By Jordan Green
PIQUA — The Piqua Board of Education met Thursday, March 17, for their regular monthly meeting.
The meeting began with student representative, Nolan Campbell, honoring Courtney Downs, a teacher at Piqua and the National Honor Society advisor who recently helped with a Girls Night Out at the junior high.
Treasurer Jeremie Hittle gave financial updates on the district. The defeasement of a Certificate of Participation, approved in February’s meeting, was paid off. Additionally in March, a bond was refunded.
“That total is about a half a million dollars that we saved the taxpayers,” said Hittle.
He also acknowledged that renovations of the high school library started this past week, and they are now ahead of schedule for work set to be completed in summer of 2022.
The superintendent’s report was given by principals from Piqua schools, who provided updates on the upcoming events and programs in their schools.
Multiple principals highlighted the success of Piqua’s S.T.E.M. lab. They reported high levels of student engagement and excitement in the program. Twenty-six percent of students at the Junior High are participating in spring sports. Piqua Central’s Team Earth club, a student initiative, has begun to clean up trash on school property and will be expanding into community areas soon.
The Piqua High School Band received a Superior rating at their most recent competition and will be heading to the state competition and Piqua’s Winter Guard received first place in their class as they head to the state competition at Wright State’s Nutter Center.
Participation in the Ohio High School Athletic Association for next year was approved by a vote of 5-0.
The board approved the retirements of multiple staff members at the end of the school year and thanked them for their services to the school. Retirees include Gary Clark, Dan Hathaway, James Palmer, and Lorraine Duer.
The district renewed their contract with META Solutions. META is an Ohio-based information technology company that provides software widely used by school districts. The contract will be in effect for the 2022-2023 school year.
The Board then adjourned to executive session and no further action was taken. The next Piqua Board of Education meeting will be held Thursday, April 28, at 6 p.m. at the Board of Education Central Office.
