SIDNEY — The expulsion of a Sidney City School District student was upheld by the Board of Education during its Tuesday, Feb. 21, meeting.
Following an executive session, the board approved the expulsion of student “K.B.” by a 3-1 vote with board member Bob Smith voting no. Board member Nicki New was not present for the meeting.
Smith said, as a board member, he can’t comment on the expulsion hearing nor the reason for his no vote.
According to Superintendent Bob Humble, “The student was a middle school student who was expelled for deliberately assaulting another student. The student is expelled for the rest of the school year. That means they are not enrolled in SCS and cannot participate in any academic/extra curricular activities during that time.”
The board learned the district will receive $16,430 in a settlement from a lawsuit with Juul Labs, a manufacturer of e-cigarettes. Funds from the settlement will be placed into the district’s general fund.
“I got us involved with a class action lawsuit against the E-Cigarette maker Juul,” said Humble.
The lawsuit claimed the e-cigarettes caused “seizures, lung damage and other serious injuries including strokes.”
The lawsuit was settled in December 2022 with 10,00 individual plaintiffs — including Sidney City Schools — receiving a settlement from the company. The lawsuit focused on the “company’s role in the youth vaping epidemic.”
The lawsuit was filed by TorHoerman Law, LLC, which has offices in Chicago, Illinois, St Louis, Missouri, and Edwardsville, Illinois.
Longfellow Primary School Principal Michelle Link shared an update on the year so far for the building and its students.
“From feedback with staff before the year started, they wanted more frequent communication about week to week events as well as long term plans,” said Link. “This led to the creation of weekly newsletters, important dates building calendar and monthly staff meetings offered right after school (15 minutes or less) or at 8 a.m. the next morning.”
A sensory room has been added into the guidance area. Recess/lunch coverage has seen an increase of assistance from aides.
There are quarterly assemblies for the students, she said. There are dress up days for Veteran’s Day and Christmas; elementary night at football games; Halloween and Valentine’s Day parties and kindergarten Brukner visits.
Upcoming field trips include the kindergarteners going to Boonshoft; first graders to Brukner’s and second graders going to 36 Skate Club. A One School One Book program is planned for March.
The board approved an out-of-state trip for the Sidney High School band from Nov. 15-19. The band will be traveling to Orlando, Florida, where they will march at DisneyWorld on Nov. 17. They will also be attending an Universal Stars Performance Program Workshop. The cost of the trip will be paid by each band member. The trip is being organized by Bob Rogers Travel.
Treasurer Mike Watkins reported on the financial status of the district. He said expenditures for salary and benefits, supplies and materials and capital outlay are all less than what was budgeted for January.
Revenues for the district are “trending better than the budget except for the unrestricted/restricted grants-in-aid,” said Watkins. “I’m pleased with how the income tax is going.”
He said the income tax payments received for year-to-date January were slightly better than the budget for the fiscal year by $33,545. The January collections were $58,947.27 more than the October collections. Payments are received quarterly in April, July, October and January.
The board’s next meeting will be held Monday, March 20, at 6 p.m. in the board of education’s meeting room.
