| Otsego superintendent feels right at home |
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| Written by PETER KUEBECK Sentinel Staff Writer | ||
| Wednesday, 20 March 2013 10:03 | ||
"Otsego is a great rural school district," Koch said in a recent email interview. "The Otsego community reminds me a lot of where I grew up. There is a strong sense of pride that the Otsego community has for our school system, which I think is a huge part of our success." A 2001 graduate of Fairview High School, located outside of Ney in Defiance County, Koch holds bachelors degrees in accounting and finance, as well as an MBA, from Wright State University. He came to the district in December, 2010, as treasurer after working at National Trail Local School District in New Paris. Koch served as treasurer for 18 months before Jim Garber stepped down from the superintendent's position after five years to become head principal at the Otsego elementary school. He was chosen by the board to succeed Garber last June. "There is a learning curve with every job that you get," Koch said. "It helped tremendously that I was familiar with the district and knew the school buildings, staff, students, and the community." Koch noted that his time as treasurer prepared him for the district's big chair, saying that being part of the administration "helped me tremendously with the transition. Understanding budgets, existing relationships with the staff, knowledge of negotiations" and other factors carried over seamlessly. "We have a lot to be thankful for at Otsego," he said. "We have a wonderful teaching and support staff that truly cares about our students and their learning. I cannot thank them enough for their hard work and dedication to the Otsego students." Koch is coming into the job with the dust largely settled on the sometimes acrimonious debate surrounding new school buildings in the district. A new high school was built, and district elementaries were closed to make way for a new, centralized elementary school on the Otsego campus in Tontogany. Renovations to the middle school are nearing completion. The elementaries issue had pointed out fault lines in the community, something which Koch feels are beginning to heal. "I think that we are moving in the right direction as a school district," he said of the issue. "It was an extremely tough decision that was made, but it will have a long-lasting positive impact on our students. All of our buildings are energy efficient, technology rich, and provide a safe learning environment for everyone." Even so, the district still faces challenges, largely from forthcoming legislative requirements from Columbus. "There are several law changes that are challenging aspects for school district in Ohio," he said. "These changes for the most part are positive and will have a positive impact on our students' learning process, but the financial and time commitments to successfully implement these changes will be challenging." "Another challenging aspect is the budget," Koch continued. "We have experienced several rounds of cuts in revenue over the past several years. This has caused us to reduce staffing levels and cut programs. We will need to develop a plan to invest in key areas of our curriculum so that we do not fall behind educationally." |
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Comments
GOOD LUCK!!!!
Tolles and Snyder tried to stop the the building program, but were called the "bad guys".
Everyone in the district needs to realize the Koch, Tolles and Snyder are are the ones trying to clean up a "mess" made by others!!!!!
Tolles and Snyder wanted to stop the building program even when it meant facing a steep penalty by the state. Even after money was put down and things were set up they were going to flush the money already spent on top of paying a penalty fee. Mr. Tolles was still ready to go through with canceling the plans even when faced with a monetary loss. How much sense does that make?
We don't know if the district would have faced any penalty of loss of funds because there were never any facts stated by Garber or Harter.
The building program proceeded because the Weston board member was "brow beat" into submission by Garber and Harter.
You are quick to say it is Weston? Last levy Weston 45% support,Haskins 47% and Grand Rapids was like 25%. Our current school board president from Grand Rapids won election by large margins without yard signs and was very vocal about trying to keep the original promise to the tax payer. If blaming Weston for everything is your plan good luck with that.
It seems that when shakingmyhead was the minority, they did a lot of complaining. Garber and his cohorts decided to circumvent the due process of voter approval. Get over it shakingmyhead, no new levy money.
You guys are right. The kids deserved to stay in those antiquated, worn-out, run-down, high maintenance, nearly 100 year old buildings. They don't deserve any better.
Your statement is not even close to being a correct statement. The idea was to provide new elementary buildings in the communities. The board would not listen to any ideas other than their own. They did not care to fulfill their promises made when the high school building was funded. When the voters said no to their plan, they leased a building. Please show me another school district that has circumvented the voters and leased a building. Your comments are quite self righteous, as was the boards.
Again, we did not expect the kids to be in old buildings. We wanted to have new elementary schools in our communities as was drawn up in an agreement to get the new high school funded. You are negatively presenting a false viewpoint to the issue. The only way we can be positive is to vote for what you perceive to be right. So, you believe that the board should just say they need money, try and get it without voter approval. Again, "The wants of the few, do not outweigh the needs of the many." Try thinking outside the box once in awhile. You have ripped the kids from the communities without voter approval. Your decision, will cost all of us in the end.
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