Parkway Local School District

Parkway Local School District
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Parkway Local School District
PARKWAY BOARD OF EDUCATION Meetings
The board meetings are scheduled for the 2^nd Wednesday of the month, 6:30 p.m. in the community room.

Parkway Schools Board of Education Posts Minutes and Agendas

Board Secretary Sally Cox reports that the Board minutes can be found on Parkway’s homepage by clicking on the following:

www.parkwayschools.org

Admin/BOE

Parkway Board of Education

2022-2023 School Year (note-minutes and agendas are listed by school year-not calendar year)

https://www.parkwayschools.org/administration/parkway_board_of_education/2022-2023_school_year

Parkway Local School District
PARKWAY BOARD OF EDUCATION Meeting Minutes
The board meetings are scheduled for the 2^nd Tuesday of the month, 6:30 p.m. in the community room.

Parkway Board Meetings by Sally Cox

The Parkway Board of Education meeting has been changed
to Wednesday, September 14 @ 6:30 p.m. in the community room.

Parkway School Board Agenda for a Regular Meeting on September 14, 2022 at 6:30 pm
by Sally Cox

Special Board Meeting

A special meeting of the Parkway Local Board of Education has been called for Wednesday, September 21, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. in the District Office Conference Room. The meeting will be a work session for board member training and an executive session to discuss the employment of personnel. No business will be conducted.

Parkway School Board Agenda for a Regular Meeting on December 12, 2022 at 6:30 pm
by Sally Cox

Parkway School Board Agenda for an Organizational Meeting on January 9, 2023 at 6:00 pm
by Sally Cox

Parkway School Board Agenda for a Regular Meeting on January 9, 2023 following the Organizational Meeting
by Sally Cox

Parkway School Board Agenda for a Regular Meeting on Wednesday February 8, 2023 6:30 PM
in the High School Library
by Sally Cox

Parkway School Board Agenda for a Regular Meeting changed to Wednesday, March 1, 2023
at 7 PM in the Community Room
by Sally Cox

Tuesday, April 18, Parkway's Board of Education Special Meeting has been cancelled.

CANCELLED! - The Parkway Local Board of Education will have a special meeting Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. in the community room. The purpose of the meeting will be to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing the employment of personnel and confidential matters. No business will be conducted after the executive session.

The Parkway Local Regular Board of Education meeting has been changed to Wednesday, May 3 at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Room.

Parkway School Board Agenda for a Regular Meeting on Wednesday, May 3, 2023
at 6:30 PM in the Community Room
by Sally Cox

Eric Baltzell Inducted into Parkway’s Academic Hall of Fame

By Brian Fortkamp, Parkway High School Principal

Parkway Schools are proud to announce the latest inductee to Parkway’s Academic Hall of Fame, Mr. Eric Baltzell of the Class of 1990. After graduating from high school, Mr. Baltzell attended the University of Toledo where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree. Mr. Baltzell began his career with Korda/Nemeth Engineering in Columbus as an Electrical Designer. Shortly after, he began working with Fanning Howey as an Electrical Designer. Mr. Baltzell eventually joined Garmann Miller where he was the Electrical and Technology Department Leader from 2001 until 2017. Currently, Mr. Baltzell is CEO of Garmann Miller. During his tenure as CEO, Garmann Miller has risen to a national top 100 K-12 architecture firm, earned Best Firms to Work For in the US four consecutive years, and ranked No. 13 in the world for firms that have been Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design administrators for K-12 projects. Garmann Miller has over 60 professionals and an annual revenue of approximately $12 million. Locally, Mr. Baltzell is in his second term for the Celina City Council where he has served on the City of Celina Planning commission and is a central committee representative for the Mercer County Republican Party. He is a member of the Celina First Church of God, where he has served on the finance committee and church council. He currently serves on the board of directors of Our Home Family Resource Center and the Foundation of the Great Lakes Conference.

Mr. Baltzell was also the designer of electrical and technology systems on the Parkway Schools building project many years ago.

Mr. Baltzell received his award on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at the Parkway Senior Awards ceremony. Presenter was Brian Fortkamp, Parkway High School Principal. Photo by Eric’s aunt and uncle, Dave and Lina Wilson.

Parkway Graduate Contributes to the Design of His New Alma-Mater

Eric Baltzell, 1990 graduate of Parkway High School is an electrical engineer and partner at Garmann/Miller Architects-Engineers in Minster, Ohio, the company selected for the planning and execution of building Parkway School District's new PK-12 school which opened last fall 2006.

Eric's role was to design all of the electrical and technology systems. This included all power systems, lighting, fire alarm, security system, access control system, sound systems, telephone system, video system, and computer networking. His professional credentials include: Professional Engineer for the State of Ohio, BICSI - RCDD, BICSI - NTS Specialist, and a member of these engineering professional organizations: NSPE, IESNA, IEEE, BICSI

With roughly 240,000 square feet (which is over twice as large as the old high school building) Garmann/Miller Architects-Engineers had approximately two years of planning, one year of design and two years of construction to see this project come to fruition.

They assisted the school district with the bond issue campaign and master planning, then they designed the building

and followed the job through construction.

The total project cost was $36 million, according to Eric who shares these interesting statistics:

Over 1,000 anchor bolts

Almost 800 tons of structural steel

Over 340,000 brick

Over 250,000 SQFT of metal roof - this equates to over 2,500 squares

Over 50 projection screens

Over 400,000 SQFT of asphalt

Over 1,000,000 SQFT of grass seeding

Almost 500 doors

Approx. 4,800,000 LF of electrical wiring = 909 miles

Approx. 350,000 LF of technology wiring = 66 miles

Eric has been with Garmann/Miller Architects-Engineers for six years, where the firm designs all types of commercial office buildings, schools, municipal, industrial and healthcare buildings. After graduating from Parkway, Eric continued his education at the University of Toledo from which he graduated in 1994.

