Education News for 03-07-2012

Statewide Education News

• Teach for America Program Coming to Ohio (WSYX 6 ABC)

COLUMBUS - A service-oriented teaching program targeting schools in low-income areas is coming to Ohio next school year. The nonprofit Teach for America recruits recent college graduates and professionals to teach for two or more years. It plans to have at least 40 teachers in northeast Ohio this fall and 30 in southwestern Ohio. Officials hope to add 70 more Ohio instructors in 2012 and again in 2013. The program says it has received support from school districts and others in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Dayton. Read More…

• Most schools see success (Tribune Chronicle)

Apparently the fourth time was a charm for Weathersfield Schools as residents finally cast their votes in favor of the district's bond issue request. Most school levies, except Howland, were passing Tuesday night. In preliminary, uncertified results, Weathersfield voters were approving the 6.6-mill bond issue and one-mill permanent improvement levy during Tuesday's primary, with about 60 percent voting for it and 40 percent against it. Read More…

• Anti-levy group helps students pay athletic fees (Journal-News)

LIBERTY TWP. — An anti-tax group in the Lakota School District has temporarily refocused its efforts to establish a fund to help needy students play sports. No Lakota, the core group of 35 members made up of mostly business owners, has launched Yes to Lakota Kids to help student athletes and their families struggling to pay participation fees that have continued to increase in the past two years. Read More…

Local Issues

• Girard students go high-tech (Tribune Chronicle)

GIRARD - Sidney Durkin nodded her head as she explained how "cool" it was to have the answer she wrote on the wireless tablet at her desk appear on the interactive whiteboard at the front of the classroom. The 10-year-old girl, a student in Gina Pallo's fourth-grade class at Girard Intermediate School, worked the wireless tablet with ease, making her choice and demonstrating the difference between her two options. Read More…

• SuccessTech shootings were life-changing for wounded teachers (Plain Dealer)

The day a student opened fire more than four years ago changed the lives of two teachers forever. One stopped teaching for good. The other started teaching with a greater purpose. David Kachadourian and Michael Grassie were both shot at Cleveland's SuccessTech Academy on Oct. 10, 2007. Michael has never been back in a classroom since that day he heard pop, pop pop in the hall. Student Asa Coon ran past, stopped, swore at Michael, then shot him in the chest. Read More…

• Fairfield debates open enrollment (Journal-News)

FAIRFIELD — Fairfield City Schools is considering allowing students outside the district to enroll to bolster its coffers. Superintendent Paul Otten said that 78 percent of school districts in Ohio have an open enrollment policy. In Butler County, only Fairfield, Ross and Lakota do not allow outside students to attend district schools. Otten said the only reason he is recommending Fairfield adopt a policy is to generate additional revenue. Fairfield City Schools loses $535,871 per year because of the 94 students who open enroll out of the district, he said. Read More…

• Beavercreek School levy narrowly defeated (Dayton Daily News)

With 27 percent of the votes counted, the Beavercreek Schools request for a 6.7-mill emergency levy is failing with 52 percent against it. The current results are: Yes: 8,256 No: 8,885. Beavercreek Superintendent Nick Verhoff called the 6.7-mill emergency levy that would generate $10.9 million annually “absolutely critical.” “If we can’t increase revenue, our only other option is to make cuts to our expenditures,” he said. Read More…

• Avon voters said no to new middle school but will continue emergency operating levy (Sun News)

AVON - "Thank you to the community for passing Issue 12," said Superintendent Jim Reitenbach. "We appreciate your support in providing 8 percent of the school’s operating budget." But school officials got a mixed message from voters on Tuesday. Final, unofficial results from the Lorain County Board of Elections show Issue 11, the bond issue for a new middle school, failed by 146 votes (2,964 to 2,818). However, Issue 12, the renewal emergency operating levy, passed with 57 percent of the vote (3,328 to 2,478). Last November, the bond issue failed by 177 votes. Read More…

• Westerville levy prevails, averting some cutbacks (Dispatch)

The decision didn’t come until early this morning, but Westerville school voters supported a property-tax levy that will restore many of the most painful cuts that had been planned for 2012-13. “We walk out of here this morning with a victory and a challenge,” said school-board President Kevin Hoffman. “We will still be very focused on doing the things that we need to do” to control the district’s budget. The district’s 51 percent win — a 585-vote margin that followed a November defeat by nearly 7,400 votes — was the main headline for local schools in yesterday’s primary election. Read More…

