Vermilion superintendent faces new job, big challenges

VERMILION — When the Vermilion Schools found itself in unexpected need of a new superintendent this fall, they turned to Wes Weaver. Weaver had served as assistant superintendent under former leader David Hile, who announced to the school board his decision to resign Oct. 10. Hile was three years into a five-year contract when he decided to leave for personal reasons and said at the time that Weaver would be an excellent choice to succeed him as interim superintendent. Hile had worked with Weaver for years in their former district, Licking Valley. When Hile came to Vermilion, he brought Weaver along to take on the assistant position and director of curriculum. It was only a few weeks into the job before Weaver had to face the district's first setback: the second defeat of a heft construction bond levy. Voters said no to the $47 million levy, which would have been paid off over 30 years and would have funded long-overdue renovations, improvements and upgrades. It's daunting, especially for a district like Vermilion. It's a rarity in the state, one of a handful of Ohio districts with no permanent levy on its books to deal with much-needed building maintenance and repairs. That means such projects must come out of the general fund. The district's annual budget is about $27 million; nearly 80 percent of that is employee salaries and benefits. "Working at the district-office level has been very valuable. Learning across the hall from Hile has been a great, great experience. It allowed me to learn a lot about finances and the facilities," Weaver said. The district now faces hard choices, including staff cuts, in a time of huge changes at the state and local levels for funding public schools. "Here in Vermilion we're going to do the very best we can to improve education, and we're going to do it with fewer dollars, for sure, and we're going to do it with fewer people at some point, for sure. That's just where we are," he said. Weaver and district Treasurer Justin Klingshirn have been meeting with the Erie County auditor to discuss projected figures the district might face with the flux of school funding measures and how to perform a triage of sorts with major repairs that cannot be put off any longer. "The auditor manages the rollback property taxes, and we're trying to determine exactly how much money we are looking to lose because of the Legislature, and then we might have some idea," he said. One job that might be eliminated would be his old one, the assistant superintendent position, "if finances dictate that." Some things that have to happen, one way or another. "The high school roof comes to mind. That absolutely has to happen to keep everybody warm and dry in school," Weaver said. The roof repairs were estimated to cost more than $4 million, but officials are hoping, based on a contractor's recommendation, that number might now be closer to $2 million. Some other projects that must be done now include the handicapped-accessible elevator at Sailorway Middle School, which has been patched and repaired over the decades but workers can no longer get the parts necessary to fix it. That is a $200,000 fix for the building to remain compliant with the American with Disabilities Act. The water mains from the city lines to Vermilion High and Sailorway also must be replaced after years of tackling underground leaks, and the electrical services coming into the main power lines at the middle school also must be upgraded. Those two projects will cost about $200,000 and half a million dollars, respectively. Weaver's background has equipped him for challenges, and in school funding in Ohio, that's a constant battle. "I grew up in a district with the poorest population in Licking County," he said. "It's literally Appalachia, rightfully." His father was a principal for 28 years and a high school teacher and eventually a school board member. Weaver was an assistant principal, an English teacher and a girls basketball coach before Hile tapped him to be a principal, serving alongside Hile for 15 years. "I knocked on doors more years than I can count. When I was a kid, I'd go up and down the roads, knocking on doors for levies. As a teacher I worked on the committee for a successful $27 million bond issue to design a new high school," he said. "We closed an old high school, renovated a middle school, in the poorest school district. "We persevered through hard times. I've never not done that," said the Ohio Air National Guard veteran. Weaver came to Vermilion after declining a job offer in Florida. Hile asked him to consider Lake Erie instead of the south, and the fit was perfect for his family. Weaver's wife took a job as a mental health therapist in the district. She is retiring at the end of this year. They have three adult daughters. "Once I visited this place, it felt completely comfortable. It felt — and feels — like home. People are willing to learn and grow here," he said. As curriculum director, he focused on mapping curriculum across grade levels to make sure learning aligned from grade to grade. He put in place a new writing framework to address complaints by educators of the lack of coordinated classwork to help students effectively learn to write, and overhauled the English curriculum to bring in proven sciences of reading, phonics and promoting early literacy. "I have a passion for education. I have a passion for teaching and learning. I love that my office is here (in the high school) and that I can walk out my door and be around high school kids. I enjoy going to all kinds of school events — football games, tennis matches, the girls wrestling events," he said. This is his 30th year in education, after first starting The Ohio State University to study aeronautics. Operation Desert Storm interrupted his college days, but once he returned, he studied education. "Dave and I taught a class the past couple years, and in the 12 years before that, and there is nothing better to keep you grounded for 50 minutes a day, to experience the life of a teacher." "When you ask someone in my position what the outcome (for school districts) looks like, it's uncertain right now," he said. "We educate 90 percent of the kids in Ohio. And the state is thrusting on us a bad model for education. When I go to meetings with superintendents, we're all in the same boat because of Ohio's over-reliance on property taxes for funding schools and the shifting of the burden from businesses and the state to the local citizens and homeowners while millions and billions go to private schools." The district faces cuts of $2 million to $3 million right away. It's already undergoing a thorough review of all its outgoing expenses on subscriptions for learning materials and other means of saving money. But to cut that much isn't possible without losing "20, closer to 30, positions." The district already knows it will lose $185,000 from Lorain County and $315,000 from Erie County beginning next year, after county commissioners approved extending or doubling some property tax exemptions. The district is funded by both counties, but sits in Erie County. "It really stinks to think about having to make decisions that are going to end up cutting people and programs that you value and you know are valuable," he said. "I feel like some of the elements of good leadership are even more important in times of crisis and great difficulty," he said. "I know this is an important job and I'm respectful of the task. I know this will require more of me, but I've never been one to back down from a challenge." Contact Rini Jeffers at rinijeffers@gmail.com.