Eric's design experience includes working in Columbus, right out of college, for Korda/Nemeth Engineering,

followed by 5 years at Fanning/Howey in Celina before making the move to Garmann/Miller. His hobbies are golfing, weightlifting and spending time with his many friends and family. But, he agrees that his work is a passion with him, "There is much satisfaction in helping people to design and construct their vision," says Eric.

Eric invites you to click on the link for the Garmann/Miller Architects-Engineers' website at www.garmannmiller.com and click on the Education link. From there you can view their work on the Parkway School Project. You can also learn what other projects they are working on as well.

Eric, a resident of Celina is the son of Jim and Shirley (Wilson) Baltzell of Rockford.

Parkway Local Schools to Focus on Bus Safety

The US House of Representatives has unanimously approved recognition of National School Bus Safety Week and Parkway Local Schools joins the school districts throughout Ohio and the nation in celebrating this important week.

This year’s theme, “I see the driver – The driver sees me” reminds Ohio’s 1.3 million school bus riders to stay out of the danger zone and in direct eyesight of their school bus driver. Most student accidents involving school buses occur as a result of motorists who attempt to pass a stopped school bus with flashing red warning lights while students load or unload. Ohio Revised Code 4511.75 requires motorists to stop for a school bus any time it has stopped for students to load or unload. Motorists may not resume motion until the bus has resumed motion.

Eighty percent of Ohio students ride on school buses each day, and nearly 17,000 bus drivers, mechanics, trainers, secretaries and supervisors are dedicated to providing safe transportation for children in the state. National studies show school buses are the safest method for transporting young people—30 times safer than passenger cars.

"Ensuring the safety of students as they enter and exit the bus is crucial," said Parkway Superintendent Doug Karst. “We are training our bus drivers to be cautious, but we need help from parents to make sure they watch for school buses stopped to load and unload children. No issue is so urgent that motorists cannot wait for a school bus.”

Mr. Karst offers the following tips to remind your child while getting off and on the bus:

• Always remain in direct eyesight of the bus driver;

• Get to the bus stop in plenty of time;

• Take 10 giant steps back from the curb while waiting for the bus and 10 steps when exiting the bus;

• Never try to get anything left on the bus after exiting;

• Never reach underneath the bus;

• Always follow the driver’s directions for how to cross the street;

• Be alert to traffic and look both ways;

• Always cross in front of the bus, but only when the bus driver signals it is safe to do so.

WHY IT TAKES SO LONG AT BUS STOPS . . .

The bus driver must:

Check mirrors for traffic conditions and apply brakes well in advance to warn traffic from the rear
Actuate warning lights 300 feet in advance of the bus stop
Stop at the designated bus stop
Set the parking brake
Place the gear shift lever into neutral gear for both manual and automatic transmissions to prevent the bus from lunging forward
Open the service door to actuate the warning lights and place one hand over horn to warn students of potential hazards
Give students directions to go to their designated place of safety and remain there until the bus has left the stop
Look to identify students and potential hazards in the danger zone, counting and checking all mirrors, before closing the door and canceling the warning lights
Close the door when all areas are clear. Door must be closed before the bus moves.
Release the parking brake after closing the door
Recheck traffic in the right and left side mirrors prior to pulling away
Turn off strobe light, if used, after the bus resumes a safe roadway speed

SIGNAL FOR SAFETY . . .

When a school bus has alternating flashing amber lights on, be prepared to stop and watch for children in the roadway.
Never pass a school bus with red flashing lights and an extended stop arm. The bus is loading or unloading students. Traffic may not move until the bus has resumed motion.
If a bus is stopped on a road with fewer than four lanes, all traffic proceeding in either direction must stop.
If a bus is stopped on a road that has four or more lanes, only traffic proceeding in the same direction as the bus must stop.
If you fail to stop for a school bus, your error will not go unnoticed. Bus drivers are required by law to report your license plate to a law enforcement agency, and an investigation will be conducted to identify the driver of the vehicle for enforcement purposes.

Penalties for not obeying these laws could cost you up to $500 and a maximum one-year suspension of your driver license.

RAILROAD PROCEDURES . . .

The bus driver must:

Bring the bus to a complete stop
Open the door and driver window
Turn noise of such as heater, defrosters, and radio
Request silence on the bus
Look and listen for approaching trains

The students must:

Observe silence to allow the driver to monitor train traffic, if any
Remain silent until the bus has completed crossing the tracks

Other motorists must:

Be prepared for the bus to stop
Allow the driver to complete their procedure and then proceed safely

In Ohio, school buses are not permitted to cross tracks if a signal is activated, even if it is malfunctioning, unless a law enforcement or railroad official is present and motions them across.

WHERE IS THE DANGER ZONE?

The danger zone is the area that extends 10 giant steps around all sides of a school bus. The two most dangerous places are in front of the bus and near the right rear tire.

Children must avoid the danger zone all around the bus.
Do not try to pick up items dropped in or near the bus-the bus driver might not see you!
Take 10 giant steps away from the bus, go straight to the driver-designated place of safety and wait until the bus leaves.
Do not approach the bus until the driver has opened the door and indicated it is safe for you to proceed.