Education News for 03-23-2012

Statewide Education News

• Schools rethink using tournament accounts (Dispatch)

Some central Ohio schools are reining in bank accounts run by athletic directors in the wake of allegations that sports officials misused money in two local districts. Worthington and Gahanna-Jefferson already have closed the accounts that their athletic directors used to host state tournaments, and others, including Dublin, Pickerington and Westerville, plan to revise their policies. School athletic directors traditionally have managed bank accounts outside their districts, sometimes with little oversight. Read More…

• Cleveland Teachers Union proposes concessions, alternatives to Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's school plan (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND - The Cleveland Teachers Union's counter-proposal to Mayor Frank Jackson's schools plan offers concessions in seniority rules and an alternative way to fix troubled schools, but draws a hard line on letting the district impose changes or toss out the existing contract. CTU leaders this week gave Jackson, legislators and schools Chief Executive Officer Eric Gordon three pages of proposed changes to Jackson's school transformation plan that CTU President David Quolke says includes an "incredible compromise" on how the district can lay off and recall teachers. Read More…

• Many states loose on homeschooling regulations (Journal-News)

With ever-tougher academic standards coming from both state and federal legislatures, schools are under unprecedented, increasing pressure to perform well on a variety of measures, including mandatory testing and more rigorous teacher evaluations. But much of the pressure that trickles down to the students can be avoided when parents adopt a do-it-yourself approach to education. To many, homeschooling is an effective way for families to educate their children, to others it is a loosely regulated world of education. Read More…

• Cheers to tests (Vindicator)

Youngstown - “The OAA, it may be hard, but you can achieve and be a star.” That’s one of the cheers belted out Thursday by second-graders at William Holmes McGuffey Elementary School, urging their third- through fifth-grade schoolmates to prepare and do well on the Ohio Achievement Assessment tests April 23-25. Laycee Lenoir, 8, came up with the cheer with help from Danielle Walsh, 8. It took about 30 minutes, Laycee said. The girls in Becky Butcher’s class shook red and white pompoms from Youngstown State University; the boys did a cheer of their own. Read More…

• Ohio auditor says closed Cleveland charter school misspent $578,000 (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND – The people who ran Greater Achievement Community School, a Cleveland charter school that closed in 2010, owe the state $578,357, according to a close-out audit released today by Ohio Auditor Dave Yost. Most of the findings go against Elijah Scott, who was identified as the "developer/title program coordinator/ superintendent" of Greater Achievement. The auditors found he deposited at least $46,000 of public money into his personal bank account from 2003 to 2010, the period covered by the audit. Read More…

Local Issues

• Columbus schools consider zero-tolerance tobacco policy (Dispatch)

The Columbus school district is poised to expand its anti-smoking policy to ban all tobacco use on school property, which includes parking lots and sports venues. In practice, the district bars students or staff members from using any tobacco products, including chewing tobacco, spokesman Jeff Warner said. But the current policy says only that smoking is prohibited on all land and in all buildings and vehicles owned or leased by the district. The district is following the lead of the State Board of Education, which voted unanimously last year to adopt a model policy for Ohio’s districts. Read More…

• Montgomery County develops education plan (Business Journal)

Montgomery County has developed an action plan to help more low-income kids succeed in school that doubles as an application for a national award. The plan, put together by civic, business and community leaders, centers on literacy, school readiness and attendance and summer learning for children from birth to 8 years old. “When kids are not reading by fourth grade, they almost certainly get on a glide path to poverty,” said Ralph Smith, senior vice president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Read More…

• Brecksville and Broadview Heights safety forces, schools work together for disaster drill (Sun News)

BROADVIEW HEIGHTS — Residents in Brecksville and Broadview Heights should not be alarmed if they hear a cacophony of sirens blaring and see the local safety forces racing to and from Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School. At least not tomorrow. Building upon successful mock disaster drills in 2009 and 2011, the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District, along with the Brecksville and Broadview Heights police and fire departments. Read More…

• Indian Valley High trading books for computers (Times Reporter)

GNADENHUTTEN — Indian Valley Local Schools have taken a step to leave behind the world of textbooks, paper and pencils and embrace 21st century technology as a way to educate its students. The board of education has approved the One-to-One Laptop Initiative, in which each student in the high school will be issued a laptop computer instead of textbooks. Classroom content will be delivered electronically. Students, in turn, will submit their homework to their teachers electronically and take tests electronically. Read More…

