By Kathleen Leese
For Miami Valley Today
PIQUA — The Piqua Board of Education (BOE) heard about the successes of their students in the areas of music and cross-country during their meeting on Monday, Sept. 16.
During his report, Piqua Superintendent Dwayne Thompson told board members about an award received by the Pride of Piqua Marching Band the weekend of Sept. 14. They competed in the Kettering Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) marching band contest, where they placed first in Class A, winning best color guard and percussion. Out of the 16 bands that participated, Piqua was one of three bands to qualify for the OMEA State Marching Band Finals to be held in Piqua in late October and early November.
Thompson also said the Piqua Junior High School and Piqua Central Intermediate School music program will be recognized in November by the Ohio Middle Level Association (OMLA) with a regional award. The award signifies the program’s dedication to education, advocacy and celebration which is in keeping with OMLA’s vision. Thompson offered congratulations to the music program on their awards.
Thompson also shared the Piqua cross-country teams did well on Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Eaton Invitational. The boys had a second place finish and Noah Burgh finished in first place. Brycen Angle finished in 11th place and Braden Holtvogt finished in the top 24. The girls team finished in the top 10 on Sept. 14 with Ashlyn Gearhardt being in the top 25 runners at the race.
BOE also learned that the Hartzell Air Movement tailgate will be held this Friday, Sept. 20, at the Piqua football game at Alexander Stadium. The tailgate begins at 5 p.m. with a DJ, a bouncy house for kids, giveaways and food.
The board was invited to the Piqua Indians Homecoming Parade and Pep Rally on Thursday, Oct. 3, at 6:30 p.m. in downtown Piqua. The event will feature the Pride of Piqua Marching Band, all fall sports teams and the homecoming court.
During the meeting, board members received an overview of the State Report Card program. They learned that Ohio school districts receive overall ratings of one to five stars with that rating based on achievement, progress, gap closing, the graduation rate and early literacy. The achievement portion measures academic achievement using Ohio’s state testing; the progress component looks at the academic performance of students compared to Ohio testing expected growth; the gap closing component looks at how well schools are meeting performance expectations for students in English language arts, math and graduation. It also includes how schools are supporting English learners in language proficiency, reducing chronic absenteeism for all students and identifying gifted students and providing gifted services. The State Report Card also looks at graduation rates and looks at early literacy which measures reading improvement and proficiency for students in grades kindergarten through third grade.
It was shared Piqua City Schools is continually working toward the State Report Card goals and are focusing on reducing chronic absenteeism, working to improve in comparison to other districts, working with families, finding solutions for attendance and improving graduation rates with attendance being a major factor in graduation rate success. The district is also working toward helping students become successful readers including helping families build reading skills at home, adopting new reading and math curriculum, increasing gifted student opportunities and identifying gifted students.
In other business, BOE also:
• Approved the list of library books from Piqua Central Intermediate School for disposal and removal.
• Approved personnel action including approving leaves of absence, additional duties, classified substitutes, game workers, home instructors, supplemental contracts, substitute teachers and volunteers.
• Heard the report of District Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jeremie Hittle and approved the August 2024 monthly fiscal reports, Fiscal year 2025 appropriations and salary and step adjustments that take effect on Aug. 1, 2024.
• Approved donations from August 2024 including Coca-Cola to the Piqua City School District, $12,500; French Oil to Piqua Central Intermediate School, $2,505; the Class of 2024 for Piqua High School signage, $1723.99; Y.J. McGinnis for Piqua Junior High School musical equipment, $200; George and Mary Sweitzer for Piqua Junior High School musical equipment, $50.00; Paul and Rosemary Gutmann for Piqua Junior High School musical equipment, $50.00; Lazy River Benefit for Piqua Junior High School musical equipment, $2078.00; Donovan Widney for Piqua Junior High School musical equipment, $50.00; Piqua Music Boosters, band camp lunches, $460.61; Miami Valley Steel, band camp lunches, $532.96 and Re/Max Finest, band camp lunches, $300.
The next meeting of the board will be on Thursday, Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. at the Piqua Board of Education office, 215 Looney Road.
The writer is a regular contributor to Miami Valley Today.
