The Anthony Wayne Board of Education welcomed 14 new staff members during its Aug. 10 meeting – including teachers and specialists who are AW graduates.
Superintendent Kevin Herman and Assistant Superintendent Kevin Pfefferle welcomed and introduced the new staff members.
Joining the high school are science teacher Ellie Fleischer and business technology teacher Tracy Greene.
Fleischer is a Bowling Green State University graduate who did student teaching at Genoa High School and is an experienced lacrosse player and coach.
Greene brings extensive teaching experience from North Carolina, Holgate, Rossford, Evergreen, Fostoria and Ottawa Hills. She graduated from BGSU and Anthony Wayne High School, where she was a member of the 2003 state title-winning softball team. In 2021 she was inducted into the Tiffin University Hall of Fame.
Penta Career Center employee Jason Biniker is taking over the position of marketing and DECA teacher at the high school, following the retirement of Becky Stutz. He has 22 years of experience in the position, including 11 years at Penta and 11 years at Start High School.
The junior high is gaining four new staff members, including:
-Intervention Specialist Amy Brinthaupt, a Cincinnati State and University of Toledo graduate who previously served as a paraprofessional and ran a cottage bakery.
-Social studies teacher Drake Furey, who previously was an in-game host for Toledo Mud Hens and Walleye, an OHSSA varsity football and basketball referee, and an Ottawa Hills basketball coach. He is a BGSU graduate.
-Physical education and health teacher Jack Hursh is a Bowling Green State University graduate.
-Intervention Specialist Tori Owen is an AW alumna with degrees from the University of Toledo and BGSU. She previously worked at Rogers High School.
Fallen Timbers Middle School is welcoming four new staff members, including:
–Kaylee (Prall) Lu, a sixth grade English Language Arts teacher, graduated from Capital University and previously taught English as a Second Language.
-Intervention Specialist Maya Fleck is a BGSU graduate with experience in Lakota Schools.
-Intervention Specialist Clare Black, is a Bowling Green graduate who previously worked in child care and in educational summer camps.
-Intervention Specialist Kama Wathier has experience in schools in Indiana and in gifted intervention at Springfield Local Schools.
Autumn Cornell is an intervention specialist at Waterville Primary School. She is a BGSU graduate with experience from Springfield Local Schools.
Molly Rutkowski is a BGSU graduate who will serve as an intervention specialist at Whitehouse Primary School – a role she filled as a long-term sub. She also has previous experience as a summer academy teacher for the district.
Alyssa Fisher is filling a new district-wide position as a behavior specialist. Fisher has degrees from Ball State University and Bowling Green State University and brings experience from several school districts, including Springfield Local Schools, Findlay City Schools and the Center for Autism and Dyslexia. She will help build and define the position as she works with all of the directors and the schools throughout the district, Pfefferle said.
Meagan Conroy, assistant treasurer, was hired earlier this year but was welcomed with the new staff during the meeting. A University of Findlay graduate, she previously worked for the Auditor of State and for Rossford City Schools as assistant treasurer.
During the meeting, the board also:
-Approved the hiring of S. Christopher Goyer as a cafeteria/playground aide in Whitehouse; Megan Wright, a special education aide; Austin Bellmore, high school custodian; and Bethany Cotner, Whitehouse food service worker.
-Held a moment of silence in honor of Tiffany Prayter, who lost her battle with cancer on Aug. 8. She served as a third-grade teacher at Waterville Primary School for 17 years.
“She has had an impact on this staff, an impact on all the students she has served, and she has had an impact on this community,” Herman said.
He praised the staff members who have provided aid and comfort to the family during her illness.
“It makes me so proud to be a part of this district and and see the lengths that people go to to assist people when they are in need,” Herman said, noting that the district plans to continue working with the family and providing assistance with grief counseling.
-Learned that some staff members attended a training at the 180th Fighter Wing to learn how to support families and students in the event of a deployment.
-Congratulated the spring track athletes who competed at the state level and received All-Ohio honors last spring. This includes the 4×800 boys relay team of Joshua Bighouse, Benjamin Gasiorski, Ethan Rozick and Jacob Proctor, and the girls 4×200 team of Madeline Householder, Iliana Smith, Kamryn Smith and Madeline Zimmerman.
“We’ve never had one relay team in the history of the school on the All-Ohio wall. In one year, we got two teams. It’s been quite a spring,” said Athletic Director John Snyder, thanking coaches Craig Smith and Kevin O’Connor, who is stepping down after several years of coaching.
-Approved Piper Phillips as an early graduate of the Class of 2027, as she plans to continue her educational and athletic goals at Eastern Illinois University.
-Approved resignations and retirements, including those of bus drivers Mike Lutton and Walt Wilhoyte, both of whom Herman praised for always being wonderful employees who will be greatly missed.
-Listened to Herman say that while all positions are currently filled, the district is seeking substitutes for all areas – including playground, bus and cafeteria aides, groundskeepers, maintenance and bus drivers. When hiring full-time, the district often fills those positions from the list of people who have begun as substitutes. An employment fair to recruit substitutes is slated for Tuesday, Aug. 25 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Central Administrative Offices, 9565 Bucher Road.
-Heard that Anthony Wayne High School senior Curtis Vollmar, who has been serving as a bus mechanic this past summer, will continue to work full-time for the district while reporting to supervisors at Penta Career Center, where he has been taking classes. His father, Gary, has been employed by AWLS since 2004 – while still a student at Penta – and has served as head mechanic for 5 years.
-Approved the $16,280 agreement with Red Rover to replace the district’s Frontline software for absence, time tracking and employment service management. Staff will undergo training before it is launched on Jan. 1.
–Approved the donation of a 2025 Look trailer, valued at $6,899, from the AW Band Boosters, and $800 in donations from Whitehouse Parents Club for a gaga pit floor.
-Listened to Treasurer Ray Greene share the general fund financial forecast and assumptions for fiscal years 2027 through 2030. This year, Greene projects revenues of $55,314,934 from property taxes, income taxes, state and federal grants and reimbursement for property tax credits. Expenditures are projected at $54,290,267, with the largest being salaries and benefits, purchased services and supplies.
When added to the carryover, that leaves a cash balance of $4,149,385 as of June 30, 2027. The cash balance for fiscal year 2028 is projected at $4.5 million, but – with expenditures for fiscal years 2029 and 2030 expected to be slightly more than revenues – that cash balance will be reduced to $4.4 million for 2029 and $3.7 million at the end of fiscal year 2030.
Greene noted that mall revenue is not included in his report as the property was recently purchased and includes $2.5 million in back taxes owed to the district. Nexus Pipeline has confirmed that it will provide the district with $3.17 million over the next few years as its public utility tax. The forecast is shared in detail at anthonywayneschools.org under the Board of Education Aug. 11 meeting.
The next regular meeting of the Board of Education is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14 at the Central Administrative Offices, 9565 Bucher Rd., Whitehouse.