• Board of Education rehires retiree at full pay, pension (Dispatch)

The Columbus Board of Education voted yesterday to rehire a top administrator at full pay weeks after she retired with a public pension, although three members abstained from voting. Mary Ey will be paid $128,551 annually to become, again, chief officer of student-support services — the same job she had and the same salary she received before she retired this year. Ey will be making substantially more. Educators within the Ohio Teachers Retirement System can receive a pension of two-thirds their final salary after working 30 years. Read More…

• TPS ponders selling sites of former schools (Blade)

Toledo Public Schools will find itself the owner of a significant amount of vacant land this year, after dozens of buildings are razed in the conclusion of its building program. Under the district's Building for Success program, contractors built or renovated 3.5 million square feet at 44 sites, with a final price tag of about $635 million. With all the new construction, dozens of buildings were demolished, leaving the district with scores of vacant plots dotting Toledo. Maintenance of those lots costs money, and vacant space can prove to be an eyesore. Read More…

Education News for 03-06-2012

Statewide Education News

• Ohio State Board Of Education president pays visit to Steubenville schools (WTOV 9 NBC)

STEUBENVILLE - Members of the Ohio State Board of Education visited Jefferson County on Monday to take a look at Steubenville City Schools. Debe Terhar, president of the Ohio education board, spoke to Steubenville City Schools Superintendent Mike McVey about the school district's achievements. Wells Academy is ranked one of the best schools in the state. Terhar said she plans to help other schools improve by putting in place common core standards. Read More…

• Teachers at low-scoring schools to take new test (Dayton Daily News)

This fall, thousands of teachers in Ohio’s lowest-performing schools will be required to take new licensing tests. The requirement — a provision of the state budget law — likely would make Ohio the first state to take this step. It would impact teachers in core subject areas whose schools are in the bottom 10 percent based on Performance Index scores and are in “Academic Watch” or “Academic Emergency.” The rankings would be based on Performance Index scores on the next state report cards which come out in August. Read More…

• Local school districts exploring using solar power energy (Newark Advocate)

HANOVER - A handful of Licking County school districts are exploring using solar energy to provide a portion of their electricity. The solar fields, which still are under negotiation, would supply a portion of electricity to one to three schools in the Lakewood, Licking Valley, Northridge and Southwest Licking school districts. Granville also has been exploring using solar power since at least 2010. "Obviously, you look at every possible way to cut costs you can," Lakewood Superintendent Jay Gault said. "It was going to be huge money we were going to saving over a 20-year period." Read More…

• Senate GOP ready to act on pension fund issues (Dispatch)

Although a $240,000 study likely won’t be finished, years of talking about major changes to Ohio’s five public-pension systems could quickly turn into action this spring in the Ohio Senate. Senate Republican leaders say they expect to act before summer break on plans the pension systems have already proposed to address their long-term solvency issues — if their boards prove that they and their members support the changes. Read More…

Local Issues

• Another 50 jobs could go in Lakota (Enquirer)

LIBERTY TWP. — When Lakota school officials began to comb through the district for cost savings, they said everything was on the table for possible elimination. Now after Monday evening’s final school board meeting reviewing a series of historically deep budget cut proposals, members will soon decide what stays and what goes – including the fate of more than 150 school jobs. Lakota officials presented the latest round of cuts – about 50 positions – to the board during its meeting at Lakota East High School before an audience of more than 120. Read More…

• Remediation high among district grads (Vindicator)

Youngstown - A report from the Ohio Board of Regents shows a high percentage of city school graduates who attended college had to take remedial college courses. The report, from 2009 but released last August, shows that 72 percent of Chaney High School graduates, 83 percent of East graduates and 38 percent of Youngstown Early College graduates took either developmental math or English in college. The percentages were highlighted in February during a city schools Academic Distress Commission meeting. Read More…

• School district expected to save with change in special education service provider (Chillicothe Gazette)

CHILLICOTHE - This past week, Chillicothe City Schools switched providers for special education services, a move expected to save the district money at a time when budget cuts are imminent. The board of education on Feb. 27 approved a contract with the Ross County Board of Developmental Disabilities, better known as the Pioneer Center, to provide special education services to students with multiple disabilities and preschoolers with disabilities for the 2012-13 school year. Read More…

