BLANCHESTER — Two people were sworn in as members of the Blanchester Local Schools Board of Education at Monday night’s meeting.
John Panetta was first elected to the board in 2008. He is beginning his fourth term on the school board.
Jeremy Kaehler was among six candidates who applied for the vacant board seat for a two-year term. He is employed as a manager of sales and finance with Mike Castrucci Ford, Inc. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two children.
During the meeting, Treasurer Megan Thompson addressed the board about an email she received from the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) designating the district as being in a “Precautionary Financial State” which requires the district to provide ODE with a plan to eliminate its $1.7-million deficit in fiscal year 2022 (2021-2022 school year).
“Moving forward from the November Earned Income Tax Levy defeat, we are working on necessary cost-saving measures to balance our district budget,” said Thompson. “We are working together as a team to eliminate projected deficits and still provide a quality education.”
