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Worthington board adopts Neola-recommended policy 2265, hears superintendent on safety tech and treasurer on audit and tax report
Summary
The Worthington City School District Board of Education adopted Neola-recommended policy 2265 and heard reports on a districtwide safety alert system and the district’s clean audit.
The Worthington City School District Board of Education voted to adopt policy number 2265, as recommended by Neola, during the board’s regular meeting following the organizational session. Board members had completed a first reading of the policy at the Dec. 9, 2024 meeting and voted to adopt it tonight to meet the filing requirements of the Ohio Revised Code.
Superintendent Dr. Trent Bowers reported district pilots of the Syntegix scribe alert system at Brookside, Worthington Estates, Perry Phoenix and Worthington Academy and said the district “did officially sign the contract, and thus in 2025, we'll have this installed in all of our Worthington schools.” Dr. Bowers described the system as a wearable panic button intended to reduce response time by alerting safety services to exact locations inside a school.
Treasurer T.J. Cusick said the district’s annual financial audit, released Dec. 24, contained “a clean opinion with no management letters or concerns.” Cusick said a condensed annual financial report will be mailed to residents. He also summarized the Joint Committee on Property Tax Review and Reform’s report and noted it included 21 recommendations under discussion at the state level — items such as expanding homestead exemptions, using circuit-breaker approaches for tax relief, and reconsidering the frequency of property reappraisals.
District leadership told the board the 2022 operating levy and bond issue, passed for a four-year period, can be stretched to last through November 2028; administrators said they will present plans early in 2025 to align spending closer to historically supported millage (the board discussed aiming for about 2.25 mills per year rather than current spending patterns nearer 3 mills).
On district business, the board approved routine consent items including minutes from the Dec. 9 meeting (Treasurer Cusick: audit-related materials were cited), personnel consent items, and acceptance of listed donations. The board approved policy 2265 by roll call. The Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce membership motion carried with one abstention (Jennifer Best) because of an employment relationship.
Board members also shared community announcements: the Worthington Education Foundation’s annual fundraiser (late January), the Worthington Alliance of Black Families and Educators community film event on Jan. 18, the Martin Luther King Jr. observance on Jan. 20 with keynote Dana Tyler, and Science Day on Jan. 25 at Perry Middle School.
The meeting concluded with scheduling: a special-education audit update on Jan. 27, a Feb. 10 work session and a Feb. 24 regular meeting with curriculum items.
