Superintendent Hanlon Presents Rationale for School Calendar Start Date
Chardon Board of Education Regular Meeting – March 16, 2026
Meeting Details: The Regular Meeting began at 5:30 pm at the Chardon Transportation and Business Affairs Center at 400 Washington Street in Chardon. Here is the link to the available Meeting Agendas and Minutes. Click on the meetings tab on the right to access the Agendas and Minutes. The Board meeting video is available here. Agenda items are listed according to the time that they were discussed on the video.
0:20 Min. Video Open/ROLL CALL AND WELCOME - Meeting was called to order. It was stated that this meeting is being held in accordance with Section 3313.15 of the Ohio Revised Code.
Attendance: Board President Karen Blankenship, Vice President Andrea Clark, and members Gordon Landies and James Midyette.
Absent: Board member Ashish Galhotra is absent but at 19:00 minutes, Mrs. Blankenship noted that he is present through Google Meet and able to comment, but cannot vote.
Staff Attendance: Superintendent Dr. Michael Hanlon and Treasurer Deb Armbruster.
2:08 Min. Adoption of the Agenda with the change as noted below - Approved.
-
Mrs. Blankenship, at the request of the Calendar Committee, removed agenda item 5.3, the final approval of the 2027-2028 calendar, from the agenda. Dr. Hanlon will have a presentation on this calendar, but the action of approval will proceed at a later date.
The Board Presiding Officer and student leader Aria Verch, third grade Park Elementary student, led the meeting in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mission Statement - Read by Dr. Hanlon.
4:15 Min. Hearing of the Public - Agenda Items Only - No speaker requests.
4:40 Min. Consent Agenda - The Board considered five items on the consent agenda, including the Minutes from the Regular Meetings on January 9, 2026 (available here) and February 17, 2026 (available here). All approved unless noted otherwise. All of these items 3.1-3.6, and associated documents/contracts can be found here, then selecting the meeting tab, date, agenda and number three on the agenda.
-
3.5 - Out of state school trip approved retroactively.
-
Dr. Hanlon took a moment to acknowledge and thank retiring Student Services Director, Linda Elegante, for her years of service and dedication. This retirement was noted in 3.3.
06:55 Min. Chardon High School Student Liaison Report and slide presentation by Walter Sweet and Aubrey Fetchik.
11:00 Min. Superintendent Report and Recommendations - Items and associated documents for 5.1-5.8 can be found here, select meetings, date, and number five on the agenda. All items, recommendations, and contracts were approved unless noted otherwise. Highlights from the Superintendent’s Report and Recommendations include but are NOT limited to:
-
Superintendent's Report March 16, 2026
-
CELC (Chardon Early Learning Center) will receive a playground update over break to address safety concerns over outdated equipment.
-
Spring Break will occur from March 30-April 6, 2026.
-
14:02 Min. Teacher Spotlight Presentation Link
-
Asha Dinko, 3rd grade teacher from Munson Elementary, spoke about Munson's Literacy Night, the 3rd grade Wax Museum, and the One Author-One School Program.
-
Amy Cohn, Intervention Specialist from Munson Elementary, advised that Munson and Park Elementary Schools will be celebrating diversity and inclusion in April, which is National Autism Awareness Month.
-
Third graders will have the opportunity to learn and play pickleball with Mr. Prez.
-
19:00 Min. 2027-2028 CLDS Calendar
-
While the Board has tabled action on the calendar (during the approval of agenda above), Dr. Hanlon presented a rationale for the Chardon School calendar and its early start date. Observer Note: Dr. Hanlon used a slide presentation which is available on the GTV video, but not as a hyperlink in the Agenda, so the time of his discussion topics are noted beginning above at the calendar link and continuing below with each general topic for the reader/viewer to follow. Reviewer Note: Some Chardon Schools parents have started a petition to move the district’s start date back until after Labor Day. More information is available here.
-
20:39 Min. Rational for Two Year Planning - Field trips, Capital Improvement, and family planning around school breaks can be done in advance
-
21:32 Min. Instructional Time - School districts operate on the state’s required number of hours, as opposed to days. Dr. Hanlon defined “Open for Instruction” time, and reviewed hours and days of instruction for each grade while taking into consideration all of the events, days and times/moments that do not count as instructional hours. Mrs. Blankenship gave credit to Dianne Farizel, Chardon’s Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) Coordinator, for putting the detailed chart of instructional hours for each grade band together.