• Hospital to provide sports medicine services to Hamilton schools (Journal-News)

HAMILTON — As a way of reaching out to the community, Kettering Health Network and The Fort Hamilton Hospital will soon begin providing the Hamilton City School District with free sports medicine services. “Part of our mission is to promote health and wellness in our community,” said Kettering Health Network spokesperson Elizabeth Long. “The health and wellness of student athletes is very important, so we are happy to lend our expertise. Read More…

Editorial

• Deficit of trust (Beacon Journal)

All of Northeast Ohio should be watching closely the efforts of Mayor Frank Jackson to remake the troubled Cleveland public schools. The point often is made, and rightly so, about the region’s future depending on the quality of its work force. There won’t be the necessary improvement without success in Cleveland, and Akron, for that matter. Thus, it was encouraging to see Democrats and Republicans rallying to the mayor’s plan during his visit to the Statehouse this week. Legislation must be approved to allow Jackson to move forward. Read More…

Education News for 03-22-2012

Statewide Education News

• Top school official asks Marion business leaders to help (Marion Star)

MARION - Ohio's students should have all the opportunities in the world. Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction Stan Heffner started off his Tuesday speech to the Marion Rotary Club with those thoughts, saying state officials want to make it so. The way to do so, he suggested, is by expecting more from schools. Heffner's talk at the Palace Theatre's May Pavilion outlined those expectations as he said current standards are outdated compared to the knowledge and skills needed today. Read More…

• Cleveland schools plan not necessarily for other districts (Columbus Dispatch)

In a rare display of bipartisanship, Democratic and Republican legislators from both chambers of the General Assembly declared yesterday that they will work together to pass legislation to overhaul the long-troubled Cleveland school district. Gov. John Kasich has held up the plan developed by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson as a possible model for Ohio’s urban districts and perhaps others in the state. Read More…

• Spare classes that directly affect students, board advised (Newark Advocate)

Two classes to be affected by a reduction in force approved by the Granville Board of Education Monday night directly affect students and should be spared, their defenders say. During the public comment section of Monday's meeting, five speakers including two high school students urged that middle-school Family and Consumer Sciences teacher Barb Blatter be retained and a full roster of her classes be taught. Read More…

• Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's school plan gets show of support from bipartisan group of lawmakers (Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS — A bipartisan cast of Statehouse lawmakers stood with Mayor Frank Jackson Wednesday and pledged to move forward soon with a dramatic reshaping of Cleveland public schools through legislation. While the lawmakers, including two Cleveland Democrats -- Sen. Nina Turner and Rep. Sandra Williams -- stopped short of fully embracing Jackson's school plan, they sounded ready to shake up the status quo. Read More…

Local Issues

• Lake school board approves staff layoffs, closing of elementary (Toledo Blade)

Second-grade teacher Brooke Schulte, her voice quivering slightly, said she wasn't angry that she just lost her job and she still supported Lake Local Schools. Parent Jamie Blazevich wanted her 5-year-old son in all-day kindergarten next year so she plans to enroll him somewhere else, now that Lake's full-time kindergarten is gone. The two women were among several who spoke out Wednesday night as the school board unanimously approved closing Walbridge Elementary next school year and laying off eight teachers and 17 other employees. Read More…

• State’s new graduate-rate method concerns Youngstown schools’ chief (Youngstown Vindicator)

Youngstown - Among the changes on the upcoming state report cards for school districts is an alteration in the graduate rate. The modification calculates the rate based on how many students graduate in four years or less after entering high school. Previously, the rate was based on an estimate of how many 12th-graders graduate. For Youngstown schools, the rate on the most recent report card would have been 58 percent, compared with about 68 percent based on the previous rate. Superintendent Connie Hathorn is concerned about the change. Read More…

• Northridge school district to buy modular units for fourth, fifth grades (Newark Advocate)

JOHNSTOWN - Northridge will keep its existing modular units for its fourth- and fifth-grade students, after exploring options that ranged from consolidation to building a new, more permanent structure. The board voted, 4-1, to buy the existing intermediate school for $485,000 -- which should be paid off within four years -- instead of the permanent structure that would have cost up to $1.6 million, spread out during a 15-year loan. The district will continue paying $10,274 per month to rent the units. Read More…

Education News for 03-21-2012

Statewide Education News

• Cleveland mayor has Kasich’s ear on schools (Dispatch)

