Marlington board elects Humphries president, sets schedule, approves COG agreement and tax budget

Karen Humphries was elected president of the Marlington Local School District Board of Education on Jan. 7, 2026, after being nominated and confirmed by a unanimous roll-call vote of board members. Jonathan Swift was elected vice president in a separate unanimous roll-call vote.

The board adopted a resolution setting regular board meetings for the second Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. at the district’s DLZ at Marlington High School. The board also appointed Kathy Krupko as the district’s delegate to the Ohio School Boards Association annual conference and designated Jonathan Swift as the board’s legislative liaison.

The board reviewed and approved updates to existing bylaws and purchasing language to reflect recent changes in state law. Board members discussed that recent changes in House Bill 96 now mean certain building-related purchases that exceed roughly $75,000 will require a formal bidding process; members approved language broadening cooperative-purchasing options so the district may participate in additional state cooperative purchasing agreements.

The superintendent requested and the board authorized the superintendent to sign a program agreement with the Stark County Council of Governments and Spark to bring certain IT and infrastructure functions under the COG’s auditing umbrella. "This is giving permission for me to sign the program agreement," the superintendent said while explaining the agreement would incorporate ITC services into the COG structure to facilitate auditing and shared services.

In the treasurer’s report the district’s tax budget for fiscal year 2027 was presented and approved. The treasurer noted that the document’s summary line lists the total amount requested from the budget commission as $16,060,000.861. The board approved the minutes from December, the tax-budget resolution, and a set of three personnel consent items (one certified retirement, one certified substitute hire and one supplemental hire) by unanimous roll-call votes.

The board scheduled a work session for Feb. 5 at 5:30 p.m. to review potential summer projects and the district’s five‑year forecast; the next regular meeting was announced for Feb. 12 at 6 p.m.

The organizational meeting adjourned and the regular meeting then proceeded with scheduled agenda items.