By Amantha Garpiel
For Miami Valley Today
TIPP CITY — The Tipp City Board of Education (BOE) accepted multiple donations, approved a contract, approved an insurance renewal and prepared for the 2024 organizational meeting at its last meeting of 2023.
During the Dec. 18, 2023, meeting the Tipp City BOE accepted a donation from KeepSaf Self Storage for $1,355 to the athletic department.
The board also accepted a donation totalling $24,346.65 from the athletic boosters to be used for various things for both fall and winter sports.
For the fall sports, the donation is appropriated for 15 sets of shoulder pads for the Tippecanoe Middle School; seven practice balls for Tippecanoe Middle School, six benches and locks for the Tippecanoe High School tennis courts; four sets of push plates, boxes, bands and a wall clock for the Tippecanoe High School weight room; and four iPads for ticketing as requested by the athletic department.
For the winter sports, the donation is dedicated to recording equipment for the middle school games including two iPads, two tripod stands and two iPad cases; strength training equipment for the high school boys basketball team; a replacement ball cart and sticky pad for the girls high school basketball team; a laser sanitizer for the wrestling team; and warm-ups for the middle school boys and girls basketball teams.
The athletic boosters also donated 25% of the cost, or $1,797.25, for a soccer state championship ring purchase.
In other business, the board accepted a donation from Young, Black and Lit for LT Ball Intermediate School. Young, Black and Lit is a non-profit organization that provides free books for youth from preschool through eighth-grade. The organization donated two boxes of books to LT Ball Intermediate.
Board member Anne Zakkour abstained from the vote due to a lack of information on the quantity of books, the content of the books and the organization itself.
“At this point, I’m not comfortable approving (this),” said Zakkour. “I don’t know how many books and what the content is and I’m not familiar with that organization.”
Board member Theresa Dunaway voted “no” on the motion. Despite the board being split, the motion passed with members Amber Drum, Richard Mains and Joellen Heatherly voting to accept the donation.
The last donation accepted during the meeting was for a donation of supplies that add up to $650.53 from the Peewee Wrestling program to the Tippecanoe Middle School Wrestling team. This donation consists of a 75-inch TV, a wall mount and an extension cord to enhance the learning of the team on different techniques.
Then, the board authorized Superintendent Aaron Moran to enter into a contract for an amount not to exceed $500,000 to upgrade the district’s security cameras.
The contract is funded by the Ohio K-12 School safety grant and includes all camera parts, installation, labor and training. The equipment is also mobile and can be moved to the new buildings in the future.
Lastly, the board passed two motions to prepare for its organizational meeting that was set for Jan. 3, 2024, at 5 p.m. and to appoint Drum as the president pro tempore to preside over the meeting.
The writer is a regular contributor of Miami Valley Today.
