Medina City Schools

Norton district receives ODDC grant

During the last Norton City Schools District Board of Education meeting of the year, Dec. 15, Valerie Riedthaler, director of pupil services, gave a progress report on her efforts to secure a grant from the Ohio Developmental Disability Council (ODDC).

According to Riedthaler, the district received a $5,000 grant from the ODDC, which is a planning and advocacy body committed to community inclusion for people with developmental disabilities, according to Riedthaler. The grant funds awarded will primarily pay for career coaches, which assist students with disabilities during their transition from high school, said Riedthaler. These transition services include general life skills and assisting students planning to continue their education in postsecondary schools, including vocational and career schools and two- and four-year colleges and universities.

Also during the meeting, the board:

• unanimously approved membership in the Summit Regional Health Care Consortium (SRHCC). According to district officials, membership promotes cooperative agreements and activities among SRHCC’s members in purchasing supplies and services and dealing with problems of mutual concerns in regard to health benefits. Local membership includes Copley-Fairlawn, Norton and Medina city schools and Revere Local Schools;
• unanimously OK’d board member Cindy Webel as president pro tempore for the organizational meeting, which will take place Jan. 12 at 6 p.m.; and
• unanimously approved a four-hour-per-day educational assistant II position at Norton Primary School.

In other business, district Business Manager Ken Caldwell announced the application process for the Ohio Clean Diesel School Bus Retrofit Grant Program has begun.

“Currently there are 18 buses in the district, [and] because of their age, [they] meet the requirements for the retrofit,” Cadwell said. “The retrofitting process is less expensive and it comes with a matching portion from the program.”

The retrofit process adds devices to the muffler system that reduce pollution, he said.

In other school news, Sharon Herchik, director of curriculum and instruction, announced a recommendation to approve the following new math textbooks: “Mathematics for Business and Personal Finance,” “Algebra I,” “Algebra II” and “Geometry.” All books are available in an online version for teachers and students, according to district officials. The teacher’s instruction textbook comes with additional resources on a flash drive.

The next school board meeting is set for Jan. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the Norton High School Library/Media Center, 4128 S. Cleveland-Massillon Road.