District renames baseball field after longtime teacher, coach

SANDUSKY — A former high school coach's legacy will live on for many years to come.At a recent meeting, board members agreed to rename Sandusky High School's baseball field Bill Deming Field in honor of the longtime district teacher and coach.Deming is the winningest baseball coach in school history, collecting 310 wins in his 25 years of coaching."We felt that it was appropriate to honor him with the baseball field," superintendent Eugene Sanders said, adding Deming taught in the district for more than 30 years.Added district athletic and activities director Shawn Coakley: "His reach goes far beyond baseball and he has always been an asset to Sandusky Schools."Five new staff members were hired: Joshua Barringer will teach elementary music, Casey Fleet will teach elementary art and Carrie Hill Leech will be the new choir director at Sandusky High School. Also hired were school psychologist Karl Ruppelt and speech pathologist Alexandria Sherman.Sandusky Schools' next regular board meeting will occur at 7 p.m. Sept. 11 at the district's board office, 407 Decatur St. Special pool meeting plannedSandusky Schools has planned a special meeting to hear a proposal from a local pool committee at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the district's board office. The committee of local residents is interested in replacing the current district swimming pool, which was built in 1957.The meeting is open to the public.The committee is exploring options to build a new pool facility using $2 million in already approved local funds from Sandusky Schools' bond issue to renovate Sandusky High School's current pool. The group also hopes to raise additional money to expand the size of the new pool.For their research, the committee looked at community pools and their sizes from Fremont and Norwalk while recognizing previous community pools, like Surf's Up, and membership pools, like those at Osborn Park and the YMCA. They also looked at Sandusky High School's pool and the former Jackson Junior High pool.The group isn't settled on a location for a new pool, but are looking at it being located inside Sandusky High School, Sandusky Schools board member Jeff Krabill said during a July 27 meeting at the Sandusky Yacht Club. The Register attended the meeting for 20 minutes, but committee member Doug Wagner said he was fearful the Register's presence would "make some people reluctant to discuss their ideas." A public committee having a private meeting to brainstorm ideas how to spend public money would appear to be a violation of the spirit and intent of the public meetings law.Reach reporter Caitlin Nearhood at nearhood@sanduskyregister.com, follow her on Twitter @CaitlinNearhood and on Facebook www.facebook.com/CaitliNearhood