School board to consider levy for security

Board members will hold a special meeting June 27 to approve an insurance provider for the 2018-19 school year.

The Vermilion Local School board could ask voters to consider a financial issue that aims to improve school security.

Board members will hold a special meeting June 27 to approve an insurance provider for the 2018-19 school year.

A resolution of necessity for the purpose of a levy is among the discussion items as well.

The financial request stems from continuing discussions about school security, said Superintendent Phil Pempin.

That culminated in a Community Safety Forum that drew about 275 people to Vermilion High School on March 4.

The school board and administration wanted to discover community priorities necessary to protect the schools, Pempin said.

Vermilion is not doing a bad job with school security, he said.

But with the current atmosphere due to school violence across the nation, school leaders must scrutinize the protective measures and look for ways to do more if they can, Pempin said.

The meetings resulted in three possible additions, he said.

To help the social and emotional learning of students, the school district could hire a behavioral therapist to help youngsters who have greater emotional needs, Pempin said.

Vermilion schools would get improved security cameras.

The district would hire an additional school resource officer.

A levy that would raise about $310,000 would cover the costs, Pempin said.

It remains to be seen if the community would approve it.

“We think that they will, based on the forum that we had,” Pempin said.

The board members and Treasurer Justin Klingshirn will discuss the legal and financial elements of an emergency levy or a school safety levy, which is allowed in Ohio.

The goal is to consider a financial issue on the November ballot, so it would have to be filed with the county board of elections this summer.

However, because the June 27 meeting is a special meeting, board members Chris Habermehl, Shelly Innes, Krystal Russell, Sara Stepp and Michael Star that night cannot formally vote on placing an issue on the ballot, Pempin said.

In the safety meeting, Pempin emphasized that everyone, but especially parents, must be involved in creating a safe school environment. Parents should partner with the schools to learn the facts about safety, social media and mental health topics and discuss those with their children, he said.

Vermilion Schools planned quarterly parent meetings to discuss topics identified at the safety forum.

The issues including reporting suspicious behaviors, bullying, mental health challenges, cell phone and social media use, suicide prevention, peer pressure and academic anxiety.