POMEROY — The Meigs Local School District will be receiving three new 72-passenger school buses next week which are expected to be ready to add to the fleet already in operation late next week.

That was the report of Dean Harris, the district’s transportation director, at the Board of Education meeting Tuesday night. Harris said the three buses will need to have cameras installed after they arrive. Dean said student pickup and delivery back home is going well with the change from double route pickups back to single routing which is more economical. He also noted that most buses are running an average of 60 to 65 students and said the students seem to have have adjusted to the earlier schedule.

Dean also reported on the new radio system which allows for tracking the location of buses as they move along their routes. He did discuss some traffic tie-ups in the afternoon with Superintendent Rusty Bookman and the board making suggestions as to how that problem might be alleviated somewhat.

Matthew Simpson, district technology coordinator, gave an update on computers and other equipment, along with a report on district network infrastructure, district servers, maintenance and programs. He also announced upcoming conferences, workshops and training sessions and talked about possibilities of starting a video production club at the high school. As for the website, Simpson reported hits totaling 6,392. On Facebook, he said, there were 5,199 hits.

As for the wireless projects, Simpson reported completion at both the Middle and Elementary Schools.

Personnel hired included Faith Varney as a personal assistant for a health handicapped student to be paid from IDEA-B special education federal grant funds; Cassady Willford, a volunteer football coach for the season, and Christin Miceli and Kevin Sheppard as tutors for health handicapped students.

Other personnel hired include Marlene Pierce as a part-time , four hours a day, cook, with Laurie Graham, Gabrielle Kruskamp and Janet Michael MElroy as substitute cooks, and John Gaus as a substitute bus driver. and Rita Simmons as a mentor at the school, all for the current school year.

Substitute teachers hired to be used on an as-needed basis, John Greg Bailey, Peggy Bailey, Christopher Carroll, Sheila Cullums, Jeff Dolan, Kathie Hoffman, Warren Lukens, David Maxson, Stan McFarland, Tiffany Qualls, James Ritchie, Amanda Tope and Linda McManus. Substitute secretaries hired were Amber Blackwell, Francis Rainy Harrison, Dawn Kopec, Melissa Lambert, Donnie Soulsby and Yvonne Young. In other action, the Board voted to re-employ Yvonne Moore as a bus driver on a continuing contract as recommended by Dean Harris, transportation supervisor.Following an executive session Rita Simmons was hired as a mentor.

The Board passed a resolution to align with the Athens-Meigs Educational Service Center for authorized services, an action which is required to be in compliance with the Ohio Revised Code.