Education News for 03-05-2012

Statewide Education News

• Ohio puts teachers on notice (Enquirer)

Come September, Ohio will likely be the only state in the country to force thousands of teachers at low-performing schools to take special licensing tests. A provision in Ohio’s budget law requires that by Sept. 1, the state must rank all public schools and charter schools based on a report card measure called the Performance Index – a calculation of student performance on state tests. Schools ranked in the bottom 10 percent will require teachers of “core” subjects to take licensing exams within the school year. Core subjects include reading, math, science and social studies. Read More…

• Ohio may use new report card system (Dayton Daily News)

COLUMBUS — Ohio will revamp how it grades K-12 school performance and set new goals for cutting the achievement gap among student groups if federal authorities exempt the state from requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act. State Superintendent Stan Heffner called the No Child Left Behind Act out of date and unrealistic. On Wednesday, Heffner outlined the changes the Ohio Department of Education is proposing in exchange for relief from the burdens imposed by the 2001 landmark federal education law. Read More…

• College opportunities growing in area high schools (Dispatch)

More Columbus-area high schools are bringing Columbus State Community College to their students. Reynoldsburg school officials said last month that their high school will house a Columbus State regional campus for students and adults this fall. The Hilliard and Olentangy districts also are discussing expanding dual-enrollment opportunities with the community college. Columbus State says it’s talking with other districts as well. Read More…

• Chardon Students Head Back To Class (ONN)

CHARDON - Students and parents said that Friday was a day full of mixed emotions as they headed back into Chardon High School for the first official day of school since the shootings. The students walked into the building hundreds at a time, with reminders that things will never be the same. A memorial greeted the students at the entrance of the school and some were nervous to adventure back into the cafeteria. Some students had been dreading the first day back, but knew it was something they have to do, ONN's Cristin Severance reported. Read More…

• Youngstown school board won’t meet with High Commission, chief says (Vindicator)

Youngstown - The city schools superintendent can arrange meetings between district personnel charged with academic success and the Community High Commission, the school board president wrote in a letter to the group. Earlier this week, Jimma McWilson of the commission, a group seeking to close the achievement gap for black students in the city schools, delivered a letter to Lock P. Beachum Sr., school board president, asking for meetings with the board, as part of the regular board meetings of March 13 and March 27. McWilson wasn’t satisfied with Beachum’s response. Read More…

• Some schools don’t have their safety plans on file (Dispatch)

Following the deadly school shooting in northeastern Ohio this week, the Ohio attorney general’s office says that 45 central Ohio schools have failed to file required safety plans designed to help police in a similar incident. But most districts contacted yesterday insisted that they had filed the plans. On the list from Franklin County were two Hilliard schools — Hilliard Bradley High School and HCSD Preschool — as well as the Reynoldsburg district’s Waggoner Road Junior High and Worthington’s Phoenix Middle School. Read More…

Local Issues

• Threats continue to send northeast Ohio schools into lockdown following Chardon shooting (WEWS 5 ABC)

CLEVELAND - Threats continue to cause schools in northeast Ohio to go into lockdown Friday, days after a school shooting in Chardon. Reports of apparent threats started coming into area schools almost immediately after Monday’s shooting rampage, which left three students dead and two others injured. And the threats continue to be reported. On Friday alone, police confirmed incidents at Garfield Heights Middle School, Memorial Junior High in South Euclid and Springfield High School in Springfield Township. Read More…

• TPS mulls new plan for student breakfasts (Blade)

A potential new approach to how Toledo Public Schools serves students breakfast could save the district money, boost academics, and feed hundreds of hungry children. Most TPS students already are eligible for free and reduced lunch and breakfasts, but not every student takes advantage of the subsidized meal. Some district officials and Toledo Board of Education members want to move breakfast from the cafeteria to the classroom. Beyond the altruistic benefits, if every student eligible for subsidized breakfasts ate the meals, the district could save more than $1 million. Read More…

• Space issues prompt Newark schools to end transfers (Newark Advocate)

