Doug Fries, Superintendent, Greenville City Schools
Welcome to the 2021-22 school year. Our administration and staff are eager to begin another year with the students, parents, grandparents, and community members. We hope to work with everyone to make this another successful instructional year. We are hopeful this year will be closer to normal.
The district has been ordering the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) for this school year to allow us to continue to keep all students and staff as safe as possible. Furthermore, we have been ordering appropriate cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer to maintain a clean learning environment in both our buildings and on the buses.
The updated Greenville City Schools Return to School 2021-2022 guidance is available on our website, www.greenville.k12.oh.us. Last year our district passed out 1,500 thermometers from Wayne HealthCare to distribute to parents to assist daily in temperature monitoring of students before they come to school. We ask all students to continue monitoring their temperature before school and not to come to school if they are sick with a temperature over 100.0°.
With the beginning of school for the 2021-2022 year we are happy to say we are returning to in-person instruction. We are hopeful to maintain this in-person instruction for most, if not the entire year. The high school Virtual Academy is still available for special circumstances at the high school level.
We will continue to incorporate the districtwide Learning Management System (LMS) that was started in the 2020-2021 school year. Our teaching staff has used this system all of last year. This LMS can be used for students who are absent or happen to be quarantined.
This fall, our district will participate in two waiver days on September 27, 2021 and October 25, 2021. Both days will be non-instructional days for students and allow for staff professional development.
Our elementary through tenth grades will continue to participate in Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP) testing to continue throughout the year to keep a close measure on our alignment to end of year required state assessments. We will continue for the seventh year with the College Credit Plus program with the majority of our students attending Edison State, Sinclair, and Wright State. We also look forward to continuing with our Career Tech programming at the high school which is consistently well received by our students. One additional program this year is Construction Technology. Many of these programs continue to compete in state and national competitions. The junior class will continue to take the required ACT test for all junior students this spring.
Our district continues to be on a rotational basis to purchase textbooks and supplemental materials beyond the required College Credit Plus textbook purchases. This year our district purchased many new mathematics textbooks and materials. Next year we will be purchasing English/Language Arts for grades 7-12.
This fall we will continue to contract with the City of Greenville to provide us with two school resource officers. One will continue to be housed at the high school while the other will be at the K-8 facility. These SRO’s will assist us with safety and security, but also provide educational programming. They have done an outstanding job for the district and it our pleasure to work with the city to staff these positions. We are also beginning to train some Threat Assessment Teams at the high school and middle school. These teams will be in operation by next year.
As we begin a new year, remember to travel slowly on Ohio and Main Street and observe the speed limit when students are present and particularly during drop off and dismissal times at the K-8 complex, as well as, the high school. Always slowdown in the parking lots and follow marked traffic flow to keep everyone safe. At the K-8 complex in front of the building the first row of parking on both sides will be reserved for visitors. Staff members assigned to these buildings will not park in these areas. All visitors must continue to enter Memorial Hall by the side door, next to the parking lot, and be buzzed in for security purposes.
Please join me in welcoming the new employees to the Greenville School District. We look forward to working with each of them in our educational delivery and are glad they have joined the Greenville School District team. The following is the list of new employees:
Memorial Hall (Central Office): Seth Monnin (Part-Time Custodian)
High School & Career Tech: David Gilpin (Project Life Para Professional); Pamela Harmeson (MD Para Professional); Kyle Harter (CT-Engineering Technology Teacher); Lisa McGovern (CT- Family & Consumer Sciences Teacher); Carl Phlipot (Instrumental MusicTeacher/Band Director); Jake Porter (Social Studies Teacher); Douglas Scott (NJROTC Instructor); Joe Stephens (English Teacher); Brian Subler (CT-CIS Teacher); Brittni Walker (Learning Center Para Professional); Jeremy Woodall (CT-Supply Chain Management Teacher)
Middle School: Mary Russell (Intervention Specialist); Joel Turner (Guidance Counselor); Dustin Wilker (Math Teacher)
Elementary School: Hannah Eley (Intervention Specialist); Alexis Fliehman (1st Grade Teacher); Jessica Gorman (Asst. Principal)
Transportation: Denise Dillman (Transportation Secretary); Tina Walton (Bus Driver); Seth Monnin (Bus Driver); Michael Reier (Bus Driver); Angie Via (Bus Aide/Monitor Para Professional)
This fall on Election Day, our school district will have an emergency operational renewal levy on the ballot. This levy will have no new taxes but is simply the renewal of an existing 4.15 mill tax levy that has been in existence since 2012. Again, this renewal levy will appear on the November 2, 2021 ballot as approved by the board of education and it represents no new taxes, just a continuation for another ten-year cycle for what exists in our current operational cycle. This renewal levy would also allow the homestead reduction factor to continue for qualifying residents.
The district tries to continue to be fiscally responsible to our parents both by continuing to provide iPads to all students, with no technology fees, and by students participating in athletics and extra curriculars with no additional fees. This summer we also educated 220 students in summer school at no expense for curriculum, lunch, or transportation.
This year the board of education and district will continue to improve and provide more mental health services and support. The district will continue two contracts with Recovery and Wellness to provide mental health services. One is mental health counseling available for all needed students with parental permission after a screening if necessary. One day a week coordinated at the high school and the other day at the K-8 complex. The second contract is for the student support groups for two hours a week. Allocations for additional mental health services continue in this year’s state wellness budget. The district also continues to employ a part time social worker for the sixth year as well and increased the employee hours from 20 to 25 hours a week. Again, the budget allocation come from the wellness budget.
Remember, the entire Greenville School faculty and staff is here to assist you – our students, parents and community. If we can be of assistance, please feel free to contact our principals or myself. I can be reached by phone at 937-548-3185, or by email at dfries@gcswave.com. Let’s all work together to make 2021-2022 an outstanding school year. Our district wants to focus on being kind, providing hope, and helping our students achieve and overcome obstacles.
We look forward to seeing you all this fall. Go Wave!