As state and federal funding continues to dwindle for school districts throughout Ohio, many districts have turned to attrition to cut down on salaries and save money. When teachers retire, many districts are simply not replacing them, instead eliminating the position or filling it from within, divvying up the position to several teachers who are asked to take on a little bigger role.

West Holmes School District is no different, and while the school board recognized a dozen retiring employees this past meeting, May 23 at Lakeville Elementary, according to West Holmes superintendent Kris Pipes-Perone, the district will be finding new staff members to take their place, instead seeking other ways to curb costs within the district.

“First of all, we have absolutely wonderful staff here in West Holmes, and we appreciate the job all of them do,” said Pipes-Perone. “We have so much respect for all of them, and for the job they do. Letting people go and moving people around is never an easy thing to do, but with the way things are for school districts in today’s world, it is something that we all have to consider doing.”

As budgets tighten, the need to trim wherever possible is a must for any school district. Pipes-Perone said that in order to get a good idea as to what they are facing, they have a large board, which provides estimates for the numbers of youth in each grade, at each school, as well as a list of current teaching staff and their qualifications. The first order of business as the year winds down is to predict how many classrooms they will need for the coming school year, and how they can staff each classroom with as little movement as possible amongst teaching staff. Pipes-Perone said that whether it is letting a teacher go or moving them from one of the schools where they may be comfortable to another, perhaps even in a different grade level, it is never easy to do.

“Letting people go is the hardest part of this job,” said Pipes-Perone. “It is not something that any of us likes discussing and doing, but from time to time it becomes necessary. It would be great if we received additional federal funding, because we would gladly welcome back all of them if we could.”

While three positions were eliminated through reduction in force, those of teachers Kisha Martin, Debra Shank and Beth Starr, who was employed by the schools through Tri-County ESC, a fourth reduction was avoided when the district was able to transfer one of the teachers who had enough hours of education in the music field to qualify to fill a role elsewhere within the district.

Pipes-Perone said that herself, district treasurer Jamie Zeigler and the board worked hard to create a scenario in which they had to move or lose as few people as possible. She added that while there may well be adjustments in the fall, once they get an exact count on classroom totals, they expect no major additional changes in staffing.

Among those retiring are Kathleen Kemery, WHHS computer technology teacher, Jane Flinner, WHHS head cook, Mark VanSickle, maintenance supervisor, Dixie Gray, cafeteria supervisor, Linda Moffet, multi-building art, and Rhonda Leitch, WHHS guidance counselor. In addition, Patrick LaVigne, Donna Smetzer, Michele Kubulis, Ann Lower Vaughn, Martha Sommers, Cynthia Howe and Judith Landry also will be retiring.

Pipes-Perone said that the majority of the positions will be filled soon, and the role of guidance counselor has been advertised, with the deadline to apply having been Friday, May 27.

As for supplementals for coaching positions for the upcoming 2011 fall sports season, the board approved one-year contracts for a number of staff, which will remain the same for the most part for the coming school year.

In football, Kevin Maltarich was re-upped as head football coach, while assistants Aaron Kaufman, Tom Eastep, Bob Maltarich, Tony Roberts, Ron Hay and Brad Jarvis were all approved, while Will O’Donnell was tabbed as head coach of the middle school team, with assistants being Sean Teter and Ryan Boals.

In volleyball, Jim Park returns for his 15th year, while Lindsey Taylor was approved as his assistant. Kelly Dye will be the middle school head coach and will be assisted by Scarlett Habrun.

Nic Fioritto returns for his third year as coach of the Knights’ soccer team, with Josh Wengerd heading up the girls varsity program. Lindsey Hunter was approved as Wengerd’s assistant coach.

In cross country, Kevin Beachy is back as head coach, with Jeremy Gessner and Mike Molnar being approved as assistant coaches and Carla Pringle as a volunteer coach.

Jason Otto returns for another year at the helm of the girls varsity tennis program, and in the only new varsity head coaching move, Kim Kauffman is stepping down as varsity golf coach, although Jim Lindeman was approved as the middle school coach and Dustin Geitgey was approved as a volunteer middle school coach. The district is currently exploring replacements for Kauffman’s role, and the position has been officially posted.

Megge Boals has been re-upped as the cheerleading advisor for both basketball and football, while Ashten Truitt steps in as her assistant. The head middle school advisor is Sara Sponseller-Uhl and Kim Murphy will be her assistant.

The board also recognized a number of students for various achievements. Lakeville principal Sheila Hanna honored Lakeville spelling bee runner-up Taylor Vecchio, Chelsea Eichelberger who received an excellent at the State Science Fair, as well as Character First winners Braden Allen of Clark, Lily Foster of Killbuck, Reagan Welsh of Millersburg, Colin Graebner of Clark and Faith Hostettler of Lakeville. Also honored by Killbuck principal Renee Woods was Josh Sallo, who also achieved an Excellent honor at the State Science Fair.

“We love honoring our youth who perform well and achieve great things,” said Pipes-Perone. “It’s wonderful seeing our kids do well and succeed.”