NEWARK - Newark's new schools are almost filled to capacity, prompting the district to discontinue transfers and to search for other options for its preschool units. The district announced this past week it no longer would allow students to transfer to an elementary or middle school whose boundaries they don't live in. Students who already have transferred can stay in their new schools, and siblings also are eligible to transfer if there is room in the grade. "We've got to give the transfer thing a break for a while," Newark City Schools Superintendent Doug Ute said. Read More…

• Barrett school closing signals change in special education for Akron district (Beacon Journal)

The parents and staff who oppose closing Barrett elementary urged Akron school board members to visit the school so they could witness stories like this: On Wednesday, Tom Ward from Akron Orthotic Solutions came to Barrett to adjust a special kind of leg brace that 5-year-old Joshua Holcomb wears to help him walk. Joshua was born with spina bifida, which has left him unable to move his legs on his own. Read More…

• 19 Northeast Ohio school districts seek financial support from voters in Tuesday's election (Plain Dealer)

Facing declining property tax revenue and uncertain state financial support, 19 Northeast Ohio school districts have placed money issues on Tuesday's ballot, betting on a glimmer of hope in the economy and their cost-cutting measures to sway voters. Nearly half the school levies are renewals, meaning property taxes won't go up because voters are simply being asked to OK a tax rate that's already in place. Read More…

• Kindergartners get first exposure to science (Journal-News)

HAMILTON — At the registration table for Highland Elementary’s second annual Family Fun Science Night, kindergartner West Cannon prances excitedly as he anticipates an evening of magic. “I like how you turn one thing into another,” he said, and demonstrates pouring an imaginary potion from one beaker to another. At his age, explained kindergarten teacher Pam Vernot, there’s not much difference between science and magic. “I always start the year asking them what science is,” she said. Read More…

Editorial

• Promise to parents (Beacon Journal)

When the superintendent of Akron Public Schools delivered the State of the Schools address last week, he said the district continues to “right-size our footprint” with the school board weighing his recommendation to close Barrett, Essex and Rankin elementary schools. There’s no arguing the reality David James cited: The district no longer can support a physical infrastructure built to accommodate 30,000 students when enrollment has declined by one-third the past 20 years. Operating funds are shrinking, and the district is short by a projected $22 million for the next school year. Read More…

• Mayor Jackson's school plan merits Democratic legislators' support (Plain Dealer)

The emergency-rescue package for the Cleveland schools is already in trouble in Columbus from a resistant Republican leadership and Democrats who are missing in action when their support is needed most. Republican Gov. John Kasich, Democratic Mayor Frank Jackson and Cleveland schools CEO Eric Gordon need to redouble efforts to push their proposal to alter teacher seniority rules, punish nonperforming Cleveland charters and build a better school system from the ground up. To start, they need to get it into legislative language, pronto. But it's up to lawmakers to set aside the usual partisanship and political myopia to show that state government and schools can be partners in promoting educational innovations when spending more is no longer feasible or even practical. Read More…

Education News for 03-02-2012

Statewide Education News

• Mansfield schools develop new mathematics program (News-Journal)

MANSFIELD - Mansfield City Schools has begun reshaping the way mathematics is taught at the elementary, intermediate and middle school levels in preparation for state common core academic standards that will be required for the 2014-15 school year. "The Ohio Department of Education's revised common core standards will be in effect in 18 months, but we aren't waiting," said Superintendent Dan Freund. "We have begun embedding new strategies in classroom math instruction in conjunction with coaching from Ohio State University-Mansfield. Read More…

• Private schools spared tragedy of shootings (Blade)

In the past 45 years, of the dozens of school shootings across the country, almost all of them have taken place at a public institution. People who study school shootings seem to agree that there isn't a large enough sample of cases -- thankfully, they add -- to say with certainty that most of the incidents happen at public schools and, if true, why. "I'm skeptical if that's a valid enough conclusion," said Eric Dubow, a psychology professor at Bowling Green State University. "Thank God there are not that many school shootings. It's not a large enough sample size to make that claim yet." Read More…

• School districts face tough choices if ballot issues fail (Beacon Journal)

The Woodridge school district covers nearly 43 square miles of hilly terrain from North Akron and Cuyahoga Falls deep into the Cuyahoga Valley National Park beyond Peninsula into a sliver of Brecksville on the north side. So the district spends $1.6 million a year to provide bus service to every student from kindergarten to high school. “We have the national park sitting right in the middle of the district,” said Superintendent Walter Davis. “We have school buses that are 22 and 20 years old with 300,000 and 400,000 miles on them.” Read More…

