Liechty named AC School Board President

The Adams Central School Board kicked off their first meeting of the year Tuesday night with some organizational changes. After two years of serving as the Board’s President, Heather Frank will shift to the role of Board Vice President. This allowed Ben Liechty to be nominated for the position, for which he was unanimously approved.

“I would like to personally thank Heather for her work as School Board President over the past two years,” said Superintendent Joel Mahaffey. “I have learned from you these last two years and I appreciate working with you and I think we have done a lot of great things as a board under your guidance.”

Additionally, Mike Brown was appointed to the role of Board Secretary. The group also held a special session of the School District’s Board of Finance, for which Heather Frank was chosen as President, Rhonda Isch as Secretary and Dawn Cook as the investing officer.

The group also made their committee appointments for the year. Phil Garwood, Jeremi Schortgen, and Isch will remain on the Policy Development Committee. Liechty, Frank, and Brown will remain on the Negotiations Committee. Superintendent Mahaffey was approved to sign all state and federal grants. Mahaffey will also remain a representative for the SEBT Insurance Trust along with Kevin Dines. Lastly, the Board approved the employment of Audra Snyder as Board Attorney, Dawn Cook as Corporate Treasurer, and Susie Tonner, Cindy Jackson, Michelle Cochran, and Kandi Stutzman as Secretaries.

In other business, the first major approval of the year went to Director of Transportation Dan Weber to purchase a new standard 84 passenger school bus. There were some gasps among the Board members as they looked at the price, which was substantially higher than it was been in the past and included the trade-in of a 14 year old bus that is currently in service.

“Weber does a great job of keeping our buses up to speed in great running condition and we really utilize the most out of our buses before we move to buy another bus,” stated Mahaffey. “In previous years, I know schools typically buy two buses a year. We skipped a year or two and now we are getting back into a normal bus replacement plan but the cost has jumped up quite a bit. This bus is needed and we look forward to getting it.”

The purchase was unanimously approved by the Board and marked the first substantial vote that newly elected Board Member Shelly Gerber has made. The group concluded the meeting by expressing their condolences for North Adams Community Schools as they mourn the passing of Paul Gunsett.

“Going through a loss like that is very difficult and they deserve all the support they need,” stated the Superintendent.

The next Adams Central School Board meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 14th at 7:00 p.m.