By Alyssa Cocchiola, editor-in-chief
JANUARY 2023 — Bio-Med Science Academy’s Governing Authority discussed its plans regarding summer programming, the national school lunch program, school safety, and the expansion of campuses during the Dec. 13 board meeting.
Bio-Med’s Governing Board approved the 2023-2024 school year calendar as well as the resignations of former Chief Operating Officer Charmayne Polen and former first-grade teacher Jasmine Rosiak. The rehiring of former Bio-Med RNA Amy Jennings was approved to fill Rosiak’s position.
The disposal of three Maker Bots, one Ultimaker, and one Lultzbot from the engineering department were also approved. All five of these machines were broken “beyond repair,” according to the agenda.
Finally, Bio-Med’s Governing Authority approved the appointed Governing Authority members for the following terms: Aaron Kurchev was approved for a three-year term, Dr. Lisa Testa and Thea Sears were approved for two-year terms, and Dr. Annette Kratcoski was approved for a one-year term.
Bio-Med’s First Summer Camp
At the meeting, Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Lindsey McLaughlin announced that Bio-Med will host its first STEM summer camp June 12-16, which is the first full week after Bio-Med students’ last day of school.
“We decided to use our journeys as our focus for summer STEM programming. The first one will be agriculture… but also tech,” said McLaughlin.
Each Bio-Med student is required to pick a journey pathway during their junior year. Bio-Med’s pathways are: Medicine, Healthcare and Health Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Scientific Research and Development, Education, and Agriculture and the Environment.
The camp will take place at the Rootstown campus and will accept rising fourth, fifth, and sixth-graders from both Bio-Med and outside school districts. It is currently unknown how many spots there will be when it comes to total students able to be enrolled, but Bio-Med students will receive priority.
The camp will be taught by Bio-Med Future Farmers of America (FFA) advisors Heidi Hisrich and Jacqueline Davis.
McLaughlin commented, “[Hisrich] is brilliant, and she has done summer programming before. She is very excited. She said ‘yes’ wholeheartedly, so she will be creating the curriculum and running the first summer camp with the help of Jacqueline Davis. [Davis] is also an FFA advisor, but she is in our technology pathway and a teacher in our ninth-grade programming course, so there will be drones and stuff at the camp, which we are excited about.”
Hisrich is in charge of the agriculture pathway.
The summer camp will also act as a fundraiser for the FFA chapter, and current FFA members will have the opportunity to be camp counselors.
For future camps, it is anticipated that each will be based on a different pathway. However, this may be subject to change.
Student ACT Testing Moves Online
Starting this year, the ACT is supporting the use of Apple iPad devices on the ACT test for state and district computer-based testing. In response to this change, Bio-Med junior students will take the ACT in March using the school’s iPads. This will be the first year Bio-Med students take the test online as opposed to on paper.
HB 123: Safety and Training
HB 123, otherwise known as the “Safety and Violence Education Students (SAVE) Act,” requires a “comprehensive approach to school safety involving the Ohio departments of Education, Public Safety, Mental Health and Addiction Services and Attorney General’s Office,” according to the Ohio Department of Education.
The HB 123 policy will be ready for adoption by March.
Though the policy has not been adopted yet, the bill requires that team members in an Ohio school complete specific training.
In compliance with the bill, Bio-Med hosted a virtual training session for Ravenna and Rootstown staff Jan. 3, which was a one-hour overview of school safety faculty and staff’s role in the matter.
A four-hour training session will take place in person Feb. 9 for the members of the Safety Teams of Ravenna and Rootstown campuses. Since each Ohio school is required to have this training, Bio-Med has invited every school district in Portage county to join either training session. Staff from Waterloo Local Schools attended the Jan. 3 training.
“A lot of schools responded, thanking us for reaching out to them, but they had done their training through XYZ, and their training is already completed. It was nice to get feedback from them and offer to help with our partnership,” added McLaughlin.
Both of these training sessions will be run by Katy Lord, who is the regional liaison and works for the U.S. Secret Service in the National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) division.
Additionally, McLaughlin met with Ryan Shackelford, who is the director of the Emergency Management Association (EMA) in Portage County, to discuss Bio-Med’s Emergency Management Test (EMT). This year, all three buildings will participate in a weather-based scenario. Currently, McLaughlin is working on planning the EMT and will have Shackelford review it.
“We are going to be testing our evacuation, communication, and at [the Rootstown] campus only, our reunification,” explained McLaughlin.
When it comes to training for students at the Ravenna Campus, Sergeant Andrew Wert and one of his colleagues from the Ravenna police department will help train staff and students on ALICE training and assist in Stop the Bleed training for Ravenna Campus staff. He will also be involved in the Emergency Management Test.
National School Lunch Program
The National School Lunch Program is up for administrative review this year. Bio-Med is working with education program specialists from the Ohio Department of Education for this. The review consists of paperwork, an on-site visit, a conference call, and a procurement review. The on-site review will take place at the Ravenna campus.
When it comes to the procurement review, McLaughlin explained, “We don’t procure our own food, but we procure contracts for our own food.”
The procurement review ensures that Bio-Med is following the rules outlined in their procurement contract, the federal government’s National School lunch program, and Bio-Med’s board policies.
Additionally, Bio-Med’s Governing Authority is in the process of obtaining a food license for the Rootstown Campus. In previous years, Bio-Med’s lunch program ran under The Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED)’s food license, since NEOMED provided the food. The deal between NEOMED and Bio-Med for school lunch ended Sept. 23.
Both the Shalersville and Ravenna campuses already have a food license.
OAISS and Independent STEM School Funding
Currently, independent STEM schools are the lowest funded type of school in Ohio. Bio-Med will host a strategy meeting in January to discuss a plan for being more direct with funding strategies. They are hoping to push at the state level for the biennial budget, which funds school districts on a two-year cycle.
“What I’m hoping is that in June, we’re celebrating the fact that the state is funding us equally to all the other schools in the state, because we’re still the lowest funded school, but we have some of the highest outlets — not just Bio-Med, but all the independent [STEM schools]. Hopefully the funding gets adopted,” said Lammlein.
Bio-Med will also host a State of STEM conference with all of the seven independent STEM schools in Ohio. This will take place at the Rootstown campus April 20-21. Each year, a different school hosts the event. This will be the first year the event will be hosted since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lammlein commented, “I’m excited about getting all our staff together. I think that’s one of the things that helps our staff. They are teaching differently, and sometimes you can feel like you’re on an island, because you’re trying to push yourself, but now they can meet other teachers who are also on the island. I’m glad we’re getting back to that.”
Additionally, Lammlein noted that the first State of STEM newsletter went out in December, which explains topics such as Bio-Med’s vision action statement, letters from the Board President, information about the 10 year celebration, and more.
The Expansion: Phase One
After the last board meeting, the finance committee met and discussed the expansion of their buildings and grade-levels. The expansion has multiple phases. Chief Administrative Officer Stephanie Lammlein announced that phase one of the expansion will begin during the 2024-2025 school year.
Phase one consists of moving fourth-grade students to the Ravenna campus. After two years, phase two will commence.
Phase two will then expand the Shalersville campus, so grades K-three will have 100 students each. The kindergarten class allows 25 students to enroll, first and second grades allow for 50 students, and third grade allows for 75 students. Currently, a total of 260 students are enrolled in grades K-4.
For phase two, additional space is required. Chief Administrative Officer Stephanie Lammlein noted that her goal is to have the pricing for phase one done before summer break.
Future Meetings and Policies
The next board meeting will be Jan. 17 at 6:00 p.m. at the Rootstown campus on the second floor.
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