The Troy City Schools Board of Education heard brief comments from the recently selected assistant superintendent and from consultants hired to help engage the community in facilities discussions during its monthly meeting July 11.

Jeremy A. Miller of Beavercreek was hired June 30 as the district’s first assistant superintendent since 2011. He currently is the director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for the Centerville City Schools.

Although his first official day is Aug. 1, Miller attended Monday’s board meeting.

“I’d like to say thank you. I am looking forward to the opportunity,” he said.

Miller said he was pleased with comments he heard during a teacher in-service he was involved in at Centerville earlier Monday.

“I couldn’t tell you the number of people who said ‘You are going to a fantastic community with great people,’” Miller said. “It made me feel awesome that I get to be a part of this.”

Board President Doug Trostle said the district is looking forward to Miller joining its team.

In other business, the board from Jeff Parker of SHP Leading Design, the company hired recently to facilitate discussions on the district’s facilities, and their future.

Parker said committees that will be involved in that effort include the facilities steering team of district leaders including the superintendent, treasurer and two board members; a community advisory team; and an educational visioning team.

The visioning team, which will begin its work in August, would be tasked with looking at what education needs to become in the future and what is best for the schools. Junior high and high school students would be among those invited to participate in this team, Parker said.

Trostle asked Parker about the consultants’ impression of district buildings. “Your buildings are really well cared for. That’s good and that’s a great thing,” Parker said. “But, they look so good that is hard sometimes to see a need until you begin to peel back the layers.”

The Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) upcoming assessment of the buildings also would provide valuable information for the facilities discussions, Parker said.

Superintendent Eric Herman said the assessment would begin Aug. 3.

The assessment is part of the process of applying for OSFC funding to help pay for classroom construction, if that is the direction the board eventually chooses.

“This whole thing is to find information, to get some direction from the community,” Herman said. “We don’t have any pre-set plans drawn … We need to follow the process, see where the process takes us.”

In other business, Herman reported that planned summer maintenance projects are well under way including asphalt work, window replacements at Concord school and a new playground installation at Kyle school, among others.