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Sidney City School Board approves $482,734 playground purchase, $172,007 classroom furniture and multiple contracts; moves to executive session
Summary
At its regular meeting, the Sidney City School Board approved multiple procurement contracts including $482,734 for playground equipment, $172,007.46 for classroom furniture and $107,006.28 in site work, set its Jan. 7 organizational meeting and adjourned to executive session on an expulsion matter.
The Sidney City School Board approved several contracts and routine business at its meeting, including a $482,734 contract for new playground equipment, a $172,007.46 classroom-furniture purchase and a $107,006.28 site-work contract, and then voted to adjourn into an executive session to conduct an expulsion hearing.
The most costly single contract approved was with Mid Saits Recreation to supply and install playground equipment at Emerson and Longfellow elementary schools for $482,734. Board members said the designs were sized for the student populations, vetted by building principals and teachers, and are expected to last 25 to 30 years. The board approved a separate site-work contract with Sturm Construction, for $107,006.28, to prepare both playground locations.
The board also approved buying classroom furniture for Longfellow and Emerson Primary Schools from Barton Public Seating at a cost of $172,007.46. District staff said the board budgets $200,000 annually for classroom furniture and has come in under that allocation each year so far.
In other facilities and athletics work, the board approved a resolution awarding construction-manager-at-risk services for the district’s soccer, turf and track project to Maumee Bay Turf Center after only one firm submitted a response to the request for qualifications; the board also authorized staff to solicit bids for baseball and softball field turf.
On district services and memberships, the board renewed its nurse-services agreement with Shelby County Memorial Hospital Association (doing business as Wilson Health) for Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2026, described in the meeting as the continuation of the existing arrangement (a nurse-and-a-half). The board voted to continue membership in the Ohio School Boards Association for 2026 at the cost listed in the materials.
The board accepted a $2,375 donation from the Loom Jackets PTO for the Whittier school’s enclosed paved play area (referred to in materials as the 'Whittier Bike Path'). The board approved personnel items pending proper certification and paperwork, approved updates to the Whittier Early Childhood Center handbook (staff said the changes formalize practices already in place), and approved a motion allowing listed students to graduate with the class of 2026 pending completion of state and local requirements.
Governance actions included setting the board’s organizational meeting for Jan. 7, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. in the Board of Education Building community room and appointing Zach Boslet as president pro tem for that meeting.
District financial context was highlighted in the treasurer’s report. The treasurer (S3) said the district is about $400,000 above revenue estimates year to date and reported the general fund balance as being over $11,000,000. "Overall, we're $400,000 above estimates for revenue," the treasurer said.
The board held a public hearing on the 2026–27 school calendar but took no final vote. Staff explained two calendar changes from the tentative calendar: moving a September day from Sept. 18 to Sept. 25 to allow benchmarking data to arrive and shifting a fall conference night to avoid a conflict with Trick-or-Treat. Staff also noted ongoing discussions about aligning teacher professional development time with contract provisions.
Later in the meeting, a staff member delivered a legislative report noting that Gov. Mike DeWine signed House Bill 434, which contained an emergency clause and took effect immediately, and that the governor had vetoed Senate Bill 50; the report also mentioned bills under consideration including Senate Bill 330 (to allow districts to excuse mental-health days) and House Bill 625 (Student Athlete Mobility Act).
Finally, the board voted to adjourn into executive session to conduct an expulsion hearing; board members said they would reconvene afterward to complete a vote on that expulsion, which would be the last item of business.
The meeting included routine roll-call votes for each motion; all motions listed above carried as recorded in the meeting minutes.