• School Officials: Rumor Control Most Difficult During Lockdowns (WBNS 10 CBS)

POWELL - Two days after eight schools in the Olentangy Local Schools district were placed under lockdown, administrators on Thursday explained the events that led to their decision. School officials said that fast, accurate information was key to responding appropriately. "They were in pursuit, but they weren't sure where they were," said Mark Raiff, the district's executive director of academics. "At that point in time, the decision was simple - the entire west side is going into lockdown." Read More…

• Repayment would ‘force bankruptcy’ (Vindicator)

YOUNGSTOWN - The Mahoning-Youngstown Community Action Partnership has mounted a multifaceted campaign to persuade the United States Department of Agriculture to review a demand for nearly $900,000 by the Ohio Department of Education. If the state education department demand stands, MYCAP says it would be forced into bankruptcy and out of business. The anti-poverty agency provides assistance to low-income residents through programs such as Head Start. Read More…

Local Issues

• Teacher shuffling by Columbus schools upsets parents (Dispatch)

The Columbus school district is changing its gifted and talented programs, and also shifting about 160 math and science teaching positions to reading jobs. The district on Tuesday notified a group of teachers who work with gifted students and the 160 specialists who worked to improve students’ understanding of math and science that their positions would be “staff reduced” at the end of the school year. The teachers aren’t being laid off, but they will have to apply for another job within the district. Read More…

• Chardon community unites during march to High School (News-Herald)

One heartbeat. That was the message more than a thousand people wanted to send Thursday morning as they walked from Chardon Square to Chardon High School together. It was an emotional show of unity as students, parents and other members of the community made their way back to the scene where five students were shot Monday morning, three fatally. A sea of black and red made its way down the street during the more than 3/4 mile walk. Read More…

• Phila school district hopes to save $2.9M with retirement incentives (Times Reporter)

NEW PHILADELPHIA — Facing nearly $7 million in red ink by 2016 in its five-year fiscal projection, New Philadelphia City Schools is offering veteran teachers a retirement incentive plan to help cut the district’s expenses. If two-thirds or 20 of the 30 eligible teachers agree to the plan, it would save the district a projected $2.9 million over the next five years, covering a portion of the projected deficit. Superintendent Bob Alsept said the district has been working on the plan for about a year. Read More…

• Program helps students think about future (Newark Advocate)

HEBRON - The Lakewood Education Foundation started with $10 in the bank and a group of community members looking to make a difference. It is paying off in its first year with the Get On Track program, a college and post-secondary access program for Lakewood High School students. "We want to say it's getting on track to something beyond high school," said Holly Graham, a parent of three district students who leads the Get On Track program. Read More…

• TPS presents transformation plan to public (Blade)

A year ago, Toledo Public School administrators presented a blueprint for change in the district, a transformation plan. Middle schools and elementary schools would be dropped, and K-8 neighborhood schools adopted. Special education students would leave self-contained classrooms and join their peers in traditional settings. Students in seventh- and eighth-grade would be eligible for high school level courses. Now, administrators say they’ve kept the promises they made, and there’s more changes to come. Read More…

• School-levy win won’t mean end of cuts in London (Dispatch)

The London school district has cut more than $4million from its operating budget in the past year, and the board of education recently approved cutting $500,000 more. This latest round of cuts, which include four teaching positions and nearly two-dozen supplemental contracts, likely will happen even if voters approve the district’s property-tax request in Tuesday’s primary election. The operating levy isn’t about restoring services or jobs; it is about balancing the district’s $19.5 million operating budget, said Tom Ben, the interim superintendent. Read More…

Education News for 03-01-2012

Statewide Education News

• ODE Files Waiver From No Child Left Behind Act – NBC-4, Columbus

The goal of the “No Child Left Behind Law” was to have 100 percent of all students proficient in math and reading at every grade level by 2014. But is it working in Ohio? Ohio is now joining 25 other states filing a waiver with the U.S. Department of Education saying the standards need to be updated. The states are also asking to be allowed to develop their own standards. View and Read here…

• State wants to drop parts of No Child Left Behind Act - Lorain Morning Journal

The state has is requesting a waiver to key portions of the No Child Left Behind Act that it said would give school districts more realistic goals. On Wednesday, the Ohio Department of Education stated it sent an application to the U.S. Department of Education asking for a waiver of key portions pertaining of the law, according to state Superintendent Stan Heffner. Read More…