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson is heading to Columbus today to try and sell state legislators on his plan for overhauling his city’s school system. The Democrat’s proposal is advocated as a model for reforming urban schools across the state by Republican Gov. John Kasich. But there’s a big problem: So far, no legislator from either party has stepped forward to sponsor the plan. Cleveland’s teachers union opposes the proposal, which would allow the district to fire ineffective teachers and share tax revenue with privately operated charter schools. Read More…

• Kindergarten-readiness program SPARKs success in Youngstown (Vindicator)

Youngstown - City school children participating in a kindergarten readiness program scored better on literacy assessments than their classmates. SPARK, Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids, operated by D&E Counseling Center and funded by the Raymond John Wean Foundation, enrolled 26 students who entered kindergarten at Taft or Williamson Elementary schools in fall 2011. Gregory Cvetkovic, D&E’s executive director, said the program is not only to prepare children but to help parents to help their children in school. Read More…

Local Issues

• Columbus school board looks at sports funding (Dispatch)

It was a big turnout when 42 students joined the South High School football team last summer — so big that the team was short four helmets. Despite repeatedly asking for more helmets, South football coach Felix Catheline said the problem dragged into August training camp. So Catheline had to decide whether to sit four players on the bench or let them participate without helmets in the non-contact drills — when players wear helmets but not pads. Read More…

• Cincinnati Public Schools to lay off 40, cut superintendent pay (Business Courier)

The Cincinnati Board of Education approved layoffs for 40 administrators Monday. Read More…

• East Holmes cuts staff, as expected (Times Reporter)

BERLIN — The East Holmes Board of Education gave its approval Monday to a plan to eliminate 16 full-time teaching or staff positions throughout the district as a cost-cutting measure. The reductions were necessitated by the narrow defeat of a 3.77-mill emergency operating levy by voters March 6. The reduction in force, based on seniority, will take effect during the 2012-2013 school year. The 11 teachers, with 75 years of experience, are paid a total of $445,421. Read More…

• Reynoldsburg schools OK support-staff contract (Dispatch)

Reynoldsburg school-board members unanimously approved a new agreement for the support staff last night that allows the district to keep its budget in the black through 2015, a year later than what officials had promised during a 2010 levy campaign. The agreement, which extends the current contract to June and includes a three-year pact that will expire in 2015, lowers the salary schedule for new employees by 25 percent, allows the district to hire contractors for some operations, raises employee contributions to health insurance, and paves the way for a performance pay plan. Read More…

• Audit adds to allegations of charter misspending (Dayton Daily News)

Tens of thousands of dollars of questionably spent public money has been added to the cloud over several now-defunct Dayton charter schools and former charter treasurer Carl Shye. An audit released today of Petersen Entrepreneurial Training Enterprise singles out nearly $55,000 in undocumented or poorly documented spending before the school closed in 2009. The audit demands this money be repaid by former administrators, including Shye. This is the fifth audit of an Ohio charter school to name Shye since mid-2011. Read More…

Education News for 03-20-2012

Statewide Education News

• ‘Dropout factories’ grow in state (Dispatch)

WASHINGTON — A new report says the number of Ohio high schools considered “dropout factories” jumped from 75 to 135 during the eight years ending in 2010, an increase that far outpaced those of other states. The data are part of research presented yesterday at the Grad Nation summit in Washington. The summit was organized by the children’s advocacy group America’s Promise Alliance, founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell. The group defines dropout factories as schools that fail to graduate more than 60 percent of students on time. Read More…

• In Ohio school shooting case, judge refuses to release documents that may involve T.J. Lane (Plain Dealer)

CHARDON - A Geauga County judge today refused to release any documents that may relate to abuse, neglect, dependency or custody issues involving T.J. Lane, the 17-year-old accused of killing three classmates at Chardon High School last month. In a 13-page decision, Juvenile Judge Timothy Grendell declined to say whether such records exist. But the court's docket shows there was a case involving the youth. He said the release of such records, if they exist, could potentially skew the jury pool if the youth is bound over to Common Pleas Court. Read More…

• Ohio has more 'dropout factories' (Enquirer)

The number of “dropout factory schools” in Ohio shot up by 80 percent between the 2001-02 school year and 2009-10, according to a new national report. “Dropout factories” is a term for schools with a graduation rate of 60 percent or less. Ohio is among 35 states in which the number of these schools has increased, according to the report, Building a Grad Nation, which was released Monday. The report does not list schools by name, although state data shows two Cincinnati Public schools and several Cincinnati charter schools likely would fall into this category. Read More…

