S-OCS approves Chromebook parental control software, Gosport Elementary renovations

The Spencer-Owen Community School Corporation (S-OCS) Board of School Trustees approved a request to seek proposals to repair the shingle roof at Gosport Elementary School (GES) at the July 16 meeting.

S-OCS Superintendent Andy Cline said the shingle vendor determined that a manufacturing issue caused the cracked shingles, which are still under warranty. The district will not have to pay the repair costs, Cline said, but because it will cost more than $150,000, the district is required to seek public bids.

The request was unanimously approved. The board also approved a $105,860 GES HVAC demolition project. The project includes removing the abandoned unit ventilators. Cline said it would be an energy management improvement.

Due to Senate Bill 159, schools are required to give parents more control over the use of student devices, like Chromebooks, at home by Jan. 1, 2027.

To adhere, the S-OCS board approved the Lightspeed Systems security and impact bundle agreement for 2026 to 2029. Lightspeed is an educational technology software that gives schools student monitoring, management and safety tools.

This would allow parents “that choose to use this if they want to lock down a Chromebook even more than the filtering process already does then they have that choice to do so,” Cline said.

The change would save costs, Cline said, as the district sunsets GoGuardian, another educational software company, over three years.

The board also approved the following:

$2,075 donation from New Beginnings Pregnancy Resource for the Owen Valley Backpack Buddies
$5,000 donation from Cook Incorporated for Patriot Manufacturing
Kelly Services $5 substitute teacher daily rate increase
A one-time stipend for OVHS assistant principal and principal duties
HFI VAV controller replacements and repairs
2026-2027 school year handbook updates for the classified, transportation and technology handbooks

At the board’s previous June 11 meeting, the members discussed the possibility of ending free breakfast for elementary schoolers. S-OCS Food Service Director Balinda Wagner said the district’s reimbursement rates haven’t kept up with inflation and U.S. Department of Agriculture cuts have left the district to reevaluate if it can sustain the program if the surplus costs are left to the district to pay.

At the July 16 meeting, Cline shared some data related to school meal costs and the impact of continuing to offer free breakfast. He said the district could “potentially go into the negative” roughly $81,000.

Elementary school students who receive reduced price meals and get breakfast every day would end up paying $1.50 per week. Students who pay full price would end up paying an extra $7 per week.

Cline asked the board to consider the information and said they will continue to consider free breakfast during the board retreat and potentially have a business item to decide.

The board also approved two adjunct instructor licenses and contracts, nine resignations and 13 employment requests.

“I just have one comment just to thank all of the folks who’ve been involved in the hiring over the summer,” board president Derek Morgan said at the meeting. “It’s been, I know, a lot, but it sounds like we’re in a pretty good spot going into the year right now.”

Adjunct instructor license/contract 2026-2027
Matt Beckwith
Savanna Robison

Resignations
Aleta Boltinghouse, OVMS inclusion teacher
Colton Sample, OVHS math teacher and assistant football coach
Elizabeth Lowry, OVHS custodian
Blair Kannely, OVMS special education instructional assistant
Holly Murray, SES instructional assistant
Troy Cockrum, OVHS girls soccer coach
Levi Clark, OVHS interim head coach baseball coach and assistant baseball coach
Jennifer Hart, OVHS junior class sponsor
Kristen Portteus, OVHS junior class sponsor

Employment and educational credential assessments
Esther Taylor, SES first-grade teacher
Francesca Baglivi, OVHS biology teacher
Leslea Cunningham, GES/PES art/music/physical education teacher
Drake Bowen, OVMS custodian
Cheyenne Correll, SES instructional assistant
Morgan Bewley, PES instructional assistant
Mary Lynn Wright, SES secretary
Emily Conatser, SES cook
Teena Oliver, MCES cook
Luther Koehler, OVHS maintenance II
Crystal Wilson, OVHS cosmetology teacher
Ashley Bault, OVHS assistant cheerleading coach
Jozee Staley, OVHS boys cross-country coach

The next S-OCS Board of School Trustees meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 13 in the Mike Wells Memorial Board Room at Central Office, 205 E. Hillside Ave., Spencer. The board is also holding its annual retreat from about 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. July 23.