The Vantage Board of Education held the February Regular Board meeting on Thursday, February
6, 2025 in the District Conference Room. During the Board meeting, minutes from the January 9, 2025 tax
budget, organization and regular Board meeting were approved along with financial statements for the
month of December, 2024.
Superintendent Rick Turner began the meeting welcoming Mr. Benjamin Winans, High School
Director, Mrs. Angie Fahy, Adult Education Director, Mrs. Miriam Owens, Community Relations
Coordinator, and Mr. Kyle Hammons, Maintenance Supervisor.
Mr. Turner reported on the following items:
● We attended the Ohio ACTE Legislative Seminar this week and had very good discussions
with 3 of our State Representatives. In summary, they are very supportive of Vantage and
Career Technical Education in general. I also had a brief conversation with Speaker of the
House, Matt Huffman, and he told me and I quote, “Everyone loves Career Technical
Education.” We will also be hosting Senator Susan Manchester next week for a tour of
Vantage and a discussion about the next biennium budget and the many great things
happening at Vantage.
● As we are embarking on the project of renovating and reppurposing the building at 525
Augustine Drive across the street to become the new Vantage Academy of Medical Careers,
we now have design submissions from three very reputable architectural firms following in
person meetings with each of them back on October 23rd. In this evening’s agenda is a
resolution to select a firm to work with us on the design and construction of that building.
At this point I’ll turn it over to Mr. Fitzpatrick.
High School Director, Benjamin Winans, spoke about the following items in his report:
● We were recently able to recognize close to 280 of our current students who have made it
to the mid-year point with zero points in our points system. Thanks to the Board of
Education for supporting this program which allowed these students to enjoy a pop and
snack during lunch. This is just another positive reinforcement that allows us to prepare
students for the work world. Those who received the reward were very appreciative.
● Sophomore Day was forced to be moved from Friday January 31st to Monday February 3rd
due to fog delays in several of our districts. However, the day once again went off without
a hitch. Many thanks to our staff and those students who were selected to assist with this
day. We were able to have close to 900 sophomores visit two programs of their choice for
roughly 45 minutes and get hands-on experience to assist them in choosing their program.
To date we have 365 students who have applied to enroll at Vantage in the Fall.
● Some upcoming events to keep on your calendar, first will be our annual “Taste of Vantage”
Open House on February 24th. Our next big event will then be the Senior Mock
Interview/Junior ACT testing day on March 4th. We have roughly 60 juniors who have
opted out of the ACT testing for this year, which is a new option for them per the State. We
are working with local businesses and safety professionals to organize session in which
these students will be able to gain knowledge about various things they will encounter
when they leave us here at Vantage (banking, social media safety, general home safety in
regard to fire/emergency, and local economic development)
Upcoming events:
February 13 and 14, 2025 – SkillsUSA Regional Competition at Vantage Career Center
February 17, 2025 – President’s Day (No School)
February 24, 2025 – Vantage Open House for interested students and parents
March 4, 2025 – Senior Mock Interview/Junior ACT Testing
Adult Education Director Angie Fahy reported on the following items:
● Programs
○ All Adult Education Programs are currently running!
○ Kudos to the Adult Ed staff and Marketing team for all their hard work!
■ Fire – 13 confirmed, 3 pending
■ Welding – 8 confirmed, 1 pending
■ EMT – 11 enrolled. Class started 1/7/25.
● High School Student Interest
○ Several HS students stoppped by our office interested in taking classes through Adult
Education. They have inquired about:
■ CNA
■ EMT
■ Fire
■ Nursing
○ The HS and AE staff will be meeting to discuss the PNP HS pilot program.
■ Touching base with instructors to see what worked and what could be improved.
■ Scheduling meetings with Juniors from Medical Assisting, Health Technology, and Sports Exercise Therapy.
● Will ask interested students to submit an interest form through Google Forms.
● Final selection will be determined by:
■ Recommendation from Program Instructor, Grades, and attendance
■ We hope to increase the number of students we can enroll. The AE instructors have been impressed with the HS students this year.
● PNP
○ Due to the success of the HS students taking the non-nursing classes this year and
completing the program next year, we are planning to offer this same pathway to
adults. Many adults are unable to commit the time needed to successfully complete
the program full time. We feel this would have been a good option for some of
those students who did not successfully complete the program.
○ I have talked with other career centers who have had to move to part time in order
to accommodate student needs and their programs are thriving.
● Academy of Medical Careers
○ Thank you for considering input from the AE and HS staff. Ultimately, the AE staff is
excited to work with whichever architect is chosen and know that the outcome will
be amazing. We are all excited to begin the planning process.
In new business, the Board:
➢ Approved the 2025-2026 school calendar
➢ Approved four out-of-state travels requests, three of which are also overnights stays
➢ Approved the asphalt agreement with Garmann Miller for the second phase of the parking lot mill
and fill project
➢ Accepted the NEOLA recommended resolution regarding SB29 corrections
➢ Approved a contract for the sale of our spec house via a public action
➢ Approved Rick Turner as the Board of Education’s Designee to hear suspension appeals for the
remainder of the 2024-2025 school year
➢ Approved Staci Kaufman as the Board of Education’s Designee to hear a student expulsion appeal,
and appointed her as the Board of Education’s Designee for the remainder of the 2024-2025 school year
➢ Final reading of NEOLA new and revised policies
End of Superintendent’s Consent Agenda Items
Outside of Consent Agenda Items
➢ Directed the Superintendent and Treasurer to negotiate a design and construction contract for 525
Augustine Drive with Munger Munger and Associates Architects, Inc.
➢ Approved one overnight travel request
➢ Approved a motion to accept the recommendation from the Board of Education’s Designee
regarding an expulsion appeal.Pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22(G)(5), the Superintendent hereby requests that the Board adjourn into executive session for the purpose of considering personnel matters of the School District.
Adjournment – at the call of the President and at the pleasure of the Vantage Career Center Board of
Education
Next meeting – Thursday, March 6, 2025 at 6:30 p.m.
In the District Conference Room
Regular March Board Meeting