National Stories of the Day

• 26 States Plus D.C. Apply for NCLB Waivers in Second Round – Education Week

Twenty six more states, plus the District of Columbia, are applying for waivers under the No Child Left Behind Act, which would free them from many of the core tenets of the law in exchange for adopting key reforms backed by the Obama administration. Already, 11 states have won this new flexibility. Read More…

Local Issues

• Teachers, Staff Return To Chardon High School – Ohio News Network

Wednesday marked the first day back for teachers and grief counselors at Chardon High School. One staff member said it would be hard to be in the building with books and papers still on the floor from the shootings on Monday, reported ONN's Cristin Severance. Read More…

• Firm to highlight district – The Vindicator

The Austintown School District is rolling out a plan to retain current students and bring back ones who have left for open enrollment or charter schools. The district hired The Wixey Network, a marketing firm based in Toledo, to bring district highlights and accomplishments to the forefront, Superintendent Vince Colaluca said Wednesday during a luncheon with local media representatives. Read More…

• School District to Send Parents to Collection Agencies – ABC 6, Columbus

Columbus City School District parents who rack up debt on their children's school lunch accounts could be getting a call from debt collectors. The district says any parent more than $50 in debt will be reported to a collections agency. Read More…

• More school threats in wake of Chardon High School shooting – WKYC, Cleveland

Schools across Northeast Ohio are reporting threat incidents involving students in the wake of the Chardon High School shooting. In North Royalton, a 9th grader has been removed from the high school after a girl overheard the boy making threats and talking of possessing weapons. Counselors at the school called police who secured the building and removed the boy from the grounds. A search of the school turned up nothing. Police continue to talk to the boy. Read More…

• City schools get some good news for future building plans – Chillicothe Gazette

After climbing more than 100 spots on the Ohio School Facilities Commission's equity list in the past nine years -- and with favorable legislative changes possibly on the horizon -- the Chillicothe City Schools could receive school construction funding sooner than expected. Read More…

• School shooting suspects usually fit profile – New Philadelphia Times Reporter

Students who have gone on shooting rampages at schools and universities in the past have often displayed similar behaviors, area mental health professionals say. Those behaviors can include an inability to fit in with others, a preoccupation with violence or weapons and a change in their normal behavior — becoming more aggressive or more withdrawn. Read More…

• Panel: Government savings are in shared services

Local officials were warned Wednesday not to expect Ohio to rapidly restore funding taken away after the state budget crunch. More than 50 city leaders, township trustees and county officials met at Longview Center for a session on coping with the loss of state revenue. The panel discussion was sponsored by the Richland Community Development Group. Read More…

• TPS, agency square off in bid to run Head Start – Toledo Blade

A night's sleep didn't seem to cool tempers a day after the growing dispute over who should run Toledo's Head Start program took a public, confrontational turn. The Toledo Board of Education voted 5-0 Tuesday to authorize Superintendent Jerome Pecko to apply for the $13 million grant to run Head Start, a move that dozens of supporters of the grant holder, the Economic Opportunity Planning Association of Greater Toledo, protested. The planning association 's supporters criticized what they consider an attempt to dismantle one of the few remaining black institutions left in Toledo. Read More…

• Walsh aims to raise city IQ – Canton Repository

Walsh University will be the first international Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) Institute in the area of education. The announcement was made at Wednesday’s 46th annual Business and Communications Club luncheon in the Barrette Center. Read More…

Editorial & Opinion

• Free the Cleveland schools from weight of bureaucracy: Plain Dealer

So, it's not just theoretical. There really does come a time when an organization gets so thoroughly mired in rules and bureaucracy that it can no longer do the things it was established to do. There really does come a point at which the mission shifts so profoundly that the original purpose of the organization is lost entirely. Read More…

• New approach – Columbus Dispatch

Congress’ failure to fix fundamental flaws in the No Child Left Behind law leaves states little choice but to seek relief from its unrealistic demands, but those states should not weaken the accountability requirements that are at its core. Ohio has joined the parade of states seeking waivers from the 2002 law, which has been up for renewal since 2007 but has remained unchanged. Add to Congress’ many failures its inability to agree on how to improve this far-reaching law. The U.S. Department of Education so far has granted waivers to 11 states; 37, including Ohio, have applied. Read More…