-
31:48 Min. Academic Calendar - Dr. Hanlon noted that the calendar used by Chardon is not an outlier and is, in fact, much like most school district calendars in the state, in that it is designed to maximize student learning and to align with end-of-semester assessments, state assessments, graduation requirements, college schedules, and college entrance exams. Dr. Hanlon also noted that many parents commented that the schools should push for the state to move state assessments further into the spring. However, as the Superintendent advised, the tests have already been pushed back as far as the state is likely willing to go for a number of reasons highlighted by him- see the video for details.
-
35:15 Min. Dr. Hanlon discussed how the school calendar must be an “academic balancing act” because it works to take into account a multitude of factors: building in flexibility for Ohio winters, summer employment plans for students, college bridge programs and other secondary education programs. It also needs to reflect family and workforce realities. The current school year schedule also matches student athletics and other activities, which generally begin on August 1st.
-
37:45 Min. Dr. Hanlon addressed common concerns, such as the length of summer vacation and the heat in the building whether in June or in August. He said that he believes that the late start after Labor Day was tied to agriculture and industry, which no longer reflect the realities that families face today.
-
38:49 Min. Considerations Specific to Chardon Transportation - Dr. Hanlon spoke about the complexity of the tiers of transportation needed. This includes aligning the district’s start date whenever possible to the private schools for which Chardon is required by state law to provide transportation. He noted that increasing the hours in the school day would adversely impact transportation.
-
42:16 Min. Considerations Specific to CMS Schedule Enhancements - Dr. Hanlon describes the schedule enhancements available to benefit students at the middle school due to the additional time in the calendar.
-
45:05 Min. Considerations Specific to Chardon Staff Perspective
-
45:26 Min. State Flexibility in Calendar Design
-
47:15 Min. Potential Fiscal Impact of Starting Later - The Ohio Legislature created a financial incentive for districts receiving 4-5 stars on their Local Report Card and loss of this funding could necessitate staff and program cuts. As detailed in the next bullet point, top performing school districts generally start in mid-August.
-
48:00 Min. Ohio District Start/End Date Data - Dr. Hanlon referred to a sampling of 313 schools in Ohio and the distribution and frequencies of various start and end dates, and he noted the percentage of schools in certain start/end date categories and their comparative Performance Index scores compared to Chardon. Dr. Hanlon noted that of the top 11 performing school districts, most had starts dates from August 18-20. He highlighted Marion Schools as one exception with a start date of August 26, and advised that they don’t offer Fair (Geauga County) day, and they shortened Thanksgiving break, winter break and spring break. Versailles is another district that has significantly shortened their break times in order to start later.
-
Mrs. Blankenship asked Board members if they had any questions and if Board members had all the information that they needed to proceed with action on the calendar at the April meeting date.
-
Mr. Landis expressed concern that the 6th grade year has 18 days over the state minimum and the 4th and 5th grade have 14 days over the minimum, and he requested an additional work session for the purpose of reconciling these numbers.
-
Mrs. Blankenship advised that Dr. Hanlon would begin facilitating this work session with the Board. She also suggested that all Board members send their questions/concerns to Dr. Hanlon and Ms. Armbruster so that they can be prepared to address them.
-
Mrs. Clark requested inviting the middle school administration team in to talk about the days. Dr. Hanlon that they and transportation and other relevant stakeholders will be included in the work session.
-
59:34 Min. See 5.4 - Pursuant to Board of Education Policy 0166, the Superintendent made a recommendation and the Board of Education approved Resolution 2026-07: Authorizing the filing of an Original Complaint against the Valuation of Commercial Real Property owned by Meijer Stores Limited Partnership Pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Section 5715.19.
-
See 5.5 - Pursuant to Board of Education Policy 0166, the Superintendent made a recommendation and the Board of Education approved Resolution 2026-08: Authorizing the filing of an Original Complaint Against the Valuation of Commercial Real Property owned by MB2K, LLC Pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Section 5715.19.
-
See 5.6 for Memorandum of Understanding between the CLSD Board of Education and the Chardon Association of Classified Employees.
-
Electricity Purchase Program of the Ohio Schools Council: Dr. Hanlon advised that this program allows schools to collaborate and lock in electricity prices in order to save. The school district does the same for natural gas.
