New high school principal named, pay-to-participate fee increase discussed

by Laura Bednar

April 21 board of education meeting

The Independence Board of Education unanimously voted to hire Matt Faska as the new Independence High School principal, taking over for Mike Janatovich. Janatovich resigned after three years in the district, taking a position as director of curriculum and instruction at South Euclid-Lyndhurst Schools.

Faska serves as the assistant principal at Hilliard Davidson High School and was a high school social studies teacher for 10 years at Licking Heights High School in Pataskala, Ohio. He has coached high school students in basketball, football, baseball and golf. 

In his role as assistant principal, he led the implementation of end-of-course assessments, coordinated attendance and intervention supports, and strengthened building-wide discipline systems. He also supervised all school clubs and student organizations.

“Faska stood out for his student-centered approach, collaborative leadership style and dedication to fostering a positive, unified school culture,” Superintendent Kelli Cogan said in a press release. “His focus on building strong relationships, maintaining high expectations and supporting continuous growth aligns closely with the mission of Independence Local Schools.”

There were over 60 applicants for the position. Cogan said before the interview process started, two other school superintendents contacted her, praising Faska. His two-year contract begins Aug. 1.

Faska’s wife is a first-grade teacher, and the couple has two children. He is from the Northeast Ohio area originally and wanted to move back near family, according to Cogan.

Pay-to-participate fees

The board discussed increasing pay-to-participate fees for sports to $100 per sport at the middle school and $125 per sport at the high school. Rather than a “family cap” limiting fees per household, Cogan said she and Athletic Director Danny Zillich discussed an individual student cap with middle school at $200 and high school at $250, meaning a student would pay for up to two sports, but could participate in any sport after that for free. 

Middle school cheerleading is now considered a sport and would have a fee of $100, according to Cogan.

Board member Joseph Moeller suggested the board consider a cap for students involved in band and a sport. Band fees are $75 per student.

Cogan also mentioned a $25 transportation fee for student athletes who ride a bus to games. Board member Carrie Sears said in comparison, parochial schools charge more for sports fees.

Students in grades K-12 who want to attend Independence athletic events may be able to attend for free with the purchase of an adult ticket, pending board approval. Cogan and Zillich said the goal was to increase student attendance at games. Also proposed was increasing adult athletic pass prices for a season from $50 to $60 and a yearlong pass from $75 to $110.

Technology fees

Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessments Natalie Matthew talked about purchasing new Chromebook computers for primary school students. Currently, the district purchases new Chromebooks for fifth-grade and ninth-grade students to use through their middle and high school years. 

Matthews said based on enrollment, the district purchases approximately 80 Chromebooks a year per grade level. The proposal would add an additional 80 purchased for third-graders, and those devices would cycle through the other primary grades for five years. With the addition, the district would budget for 240 devices per year.

Grades 5-12 pay an instructional technology fee, which covers digital licenses, and a device fee for the Chromebook itself. If approved, next school year, there would be an optional $50 insurance fee, in which the district would cover repair costs in two instances of damage, but a student’s family would cover further instances. Families that do not choose the insurance fee would pay for any damages.

Cogan said the district included a $125 warranty fee into the cost of Chromebooks but may not pay it for ninth-grade and primary school devices moving forward, leaving the family to pay for device breakage.

“The most damage is at the middle school,” said Matthews.

Added Cogan, “We have to minimize the amount the district is spending in device repairs and devices.”

Math curriculum

Independence Primary School third- and fourth-graders showed board members the types of work they are doing in their math curriculum, Bridges in Mathematics.

IPS Principal Jodie Hughes said the new program includes more hands-on activities and visual models like “Number Corner,” a calendar-based activity designed to reinforce math concepts. Students visit the corner, look for patterns in the presented problem and discuss with their peers how they arrived at their solution.

Hughes said students are “thinking conceptually” and “there are many ways to come up with an answer to a mathematical problem.”The board unanimously approved a five-year contract with curriculum Amplify Desmos Math for grades 6-12, which Matthews said continues the conceptual learning model from the primary level. 

Photo caption: Matt Faska was named the new principal of Independence High School. Photo courtesy of Independence Local Schools.