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Volume 57, No. 15
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CHESTERLAND NEWS Wednesday, December 31, 2025
Your Community Newspaper Since 1967
Resident Input Tops 2026 Agenda By Emma MacNiven macniven@karlovecmedia.com Looking to the new year, West Geauga Schools Board of Education members discussed the need to better gauge public opinion and improve communication with residents before pursuing future funding measures during the Dec. 15 board meeting. “Somehow or other, we do need to get a better pulse on the community's thinking about this before we try any more levies,” board member Bill Beers said. On Nov. 4, voters rejected a 4.82-mill continuing substitute levy, with 4,048 voting against it and 2,578 voting for it. “We need to understand better what the community is thinking,” Beers said. “When we put that (levy) on, we thought we understood what the community was thinking. We had people in the community and elsewhere in the tax commission telling us that a substitute was the right way to go, but clearly that was not the general feeling of the public.” Board President Christina Sherwood said she had received positive feedback about the levy. “I got my information from the people that I'm around and I'm around positive people,” she said. “I surround myself with people who are positive and caring and see the future differently, and that's where I got my information.” Board member Pam Claypool agreed with Beers that the district needs to do more to understand public sentiment before pursuing future funding requests. “I agree with Dr. Beers that we definitely need to get more information from the public directly before we do any further funding recommendations,” she said, adding the district could hold more community meetings. Beers responded that such meetings are not always well-attended by residents. “Well, the two ways is to push See Agenda • Page 2
Board of Education Honors Outgoing Board Members By Emma MacNiven macniven@karlovecmedia.com The West Geauga Schools Board of Education marked the end of an era Dec. 15, as Christina Sherwood and Mary Michelle Coleman-Walsh said their goodbyes following the conclusion of their terms as board members. Sherwood, who was elected in 2021, lost her bid for re-election Nov. 4 after candidates Mark Vidmar and Ellen Naylor came in as the top vote-getters. Vidmar garnered 3,962 votes, Naylor had 2,938 and Sherwood received 2,848 votes, according to the final official results of the Geauga County Board of Elections. “I have learned so much and this is coming from my life as an educator,” Sherwood said. “I was naive when I came into this and I'm naive going out, too, but slightly less. I'm just so happy that I have been able to come back to
“I’m so proud of the work that this district has done and will continue to do.” – Christina Sherwood
Benincasa
Coleman-Walsh
this district that I love so much, that I graduated from, that my kids graduated from, in a place that we still live and call home. And I'm so proud of the work that this district has done and will continue to do.” Board member Kathy Leavenworth expressed her gratitude to
Leavenworth
Sherwood, who was board president. “Thank you for your leadership and for being such a good school board member,” she said. Superintendent Nancy Benincasa also expressed her thanks for See Board • Page 6
West Geauga Boys Head Into New Year
ALAN KORNSPAN/KMG
West Geauga’s Vince Vecchio led the Wolverines with 13 points in a road loss to Chardon, 63-49. West Geauga had a strong fourth quarter before coming up short. The Wolverines next play Jan. 6 at Brooklyn and are back home in the Wolvarena Jan. 9 against Orange.
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