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Residents criticize memorial removals and question administrator contract changes at board meeting
Summary
Multiple residents used the public comment period to urge the board to explain why memorials were removed from school grounds, and one commenter questioned contract language that increased vacation and life insurance benefits for administrators.
Tipp City — During the public comment period at the Tipp City Exempted Village School District board meeting, several residents addressed the board with sharply differing views, including sustained criticism of the removal of memorials from school grounds and concerns about recent contract changes for district administrators.
Don Watson said memorials placed decades earlier outside the middle school had been removed and called for "accountability" and formation of a committee to "demand respect for the dead." His remarks included references to specific former students and personal condolences to family members. The board chair repeatedly enforced the five‑minute public‑comment time limit and did not vote to extend Watson’s time.
Kathy Bowen (identified in the transcript as Kathy/Kathy Bowen) said the board’s own policies permit the board to vote to extend a speaker’s time and criticized how contract terms and evaluations had been handled. Bowen said she found evaluations "haphazard" and noted that vacation for administrators changed from five weeks to seven weeks and that life insurance limits increased (she referenced an increase from $250,000 to $750,000 in the transcript). She urged future board members to scrutinize contracts and to make public discussions part of the process.
"There was no discussion about this to the public and we are the people paying that," Bowen said.
Other commenters, including library director Lisa Santucci and resident Chris Drum, offered thanks to board members Amber and Rick for their service and expressed support for the new school design. The board did not take immediate action in response to the memorial complaints at this meeting.
