ROGERS - The monthly reports from select Beaver Local School Board members brought some good news to the district in the way of busing and building arrangements for the upcoming school year.

During his monthly transportation report, board member John Campbell expressed his appreciation to Gary Bayda, service manager, for the upkeep of the bus fleet.

"One thing I do want is to reiterate and commend Gary Bayda for our buses and getting them up to code and ready for inspection," Campbell said. "I went down to the bus garage and went through a lot of the items that were being inspected and I was very impressed with what Gary gets accomplished down there."

The inspection manual, prepared by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, outlines rules regarding the interior, exterior, engine compartment, undercarriage, fuel system and other focused areas of the bus.

All but two buses, due to time constraints, passed inspection, according to Campbell.

He also announced the district has undergone a rerouting of buses with transportation Supervisor Jaye Cochran leading the initiative. The routing has helped eliminate some routes and buses, the board member added.

A dry-run of the 26 routes in the district is planned on Aug. 19 where bus drivers can test the new paths and report back any problems.

In his report of the Columbiana County Career and Technical Center, Campbell told fellow board members a former Beaver Local administrator was back in the hallways. Campbell is the CCCTC Board representative from Beaver Local.

"You guys will like this," Campbell said, to fellow Beaver board members. "We just hired a former employee of Beaver Local."

Willard "Chuck" Adkins, former superintendent, received a one-year administrative contract for the assistant superintendent position at the career center.

In the building and grounds monthly report, board member Brian McKenzie also brought positive news about the district's progress towards the new school year. He met earlier with Ray Alford, building manager, who brought McKenzie up to speed with the district's happenings.

"I talked to Ray Alford, he told us everything inside of the schools is pretty close to where we need to be for the start of school," McKenzie said, adding there were no major or pressing issues for the crew.

Floor work and parking lot construction are current projects at the high school. At West Point, kitchen work is the last step before the elementary school is deemed ready while Rogers Elementary still needs minor repairs and electrical work, McKenzie said. Fan boxes are being installed at Calcutta Elementary and the middle school is undergoing hallway cleanup and parking lot patchwork.

McKenzie did announce that the press box will be receiving new tin that will be installed along with the preexisting tin.

"It will be a lot cheaper to bring tin over that we have and do dress up painting around the press box," the board member said. As for the field, he said the conditions "did not look too bad."

The report then focused on the lunch rooms.

With the lunch payment change catching some parents off guard last spring, the district is revamping the alert system for low and negative balances.

"We have a serious issue with our cafeteria," McKenzie said. "We can't keep running how we've been running the cafeteria so we're working on solving that."

According to the board member, the parents can use the school dialing system to check on lunch balances throughout the year. The school will also send a reminder alert to parents when a child's funds become low and when the balance goes into the negative. McKenzie also said a personal phone call by Barbara Decker, food service supervisor, will go out if the negative balance is not remedied.

DiBacco and McKenzie both said the school will help with the application process for anyone that qualifies for the free or reduced lunches. Treasurer Robert Barrett said a parent can apply at any time through the school year if, for example, a job status changes for a supporting family member.

McKenzie said the different supervisors and their crews had "productive" meetings that were very helpful. He urged for more cooperative meetings in the school year.

"We need to continue that relationship - building and grounds, cafeteria, transportation - that's what we need to do," McKenzie said.