Board accepts nearly $100,000 in donations
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By Ben Crane
The Tuscola School Board met on Thursday and accepted a significant $93,834.16 in donations from 18 different donors.
Douglas County Health donated $5,100 for fingerprinting, H&H CU Capital donated $1,000 for the girls’ cross-country team, David and Cheryl Bozarth ($150), two anonymous donors ($250 and $100), and Victory Church ($3,000) donated for Help a Child, another anonymous $200 for SADD, music boosters donated $1,034.16 for the band, GSA boosters donated $1,000 for GSA, and Trust Bank donated $10,000 for the scoreboard.
The donations listed in the agenda after the aforementioned did not have any recipients listed. Wabash Valley donated $10,000, Sav-Mor with $20,000, 217 Inc with $10,000, Longview Bank with $6,000, All Pro with $6,000, Sloan with $12,500, Omni/Davis Houk with $6,000, and Loman Ray Insurance with $1,000.
The principals in the district, Jason Wallace, Jared Vanausdoll, and Justin Bozarth, then gave a presentation on curriculum mapping to the Board. In short, curriculum mapping is a template of any given class, or a schedule of the content taught on a week-to-week basis.
Principal Wallace gave his North Ward report, noting that the Sorting Party for House on Sept. 11 was a success, as was Fall Picture Day. He also listed some important upcoming dates, including Grandparents Day on Oct. 4, Fire Prevention Week starting Oct. 7, and a book walk on Halloween. He also thanked the staff at North Ward for their continued work.
In the East Prairie report, Principal Vanausdoll noted that Builders Club had 52 students sign up and that they will be joining the Kiwanis and K-Kids during the Homecoming parade as well as helping with the Kiwanis pancake breakfast. Administration is also in the planning phase of scheduling intruder drills for all three buildings with help from Tuscola Fire, Police and the Douglas County Sheriff’s office.
Other dates of note include picture retakes on Oct. 25, parent-teacher conferences on Oct. 19-20, and that the staff will be in professional development on Oct. 11.
In the high school report, Principal Bozarth reported that 10 seniors, Brayden Taylor, Alex Lin, Andrew Bennett, Ed Carpenter, Thomas Bennet, Allison Pettry, Nathan Klie, Jocelyn Ford, Carleigh Kleiss, and Naya Kupferer, were rewarded with their own parking spot for earning the top 10 SAT scores from the last school year.
He also gave a schedule for Homecoming week, including “pack the place” for volleyball on Monday, girls’ golf regional on Tuesday, Powder Puff at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Iron Man volleyball on Thursday during the school day, and the parade, open house, and football game on Friday. The coronation and dance are on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Finally, he thanked the community for their generosity for their donations to the district’s Help a Child account.
In the superintendents report, Gary Alexander reported that the September bills amounted to $932,136.87, with $711,722.46 obligated for personnel. He said that the district will continue to watch expenses to not reach their estimated deficit spending. Alexander also reminded members of the Board of their petitions to get signed before the November deadline.
Finally, he noted that a reporter had made a Freedom of Information Act request, which was denied due to the sensitive nature of the information: the school’s evacuation plan in case of a school shooting. It was not a County Chronicle request.
The Board also approved the resignation of Rachel Armour as special education teacher as well as the retirements of Trixie Stoerger, Beth Linstead, and Sharon Stahler at the end of the 2026-27 school year. Erica Mentock was approved as East Prairie scholastic bowl assistant before the meeting was adjourned.