Conneaut School Board members elected officers for the next year when the held the annual re-organizational meeting Wednesday.

Jody Sperry was re-elected school board president on an 8-0 vote with one abstaining and Dr. Walt Thomas was elected vice president on a 9-0 vote.

Both were the only nominees with Thomas replacing Rick Kelly who served as the board vice president the last year. Thomas was vice president the previous year. Casting votes were Sperry, Thomas, Kelly, Dr. Carol Bocan, Lorri Drumm, Cheryl Krachkowski, Don Ellis, Jr., Gina McCauley, and David Schaef. Schaef abstained in the vote for Sperry.

Kelly offered the motion to re-elect Sperry as president and McCauley nominated Thomas. Kelly had told board members in the past month he did not want to serve another term as vice president as he considers additional college classes.

Kelly also indicated he did not know if he will run for another term on the board. His term expires in a year with local elections to take place in 2011. Five spots will be up for election on the school board.

The school directors set the second Wednesday of each month as voting meeting times, the Wednesday before as the work session time, and for a second year in a row, setup additional meetings on a quarterly basis to allow deeper study of issues and concerns facing the school district. Those meetings are set for Jan. 18, March 15, June 14, and Sept. 20.

Students in grades 9 - 12 may face a doubled class load beginning with the next school year.

School directors are scheduled to vote on going back to an 8-period day starting with the 2011 - 12 school year, that beginning in August.

A preliminary discussion on the 8-period day was held in November with the board talking again last week.

School administration recommended going back to the 8-period day and dropping the block schedule citing concerns about meeting academic standards. Cited were large gaps of time between taking math and English classes for example.

A student who might take a math class in the block schedule in the fall could go a year or more without taking another math but could be scheduled to take tests like the PSSAs and others which are now required by state and federal rules and determine if students and schools are meeting those standards.

Information given to the school directors noted 8 period days said the biggest scientific study comparing performance in block classes with full year classes showed students in the full year classes outscored block schedule students on every measure.

Block scheduling pluses include fewer failing grades, less time lost in halls between classes, more time for labs and reduced dropout rates.

A sample of a student class load taken in an 8 period day showed that student taking biology, applied physics, PSSA math, English 11, American Government, computer apps, 3-D design and phys ed.

Also on the agenda on Wednesday is a motion to allow assistant business manager Kara Onorato to assume the duties on business manager and board secretary effective Dec. 16 as that is the last day current business manager Joe Yeager will be working. He is retiring effective mid January. Onorato will become business manager then.

Retirement requests have been filed by Kathy /Allison, Donna Baker, James Barco, Mark Ruttenberg, Christine Seybert, and Jackie Willmarth, all effective June 10, 2011.