Trumbull County

WHAT: Trumbull Career & Technical Center board meetings Jan. 15 and Feb. 12 meetings:

The board:

• Approved extending Superintendent Jason Gray’s contract by five years from Aug. 1, 2026, to July 31, 2031. He has been superintendent for 13 years.

• Welcomed new board members Brannon Murphy of Bloomfield-Mespo, Dan Schwartz of Maplewood, Donna Shields of McDonald, Teresa Oakes of Newton Falls and Patricia Limperos of Warren. Gray said this is the largest group of new members in a long time.

• Named Brooke Vondrasek of Bristol as board president and Michele Garman of Mathews as vice president.

• Approved Al Haberstroh of Southington as legislative liaison and Kim Barrell of Niles as student achievement liaison.

• Appointed Cheryl Basista of Weathersfield as chair of the finance committee, Vondrasek chair of the high school programs, Limperos as chair of facilities committee and Basista chair of policy committee.

• Accepted the retirement resignation of Ruth Griffith, treasurer’s secretary, effective July 1 with 22 years of service.

• Accepted the retirement resignation of Debra Ghindia, ALC/instructor effective June 1 with 24 years of service.

• Heard from High School Director Paula Baco that the center is working with the University of Cincinnati as part of the Ohio Partnership for Excellence in Paraprofessional Preparation with professional development training for paraprofessionals who help lab teachers with 25 students. The paraprofessionals help provide support to students.

• Heard from Baco that 714 applications were received from high school sophomores who want to attend the center next school year. Baco said the lottery will take place in March for those programs with more students enrolled than can be in the class. The new student acceptance recognition day will be in April.

• Recognized past board members Amie Crowder of Newton Falls, Tom Hart of McDonald, Tami Morrison of Maplewood, Regina Patterson of Warren and Justin Sly of Bloomfield-Mespo. Hart is a retired teacher from TCTC and served as union president.

• Approved a policy on use of Narcan by school nurses in emergencies. Gray said previously the school resource officers carried Narcan.

• Approved 2026-27 school calendar with the first day for students Aug. 17.

• Set community night for 6 to 8 p.m. April 23.

• Approved senior completion ceremony for 6:30 p.m. May 13 at 7 17 field in Niles; rain date is May 19.

• Announced makeup day for eighth grade tours is March 12. The tours were canceled in December because of bad weather.

• Set meetings for 7 p.m. the second Thursday of each month with June and July meetings combined on June 25.

• Bob Coupland

Lowellville

WHAT: Board of education February meeting

PRESENT: Gerald Dubos, Jennifer Johnson, Joseph Sturm, Brian Wharry and Stephanie Yon

The board:

• Heard from Superintendent Christine Sawicki that Lowellville Local School District will receive $22,180 through the Ohio School Bus Safety Grant to make safety upgrades to its bus fleet.

• Congratulated the Lowellville Class of 2026 valedictorians Cheyenne Bott, Reeve Donatelli, Jordan Nock and Nathan Yon, and salutatorian Sophia Rach.

• Approved the updated gifted plan for the district.

• Approved the 2026-27 course catalog.

• Approved a memorandum of understanding between the district and Vision to Learn.

• Approved continued membership in the Ohio High School Athletic Association for the 2026-27 school year.

• Approved the contract between the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board and Lowellville schools to engage in a collaborative, Project Aware Ohio, demonstration grants, and the recovery board agrees to pay Lowellville schools $50,000.

• Approved the following dates as potential makeup dates for staff members during the 2025-26 school year: April 6, April 7, April 8, June 1 and June 2.

• Awarded the bid for the painting project to Diamandis Painting. The total project will cost $116,400.

• Accepted the resignation of second-grade teacher Alina Wittenauer.

• Approved the following transfers: Nicole Firmstone from Title 1 math teacher to fifth- and sixth-grade science teacher; Stephanie Havrilla from fifth- and sixth-grade ELA teacher to Response to Intervention teacher; Angela Killingsworth from school counselor to fourth-grade ELA teacher; and Debbi Sanders from fifth- and sixth-grade math teacher to Title 1 math teacher.

• Approved the following appointments: Gina Blascak, second-grade teacher, $59,225; Robert Ballone, junior football assistant, $4,147; John Hritz, football assistant, $4,147; John (J.J.) Walsh, football assistant, $4,147; Ian O’Brien, football assistant, $4,147; Nate Weisbarth, grades 7 and 8 head football coach, $3,732; Mia Mangine, volleyball assistant varsity coach, $3,318; Madison Johns, eighth-grade volleyball, $3,318; and David Wesley Hodge, volunteer girls track coach.

• Susan Wojnar