• Chardon shooting – Columbus Dispatch

Parents in Chardon saw their teenagers off to school on Monday morning, believing it was a typical start to a typical week. How heartbreaking that several of those youngsters never came home. The Dispatch sends condolences to the victims’ families and to the entire community. Read More…

Education News for 02-29-2012

Statewide Education News

• Ohio Gov. John Kasich encourages thousands at Chardon vigil to comfort, support grieving families (Plain Dealer)

CHARDON - A crowd of thousands, swathed in Chardon red, holding candles and hugging, gathered in and around St. Mary Catholic Church on Tuesday night, near where five high school students had been shot a day earlier. Three have died, including Demetrius Hewlin, 16, and Russell King Jr., 17, whose deaths were announced Tuesday. Daniel Parmertor, 16, died Monday. He will be buried after a funeral Mass at the church Saturday. One woman held a wood-framed picture of him. Read More…

• Chardon High School shooting, Vigil draws thousands (WKYC 3 NBC)

CHARDON - Community prayer vigils are being held in the aftermath of the Chardon High School shootings. On Monday night, more than half a dozen vigils were held at churches in Chardon and surrounding communities. Those somber observances included a candle light gathering on the Chardon Square. Students and community members came together to remember the five victims. On Tuesday night, thousands of people attended a memorial and vigil at St. Mary's in Chardon. Gov. John Kasich was among those attending. Read More…

• Ohio school shooting, Drills, cell phone use paid off (Plain Dealer)

Nobody expected Monday's school shooting in Chardon. You wouldn't expect one in communities like Bay Village, Avon Lake or Orange either. But all of them plan for it. Over the past two decades and increasingly since the 1999 killings at Columbine High School in Colorado, school districts and law enforcement authorities have worked together on strategies to respond to violence in schools. Read More…

• Recent U.S. Secret Service study looks at trends in school attacks (News-Herald)

When there is an incident that involves the loss of life at a school, people tend to ask why did it happen. A recent study by the U.S. Secret Service looked into 37 incidents involving 41 school attacks that occurred between 1974 and 2000. The review was conducted to identify and to highlight information that in some cases may have been known or knowable prior to school-based attacks and to aid in the prevention of future attacks. Read More…

• Chardon High School shooting witness describes scene inside of cafeteria (WEWS 5 ABC)

CHARDON - Jason Suhadolnik still can't believe there was a shooting inside of his school. He is a first-year student at Chardon High School and was inside of the cafeteria when gunfire erupted. Suhadolnik was sitting at a lunchroom table with a few friends about 10 feet from the shooter when he opened fire. Suhadolnik said he doesn't know the alleged gunman, TJ Lane. He said at first the gunfire sounded more like a toy gun. Read More…

• Latest school tragedy mimics others in its senselessness (Vindicator)

It happened again. And again the expressions of condolences are mixed with expressions of disbelief that one high school student could open fire on others, taking their lives. This time, it’s relatively close to home, in Chardon in Geauga County, a community not unlike many other Northeastern Ohio suburban communities. Many Vindicator readers would have visited its town square for the annual maple syrup festival at the end of April. Which makes the harsh reality even more difficult to grasp. Read More…

• House of Representatives has moment of silence for Chardon shooting victims (Plain Dealer)

The U.S. House of Representatives held a moment of silence on Tuesday to honor the victims of yesterday's shootings at Chardon High School. The gesture was a request from Bainbridge Township Republican Rep. Steve LaTourette, whose district includes Chardon. It occurred at around 3:45 P.M. in the midst of a series of votes. "I would indicate that, in these tragedies there are also items of heroism," LaTourette said on the House of Representatives floor. Read More…

Local Issues

• Youngstown School-board president seeks help with determining cuts (Vindicator)

Youngstown - The city school-board president says everything must be considered in the decision of where to make cuts and he’s asking the community for help to make those determinations. “Something has to be done with our finances,” said Lock P. Beachum Sr., school board president, during a school board meeting Tuesday. “Where are we going to save the money?” The district learned this month that because of a loss of more than 500 students as determined by the state’s official October enrollment count, it would receive about $4 million less. Read More…

