Barnesville Schools Switch to ParentSquare for Communication
At Monday’s Barnesville School Board meeting, Superintendent Micah Fuchs reported a new app to communicate with parents, called Parent Square ,will be introduced this year. He said the app is a better communication platform than the current BrightArrow Technologies system.
During the meeting, the Board approved revenue estimates totaling over $24 Million for Fiscal Year 2026 as presented by Treasurer Adam Quirk:
- General Fund – $14,890,800
- Special Revenue Fund – $5,979,942
- Debt Service Fund – $0
- Capital Projects Fund – $395,000
- Enterprise Fund – $0
- Internal Service Fund – $3,700,000
- Trust Fund – $10,000
- Agency Fund – $184,000
- Total $24,159,742
REPORTS
Curriculum coordinator Clint Abbott shared information about the Zearn math program, an online math education platform designed to aid student learning. The state is pushing the program, Abbott added, and the district received a grant to fund the program this year.
The district was also awarded a partnership grant with the board of developmental disabilities for $15,000. This funding covers the purchase of SchoolJoy AI, which is a student-centered platform that personalizes learning through artificial intelligence, project-based learning and immersive simulations.
Professional speaker Sandra Williams will be keynote speaker for a program at the high school on Sept. 2. Williams, who has autism, travels the world and shares her life experiences with students.
High School Principal Ron Clark recognized how well the open house and opening day went. Many from the community complimented the school on the food selections offered by Brian Saner, nutrition group food manager.
Clark told the board the district will start queen selections for the Queen of Queens Pageant to choose the candidate the school will send to the OVAC All Star Game next summer. High school English teacher Tricia Zaccagnini and Barnesville volunteers Carissa Allen and Tonya Trigg will organize the program.
The high school will also give credit this year to high school students for competition robotics. Project Lead The Way (PLTW) teacher Brianna Holskey is licensed for high school instruction.
Clark reported that he and high school math teachers Lauren Boger and Samantha Huff attended training for an Advanced Quantitative Reasoning (AQR) for a class the high school will be offering this school year. Boger will teach a section for juniors that will replace the Algebra II requirement, while Huff will teach a section for seniors.
Middle school principal Casey Mayo told the board many new open enrollment students have transferred to the district following the closing of Beallsville High School.
Transportation/Maintenance Director John Blattler said school buses are ready to go and look amazing. One problem he’s having, however, is with new bus radios. They have one IP address but will need another one added. The district received a grant for the new radios.
At the last meeting, Blattler mentioned that the boiler pumps and parts for the new elementary school chiller were installed, but some issues remained. He said the chiller has been fixed. The problem was a bad electrical room breaker rather than the chiller equipment.
Blattler said he also has placed a furnace order, but it is currently out of stock. He’s working on the issue.
Brian Saner updated the board on the nutrition group’s plans for the year including plans to bring in food from different cultures and plans for holidays.
The district will again offer free lunches during the 2025-2026 school year.
BOARD APPROVALS
The BOE accepted the following donations for the month of July:
- 200 Club to Athletics and Track Room for $450
- Moreland Properties, Barnesville Vet Services, American Legion, B.P.O.E. 1169, Flag Floors, Lakeland Foods and Doan Ford to Back to School totaling $850
- Adam Claugus to Elementary School Playground for $48.75
- Alumni Association to the High School Band for $200
- Richard Thomas for the turf/lighting stadium project for $1,000
- Total = $2,548.75
Approval was given for the following lunch side items for the school year:
- Fruit/Fruit Juice
- Vegetables
- Fruit Roll up/Snacks
- Chips
- Grandma Cookies
- Rice Krispie Treat
An expenditure of $5,985.00, was approved for the Muskingum Valley ESC for orientation and mobility services for the school year.
The FFA Livestock judging team’s overnight field trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the World Beef Expo – National Livestock Judging Competition from Sept. 19 to Sept. 23 was approved.
Updates to the following policies were accepted:
- Inter-district open enrollment
- Student absences
- Student discipline
- Code of student conduct
- Electronic communication devices
- Promotion placement and retention
- Remediation – intervention program for reading skills
- Home education
- Extracurricular activities
- Release time for religious instruction
- Career – technical education credit transfer courses
- Budget planning and appropriations measure
- Inventory and disposition of equipment and unused supplies obtained with federal awards
- Purchases
- HIV – AIDS
PERSONNEL
Approvals were given for the following contracts:
One year supplemental contract to Corey Powell as the Key Club Advisor for the 2025-2026 school year
Classified substitutes hired for the 2025-2026 school year
- Emma Castello
- Denise Cacioppo
One-year supplemental contracts for the 2025-2026 school year were issued for
- Ryan Grear – Head Girls Track Coach
- Brian Grear – Boys Assistant track coach
- Ashli Allen – junior high assistant girls track coach
- Dylan Rogers – Boys head track coach
- Wesley Lewis – junior high assistant boys track coach
Volunteer approved for the 2025-2026 school year
- Jacob Anderson – volunteer junior high football coach
The Board also accepted the resignation of Ashley Carpenter as Groundskeeper Floater, effective Aug. 28.
The next board meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Sept. 18 in the school cafetorium.
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