board of education adopting a new, five-year strategic plan in May 2022 with implementation in the 2022-23 school year.

Patricia Prince, the district treasurer, shared information as well.

In November 2022 or in 2023, a renewal of the current operating levy will be on the ballot. There is an effective millage of 4.84 mills right now. The conversation will reignite closer to election time, she said.

General fund revenue sources for fiscal year 2020 showed the district is “heavily reliant” on property taxes at nearly 70 percent or $19.5 million, Prince said.

Other revenues include state resources at 29 percent, or $8.1 million. Expenses included 67 percent for instruction.

Facilities also were discussed briefly. The district includes C.H. Campbell and Hilltop elementaries, Canfield Village Middle School, Canfield High School, a locker room facility, the bus garage, wrestling rooms and football stadium.

“There’s a lot of needs” with facilities, Knoll said.

Priorities include roofing projects at the high school and middle school and working on the HVAC system at the high school. Knoll has asked that the board of education “engage” with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission for guidance on funding.

“From the state’s point of view, Canfield is rich,” he said.

The district is at a 16 percent state and 84 percent match program for a building project.

The district is an Expedited Local Partnership Program, which means projects will be outlined in a master program, and as they can be worked on, Canfield could “jump ahead” having dollars available, with the local share being credited, Knoll said.

Donations are being accepted by the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley, Knoll said, who is the “keeper” of the Canfield Education Innovation Fund.

Any staff member will be able to apply for grants as part of the innovation fund to strengthen and enrich students’ lives.

afox@vindy.com