POST Wednesday, April 5, 2023 • Vol. 15 No. 23 • FREE
Cardinal Updates Fleet, Plans for the Future By Ann Wishart ann@karlovecmedia.com Cardinal Schools Treasurer Seth Cales focused on transportation during a school board workshop March 22. It was the beginning of a discussion about the district’s fiveyear plan that includes projects such as the high school roof, climate control at the high school and the necessity of replacing vehicles to transport students over the 79-square-mile area from Huntsburg Township to Parkman Township. “Our fleet is aging,” Cales said. He showed a spreadsheet to the board that included the number of miles each vehicle has covered in its lifespan. One bus has more than 246,000 miles on the odometer. Older vehicles require increased maintenance, which is expensive and doesn’t always happen quickly because parts delivery is unpredictable. “With supply chain issues from
COVID, it is very important to plan ahead,” Cales said. Cardinal has five new buses on order that should be delivered between May and October, he said. The full-sized vehicles will need to be outfitted with cameras, etc., so they won’t be on the road immediately, Cales said, estimating the new buses will be collecting students by January 2024. The district has a total of 13 regular buses in the fleet. “We will have a relatively new fleet, which will minimize repairs over the next five years,” he said. The district has three small buses used to transport students with special needs. “Some are really on their last legs,” he said, adding two of the buses have more than 240,000 miles on them and only one has a lift for students in wheelchairs. “Some of our vans are getting up there, as well,” he said. Adding in the odometer readings from the district’s eight vans, Cales figured school vehicles have
traveled a total of more than 1 million miles. Superintendent Jack Cunningham said a small bus holds five students and the district needs one small bus with wheelchair access. Vans cost about $36,000 each and a small bus costs about $117,000, Cales said. He recommended the board address the fiveyear plan in the next workshop at the end of April. In other business, Cunningham said no calamity days have been Cales used in the 2022-2023 school year. He proposed moving the last day of school up four days to May 23 and using those four days without students on campus for staff professional development. “We’re getting ready to adopt a new math curriculum,” he said, adding the teachers in grades kindergarten through fourth could be introduced to the new system. “I’d like to get the information to the teachers so they have the
summer to dive into the new curriculum. There’s plenty of things we’d like to get done before the teachers leave,” he said. Teachers usually spend time during summer vacation to prepare for the following year, Cunningham said. The plan to hire a fulltime cafeteria manager rather than contract with the Educational Services Center of Western Reserve for a part-time manager was discussed. “We think we can do it in-house. We’d rather have somebody here full-time so we have more control and consistency,” Cunningham said. “We believe we can do it for close to the same amount of money we are spending with ESC.” He also said the district would benefit from a part-time grant writer. The position may pay $30 to $40 an hour and would pay for itself in the long run, he said.
Cardinal Tracksters Compete Before Weather Affects Invitational
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Ty Simmons, right and Riley Homa competed April 1 at the William E. Fisher Invitational at Cardinal High School before high winds and dark skies disrupted the competition. Field events were cut short, but not without some fine efforts from Cardinal sophomore Max Soltis of Cardinal, who took third place in the discus with a heave of 125-1, and his 45-3 effort in the shot put was good for second place. Huskies sprinter Kyle Sinclair ended up in seventh place in the boys 200 meter dash with a 24.70 time. He also ran a 12.48 in the 100 meter dash for 14th place. Cardinal senior Ronee Collins took second in the girls pole vault with a vault of 7-6. Cardinal freshman Ethan Bosch finished up in seventh place in that event with a 12.23 effort.
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