By DANIEL NEWMAN

Staff writer

LIBERTY — Liberty Local School District Board of Education on Wednesday voted unanimously to accept the resignation of district Superintendent Andrew J. Tommelleo effective in January.

“This letter is to notify you of my intent to resign, due to retirement, from Liberty Local School District on Wednesday, January 31, 2024,” Tommelleo wrote in a letter to the board, which was read aloud by board President David Malone.

“I would like to thank Dr. Tommelleo. He came in at a very difficult time, right at the middle of COVID-19,” Malone said. “He came in kind of late in the game and did a very admirable job of leading the district through one of the most uncharted territories that we’ve seen in this generation of public education.”

Malone added that Tommelleo cleaned up a poorly negotiated labor contract and brought a health clinic to the Blott school.

“My father always said ‘you want to leave a place better than you found it,’ and I certainly think that he has done that with Liberty schools, so with much appreciation,” Malone said.

Tommelleo was originally hired as an interim superintendent in August 2020, signing a one-year, $72,000 contract. Before serving at Liberty schools, Tommelleo served as Leetonia interim superintendent for a brief period. Tommelleo also spent time working in education in Pennsylvania and as a consultant with the Ohio Department of Education.

SECURITY PROJECT

After the meeting, Tommelleo said the school’s new security project, and its bidding process was a project he had hoped to complete before leaving. Earlier in the meeting, the board approved a resolution to accept a bid for the comprehensive security project.

The project will include security cameras, a visitor management center, panic buttons and Flock cameras. It is to be funded through the Ohio K-12 Safety Grant Program.

Based on the recommendation of the superintendent, the base bid for $292,074 from Proline Technology of North Bend, Ohio, was accepted. The previously selected bid from Pacific OneSource totaled $344,728, but no contract was inked with that company.

“I believe it’s going to give all of our instructors a tremendous sense of security where they all have the ability to touch a button and report critical information,” Tommelleo previously said about the security upgrades.

ADDITIONAL CONTRACT

The board on Wednesday also adopted a safety training and testing program for all school district employees.

A one-year agreement was adopted with Cincinnati-based Public School Works to provide a web-based safety and compliance program tracking system.

Public Works will track employee training and automatically notify those who have not completed coursed in the timeframes required by Ohio and board policy laws. Training will focus on a variety of safety-related topics, including awareness of child abuse prevention and human trafficking, depression and self-destructive behavior, school violence including teen dating violence, substance abuse prevention, positive youth development, seizure monitor training and blood borne pathogens.

“From food service, to drivers to teachers, to administrators and the treasury, everybody, each year those trainings grow,” Tommelleo said. “And it gets very difficult for us to monitor those ourselves.”

The cost for Public School Works in the district is $3,900 for a year, including the annual fee, plus program implementation, and training for 120 users.

Each successive year, the annual fee will be $1,995 for 120 users.