LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Lima City Schools honored teachers and staff who reached significant service milestones during a special ceremony Monday evening.

July 3, 2024, Press Release from the Shawnee School District: (Shawnee School District) – Shawnee Local School District announces leadership changes following the June Shawnee Board of Education meeting. Mr. Dylan Dronberger was named the Director of Development and Assessment. Dronberger has been with the District since 2021, serving as Shawnee High School Principal and Assistant High School Principal. A native of Kansas, Dronberger attended Fort Hays State University and earned his Bachelor of Science in Education and Master of Science in Educational Administration degrees. He also served as the Building Principal, Athletic Director, and Transportation Director at Victoria Jr./Sr. High School in Victoria, Kansas from 2012-2021. Dronberger, who is replacing Amber Straub upon her retirement after 35+ years of service to Shawnee, said, “It is an honor to follow in Amber’s footsteps. She continually fostered Shawnee’s ‘Tradition of Excellence’ and ensured that the District was meeting or exceeding educational standards. I look forward to building upon her success and working alongside Superintendent Diglia to ensure that Shawnee will always promote the best in education.”

The Elida Local School District has hired a new treasurer to operate the district's fiscal responsibilities. Larry Kaiser has been named as Elida's next treasurer. Kaiser served as treasurer for Continental Local Schools for the past 2 years with 4 years of prior experience working for an information technology center serving numerous area school districts, including Elida. At Tuesday night's Elida School Board of Education meeting, we talked with Elida Superintendent, Joel Mengerink, about what qualities he observes in Kaiser to positively guide the district.

The Apollo Career Center plans to purchase the property of a Lima business that recently announced they are going out of business. At Monday night's board of education meeting, Apollo board members voted to move forward with the purchase of the property that currently houses Dot's Pet Center for $350,000. In a Facebook post published on March 15th, Dot's Pet Center announced their plans to permanently close after serving the Allen County region since 1991. At Monday night's board meeting, Your Hometown Stations spoke with Apollo Superintendent, Keith Horner, about what the career center plans to do with the property.

First, Council will perform a third and final reading on a resolution formally expressing their opposition to the proposed supermajority rule amendment on State Issue 1. Thereafter, Council will vote on ordinances whether to permit Mayor Sharetta Smith to enter a contract with Mercy Health St. Rita's on the construction of a new childcare facility as well as authorizing Mayor Smith to pursue an agreement with the Lima City School Board of Education for matters concerning the Lima Community Aquatic Center. Additionally, Council will vote on the creation of the Lima Aquatic Center Capital projects fund and whether the city will move to pursue a natural gas aggregation program similar to the electric aggregation program passed on the May ballot. Originally, Council was scheduled to vote on these items at Monday night's regular meeting; however, only five councilors were present. At the end of Monday night's meeting, Council President John Nixon explained why voting Monday night was not possible.

Several families with the Lima City Schools were awarded earlier Monday evening. Lima City Schools bestowed the district's first ever "Family of the Year" awards at Monday's School Board of Education meeting.

Lima City Schools Board of Education hired the district's next treasurer at Monday night's board meeting. Heather Sharp has been selected to fill the district's treasurer position and replaces Shelly Reiff who departed Lima City Schools in January.