By Matt Clevenger

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TROY — The Troy City Schools Board of Education honored outgoing board members Doug Trostle and Michael Ham during their regularly scheduled meeting held on Monday, Dec. 11.

Trostle was honored for 24 years of service as a board member; Ham was honored for his eight years of service on the board.

“We appreciate your service so much, to the staff and students of our district and the community as a whole,” district Superintendent Chris Piper said.

“He’s an institution, and believe me we will miss his institutional knowledge,” board President Sue Borchers said of Trostle. “It’s been tremendous working with you, and I really have learned so much.”

“It’s been a pleasure working with you,” Borchers said of Ham. “He knows everything about Troy, and everybody in Troy.”

Trostle and Ham did not seek re-election in November; new board members Sarah Davis and Ben Redick will begin their terms in January of 2024.

“It’s been a good run,” Trostle said. “I’ve just enjoyed having the opportunity to represent the community and serve on the board of education.”

“We’ve covered a lot of ground over 24 years,” he said. “I think we’re charting on a very good path for the Troy City School District, and I think every student and every parent in the district can be very proud of what Troy Schools brings to the table, and the success that your students have.”

“Troy Schools gave me the best start I could ever ask for,” Ham said. “When you get something that’s good you can’t keep it to yourself, you have to give it back, and hopefully in some small measure I’ve been able to do it.”

“Troy Schools is a great place to work and be a student,” he said.

In other business, board members also saw a presentation by Troy High School Principal Alexis Dedrick, THS math teachers and students from the Team Math program.

Board members also heard an update on a planned addition at the Upper Valley Career Center from board member Levi Fox.

“That’s going to be a 25,000-square-foot addition, and it’s going to also renovate 15,000-square-feet,” Fox said. “It will accommodate up to 170 more students up there in the Career Center.”

“While we’re turning away students because of reaching capacity, it’s expanding that capacity,” he said. “That’s estimated for completion in September of 2026, so for the start of the 2026 school year.”

The project will include a contribution of $12.7 million from the state, Fox said, and an additional $5.4 million will be locally-funded.

Board members went on to approve an upcoming marching band trip to Orlando, FLA planned for November of 2024 and several out-of-state trips for the Troy Pop Rocks group, as well as changes and revisions to several board policies, including policies on the use of medications and inter-district open enrollment. Board member Levi Fox voted against the policy revisions.

“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about these since our last meeting, and still have a bit of reservations on them,” Fox said. “I still had an issue with the definition of medication; I didn’t have a good feeling in my stomach if that included immunizations or not.”

“That’s where I have the hold-up, without changing it to say with parental consent in there,” he said.

“On the inter-district open enrollment, every time I read it I just could not get over in my head how this seems like a racist policy, to be able to allow the administration to choose to approve or not approve a student from moving from one building to another building within the district,” Fox said. “I’m still stuck on that; I just can’t approve it, the racial context of it does not sit well with me.”

“This particular policy, if we didn’t include it in our policies then we could be subject to a loss of federal funding,” Borchers said. “That’s why we kept it in there.”

“I think it’s worth reiterating that all of these polices and the policy updates are a result of a professional organization that we contract with, to keep all of our policies up-to-date based on the Ohio Revised Code,” Trostle said.

Board members also approved the election of Borchers to serve as board president pro tempore during the board’s annual organizational meeting, which will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 8, at the Board of Education Office on North Market Street.

Board members ended their meeting by adjourning to an executive session for the purpose of discussing the purchase or sale of property.