• TPS aims to run Head Start (Blade)

The dispute over who should control Toledo's Head Start program escalated Tuesday night at the Toledo Board of Education meeting. Dozens of supporters of the Economic Opportunity Planning Association of Greater Toledo and members of the union that represents Toledo Head Start employees attended the meeting to show opposition to a possible competing application by TPS for the $13 million grant to run Head Start. Read More…

• McDonald schools Panel disbands as district is released from fiscal emergency (Vindicator)

McDONALD - The state Finance and Planning Commission for McDonald schools disbanded Wednesday, after the district was informed by the state auditor’s office that it was released from fiscal emergency. The commission requested the release in November 2011, after the local school board made the same request in September. “Coming back after fiscal emergency is an uphill battle for any entity, and each community must make the difficult choices that work best for them,” state Auditor Dave Yost said. Read More…

• Licking Heights switches ESCs (Dispatch)

The Licking Heights Board of Education voted 5-0 last night to sever its ties to the Licking County Educational Service Center, which provides services, such as special-education programs, curriculum support and teacher training, to several school districts. The move takes advantage of a new state law that gave districts until March 1 to decide whether to switch Educational Service Centers or wait another year. Read More…

• Liberty BOE votes to reinstate open enrollment in district (Vindicator)

Liberty - The Liberty school board voted unanimously to reinstate open enrollment, leaving to a future meeting approving the exact number of students it would allow under the program. Superintendent Stan Watson told the board there are likely slots for 10 open- enrollment students per grade but would return to the board with a solid figure in the future. The district would not be responsible for transporting the out-of-district students. Read More…

• Strongsville Student Arrested for Threats Made to School, Students (WJW 8 FOX)

A Strongsville High School student was arrested on Tuesday morning for allegedly making a threat to the school and its students. According to an official with the Strongsville Police Department, the juvenile was arrested for inducing panic. The official tells Fox 8 News that the student was using social media to alarm other students that there would soon to be an act of violence committed at the school. Read More…

• Other schools report threats in wake of Chardon shootings (Beacon Journal)

Several Akron-Canton school districts reported threatening messages Tuesday and one district confronted a student after he posed on Facebook with a rifle and made comments that officials perceived as menacing in the wake of the Chardon killings. Green High School evacuated classrooms shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday and excused students from afternoon classes after a student found a bomb threat scribbled on a restroom wall. Summit County sheriff’s spokesman Bill Holland said the message read: “There’s a bomb in the building.” Read More…

• Portage County student charged with inducing panic following postings on Facebook (Plain Dealer)

MANTUA - A day after the shootings at Chardon High School, Portage County sheriff deputies arrested a 17-year-old Crestwood High School student who school administrators felt was a threat to other students. On Monday, the boy wrote on his Facebook page, "Who agrees with their friend that it is a good idea to shoot up a school?" He also had posted a picture of himself holding an assault rifle. School officials told the sheriff's office that on Feb. 22, the teen posted on Facebook, "I'm close to going on a stabbing spree. I can't take some of these people anymore." Read More…

Editorial

• 3 young lives lost, countless others forever changed in Chardon High School shootings (Plain Dealer)

For just a few moments early Monday morning, gunshots rang out in the cafeteria of Chardon High School. Those shots were the last sounds Daniel Parmertor, 16; Russell King Jr., 17; and Demetrius Hewlin, 16, would ever hear. But for those who remain, the echoes are unlikely ever to fully fade. People who loved them are trying to cope with something they probably had never dreamed of: the life of a child, a grandchild, a brother, a nephew, a cousin, a friend, wasted suddenly, needlessly, senselessly. Read More…

• Reasonable step (Dispatch)

Dunning parents for unpaid lunch money isn’t likely what Columbus City Schools administrators had in mind when they went into education. But with nearly $1 million owed, it’s a problem that shouldn’t be ignored any longer, and the district is taking a reasonable approach to collecting: focusing on the biggest debtors, while not denying lunch to any child. Read More…

• Cleveland teachers should be on the same reform team (Plain Dealer)

We in the Cleveland Teachers Union agree with Mayor Frank Jackson that every child in our city should attend an excellent school and every neighborhood should offer our families a multitude of great schools from which to choose. No fair-minded person can dispute the notion that our union has always been willing to work with others to achieve those goals. Read More…