Fort Frye board meets: Starcher’s contract renewed, Olympiad kids recognized

(Photo by Gwen Sour)
Fort Frye Local Schools Superintendent Stephanie Starcher raises concerns surrounding House Bill 96 during Thursday evening’s Fort Frye Local Schools Board of Education meeting.

BEVERLY — Fort Frye Local School District Board of Education met Thursday to address legislative concerns with Ohio House Bill 96 and community concerns surrounding the board. Legislative developments with HB 96 are currently in the state Senate and according to the board, it could reduce districts’ financial flexibility.

The bill also proposes restricting districts from placing emergency levies on the ballot and mandates that districts with more than a 30% cash carryover need to return excess funds to the state.

According to Superintendent Stephanie Starcher, Fort Frye would struggle to prepare for future projects like roof replacements and to keep up with rising health care costs.

“They said, well, if you have more than a 30% carryover, then we’re essentially going to take that money away from the school system and put it back into the coffers and no one is prepared for that,” said Starcher. “That’s millions of dollars taken away from Fort Frye that we have set aside.”

Additional concerns were brought about Ohio’s funding toward private schools. Starcher raised concerns surrounding accountability and compliance standards for private schools that do not match those of public schools.

“I always use the adage that public schools are Motel 6; we leave the light on for you, as we should, because we serve the public, but we have all kinds of accountability measures,” said Starcher. “State standardized testing, health care, wellness, dating violence education, all these different social services that we provide for the public that private schools do not have to do, and we feel like the accountability standard should be consistent there.”

The public forum, held during the regular school board meeting, featured a series of speakers who addressed the board on a range of issues, though one topic remained central: the proposal to extend Starcher’s contract through 2030. The board voted and approved to extend Starcher’s contract to 2030.

A resident, Tom Whitten, raised a concern about state averages for superintendent contract renewals.

“Superintendent records online show the average in Ohio is around one to one and a half years,” he said.

Jill Kohrs, who is the co-founder of a group called Fort Frye Coalition for Accountability, echoed the concerns and also shared her worries about the potential financial ramifications of extending the contract.

“We’ve heard your reasonings for wanting to extend the contract. She’s followed the law. She’s done great things… it’s happening 27 months before the contract ends,” said Kohrs. “If she leaves, she walks, no penalty. But if a future board or this community decides she’s no longer the right fit, you’ve locked us into a half-million-dollar buyout.”

In a follow-up interview with Starcher, she clarified that the only case where there would be a buyout of her contract would be if a board removed her without just cause.

The board also recognized the district’s growing Science Olympiad program, which placed second at the regional competition. Board members praised the team’s success, noting a 25% annual growth, translating to a 50% increase over three years.

Middle School Science Teacher and Science Olympiad Team Coach Tina Bohl emphasized that the students themselves are driving this growth, with their enthusiasm encouraging others to join.

The team left the meeting early to prepare for the state Science Olympiad Competition at The Ohio State University in Columbus on Saturday.