POST Wednesday, December 2, 2020 • Vol. 14 No. 14 • FREE
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Community News from Middlefield, Parkman, Huntsburg and Surrounding Areas
OR CURRENT RESIDENT
Middlef ield Preston Superstore Gives $25K To DDC Clinic in Middlefield By Kathy McClure editor@geaugamapleleaf.com Supporting the community has always been Pat Preston’s motto, said his daughter, Jackie Preston Franck, Nov. 10 before presenting a $25,000 check to Middlefield’s DDC Clinic for Special Needs Children. “We never forget our community. It has always been important to Pat to be supportive,” said Preston, who is the marketing director of Preston Superstore in Burton. Dr. Heng Wang, medical director of the clinic, said Preston’s help means a lot and this donation sets a wonderful example of strong community support. A tour of the clinic building followed, where Wang noted half the cost of its construction came from donations. The four exam rooms assist patients and their families, primarily from the Amish community, in the testing, diagnosis and treatment of rare disease. Genetic testing and research in their lab have revealed some
KATHY MCCLURE/KMG
Preston Superstore Marketing Director Jackie Preston Franck presents a $25,000 check to Dr. Heng Wang and DDC Clinic Board President Don Daut in Middlefield Nov. 10. The contribution will help continue the clinic’s work in patient care and research of rare metabolic and genetic disease.
863 disorders previously unknown, Wang said, adding to date, over 1,100 patients, primarily children, from all over the world have been treated at the facility. Just this week, emails seeking help were received from Italy, Spain and Dubai, he said. Because the Amish population
is a close community and has remained self-contained to a degree over many generations, their backgrounds and disease symptoms deserved study, Wang said. Although many maladies were identified among the Amish community, these are certainly not limited nor defined to only that
population, he said. One remarkable discovered made at the clinic was the testing of cord blood at the birth of Amish babies. In cooperation with the Amish birthing center, Middlefield Care Center, a genetic disease panel can be run with 100% accuracy to detect over 190 possible diseases causing genetic mutations in the Amish community, Wang said, adding life-saving interventions can then be put in place to mitigate or cure some of these conditions. This is the first program of its kind in the country, he said. The DDC clinic sees more patients in rare disease than any other facility globally, which has helped them develop their expertise, Wang added. “I am just so proud,” Franck said. “This, in a small town in Ohio that can help all over the world. This is awesome.” In its early stages, the Amish community was afflicted with more than its share of seemingly incurable
Plain Country starts on page 8
Glimpse of Yesteryear page 3
Faith Matters page 4
Classifieds page 15
See Donation • Page 7
Cardinal BOE Reluctantly RIFs 3 Subs By Ann Wishart ann@geaugamapleleaf.com Substitute teachers are a valued asset to a school system, especially in the eye of a COVID-19 pandemic. So when Cardinal Schools Board of Education was faced with a resolution ending the contracts of three substitute teachers during an emergency meeting Nov. 25, members and the superintendent were reluctant to take the action. Superintendent Bill Kermavner said the district hired a substitute for each of the three school buildings at the beginning of the year with the understanding by both parties the contracts had to be short term. According to the Ohio Revised Code, a substitute who teaches for more than 60 consecutive school days must become a full-time
employee, he said. That would have increased their salaries from $85 per day to $165 per day each with benefits costing additional money — a drain on the district budget, Kermavner said. “We’re disappointed we had to do a RIF (reduction in force). It’s unique to RIF substitute positions,” he said. “Nobody wants them gone — we love them. We need them. It’s financial.” The contract was for 12 weeks, which has come to an end, Kermavner said, adding he is hopeful they will continue as subs this year and it is policy not to publish the names of individuals because it is the positions, not individuals, that are RIFed. “They can come back on a dayto-day basis,” he said. In a typical substitute situation when the sub does not have a con-
tract, if a teacher calls in sick or plans to take time off, the district’s electronic system picks a name from the available substitute teacher list and places him or her into the classroom. “We have to be very mindful of the future,” Kermavner said, adding the district finally has a projected carryover of about $200,000, but he has a reserve goal of about $1.1 million. That is what would be needed to make sure everyone gets paid for a month in case of a catastrophe. “I’m fighting like hell to get Cardinal in a safe place,” he said in a phone interview Nov. 28. The resolution read, in part: “…The three long-term substitute teacher positions are hereby reduced because of financial reasons; including but not limited to the reduction of school foundation
funding and county property tax collections; and the fact that the temporary need for the positions has been eliminated as a result of the district’s ability to move to remote instruction as warranted for the remainder of the calendar year…” In addition, the district has seen smaller classes since the beginning of the school year, so fewer teachers are needed, Kermavner said. The resolution, passed unanimously after an executive session, received some push back from the Cardinal Education Association, which he said has been very collaborative through the pandemic. But the need to be fiscally responsible into the future was a strong argument, he said. It is vital for a district to be fiscally responsible and the action supports that aim, he said.
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