-
Pursuant to Board of Education Policy 0166, the Superintendent made a recommendation and the Board of Education approved the attached Proposal (see 5.8) with Laketec for MIBS (Managed Internal Broadband Services) third-party managed services for operating, managing, and monitoring eligible, on-campus broadband networks covered under E-Rate Category 2 funding. The District is selecting a one-year contract with voluntary extensions.
1:04.42 Min. Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer’s Report and Recommendations - Associated documents for 6.1-6.5 can be found here, then select meetings, date, and number 6 on the agenda. All approved unless otherwise noted. Some highlights of the presentation include but are NOT limited to:
-
1:05 Min. February 2026 Financial Report by Ms. Armbruster.
-
1:12.00 Min. Topper FAQs - Ms. Armbruster addressed two common community questions regarding district finance.
-
AI Financial Summary February 2026 A quick “snapshot” AI presentation of February financials for CLSD.
-
Pursuant to Board of Education Policy 0166, the Board of Education approved Resolution 2026-06: Accepting the amounts and rates as determined by the Budget Commission and authorizing the necessary tax levies and certifying them to the County Auditor. Document here. Reviewer Note: These amounts and rates were set at the district’s Budget Hearing before the Budget Commission on February 18. The LWVG Observer Report on this Budget Hearing is available here.
1:22.42 Min. Board of Education Reports and Recommendations. All approved unless otherwise noted. Observer Note: There is a slide presentation created for the various BOE reports to be found here, but not all presenters regularly utilize their slide sections in the presentation each month.
-
Chardon Schools Foundation (Slide 1 -) Mr. Landis noted that two grants were given out for the Winter application period, because only two applications were submitted. He again encouraged people who have ideas for improvement to apply.
-
Legislative Liaison (no slides) - Mrs. Clark noted that she has no slides today. She advised that Governor Dewine gave his State-of-the State address a week or so ago and mentioned the Science of Reading Program, the Ohio Vision See Program which provides free glasses to children in K-3 grades, and the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) launch of a state attendance dashboard on April 15 to monitor and address chronic absenteeism. Ms. Clark also said that the governor promoted Ohio HB304, which would “double” the amount of recess time for children in grades K-8 if passed. Ms. Clark further mentioned:
-
HB326 which focuses on expanding college entrance examinations for high school students, especially including the Classic Learning Test. This bill has passed the House and is currently in the Senate Committee per Ms. Clark.
-
HB420 seeks to disallow and eventually eliminate property taxes levied for an indefinite period of time by 2030. This bill is still in the House.
-
Ohio School Board Association (OSBA) Legislation Tracker Observer Note: This item and the one below are usually noted in the Agenda but not discussed at meetings.
-
OSBA Facts in a Flash
-
1:28.34 Min. Auburn Career Center Report - Ms. Clark summarized the various ways that the ACC is expanding.
-
1:32.00 Min. Student, Staff and Liaison Report - Mr. Midyette summarized student successes.
1:36 Min. Hearing of the Public on Non-Agenda Items - There were no speaker requests.
1:36.56 Min. Pursuant to Board of Education Policy 0167.2, the Chardon Board of Education entered into Executive Session. Motion was made, seconded, and approved that the Board of Education of the Chardon Local School District adjourn to Executive Session by Board for the purpose(s) of:
-
The appointment, employment and compensation of an employee or official;
-
Matters required to be kept confidential by federal law or state statute.
The time of adjournment to Executive Session was not noted by the Board, but Mrs. Blankenship announced that there would be action taken after the Executive Session. The video ended at 1:37 minutes and GTV headlined in the video the information below:
-
Pursuant to Board of Education Policy 0166, the Superintendent makes recommendation and the Board of Education approved the attached Resolution 2026-09: Mediation Agreement which is available here.
-
Pursuant to Board of Education Policy 0166, the Chardon Board of Education approved Resolution 2026-10: to approve the attached Resolution authorizing the employment contract of the Treasurer/CFO available here.
Board agendas and minutes are available online.
The next meeting is the Regular Meeting on April 20, 2026.
Virtual Observer: Jacqueline Berger
Editor: Rooney Moy
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date submitted: March 31, 2026
The League of Women Voters of Geauga is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. They do not support or oppose individual candidates or parties. Learn more about the LWVG at www.lwvgeauga.org.