Local Issues

• Granville school board to eliminate positions (Newark Advocate)

GRANVILLE - A somber Granville Board of Education Monday night unanimously, and reluctantly, agreed to a Reduction in Force resolution that would eliminate 22 positions, full and part-time, and reduce two other full-time posts by one-quarter each next school year. The move is the latest to reduce general operations spending by $1.5 million next school year and to readjust staff in the face of a declining enrollment. Read More…

• Poland voters’ rejection of tax levy for schools paves way for pay-to-play (Vindicator)

POLAND - The school board met for more than two hours Monday to discuss fallout from the March 6 levy defeat and appeared to reach two short-term conclusions: All-day kindergarten will remain through next school year, and pay-to-participate athletics are on the way. All board members said they would vote “no” to cut kindergarten to half-day and agreed that pay-to- participate athletic fees are necessary, though the proposed amounts range from $150 per high-school sport to $300 or $500 per high-school sport. Read More…

• School buildings under budget (Findlay Courier)

Crediting this year's uncharacteristically warm winter, Touchstone CPM Project Manager Chris Moore announced Monday that the project to build Findlay's three new school buildings is $2.6 million under budget. "We've had so few hurdles," Moore told Findlay's school board Monday. "From a financial standpoint, that's very good news." Moore said the $2.6 million is a part of the project's contingency, or emergency, fund. And although District Treasurer Mike Barnhart said that total will most likely decrease by the time the project is completed. Read More…

Education News for 03-19-2012

Statewide Education News

• Navigators: Kids get a push to go past proficiency (Dispatch)

After learning how the body works in science, Navigators students presented explanations of what body system made famous athletes successful. During math, they graphed how many basketball shots they’ve made and how fast they ran through an obstacle course. And after learning how being active contributes to physical health, they learned about other kinds of well-being — such as spiritual health, through a world-religions lesson. Read More…

• State Leaders Push For Ohio Education Overhaul (ONN)

COLUMBUS - A state education overhaul aimed at better preparing Ohio students for college will change the way children and schools are evaluated and the curriculum they use. Students should be getting "a diploma worth owning," but the existing system shortchanges children by asking them to meet minimum standards that don't necessarily make them college-ready, state Superintendent Stan Heffner said. Gov. John Kasich and other state leaders want to change that through an overhaul that's under way and is expected to be finished in several years. Read More…

• Schools to impose tougher standards (Dispatch)

State leaders say it’s time to face the truth: Graduating from high school in Ohio doesn’t necessarily mean you’re ready for college or a career. That won’t do anymore, Gov. John Kasich and education officials say. So they’re overhauling the guidelines of what students should know, writing more challenging tests to assess what they’ve learned, forcing schools to revamp curriculum and grading schools on a tougher scale. Read More…

• Common Core Standards aim to transform Ohio education (Chillicothe Gazette)

The U.S. economy could grow at a "remarkable increment" if its students were just a little better at math, a group of Harvard researchers recently concluded. That's one reason Ohio teachers already are learning a new set of curriculum standards that will be in place by 2014 -- the Common Core State Standards. These standards call for educators to tackle fewer subjects in class, but with more depth. They encourage long-form answers on tests and teachers using material beyond the textbook. Students will be asked to stop memorizing and start explaining. Read More…

• Little Miami, state air gripes (Enquirer)

HAMILTON TWP. — The public clash between Little Miami’s local school board and the state-appointed commission running the insolvent district continued Friday evening, but some common ground surfaced. Local school officials complained the commission’s surprising veto last month of the district’s plan to reopen two shuttered elementary schools has left them confused and vulnerable to public criticism about breaking promises they made during the fall’s levy campaign. Read More…

• Students benefiting from new measures (Dispatch)

Educators know how well their students are learning — whether they are growing or stagnant. They also know which teachers work best with the high performers and the students who struggle. Researchers say it’s never been easier to match students with teachers who can serve them best, thanks to the “value-added” measurement that tracks students’ progress over time. Some Ohio schools are using the data to make those connections in classrooms, but few are doing it quite like Hannah Ashton Middle School in Reynoldsburg, said Mark Hartman. Read More…

• Oversight of home-schooling is lax (News-Sun)

Oversight of parents who homeschool children is so limited the Ohio Department of Education doesn’t know for sure how many students are being home-schooled or how closely districts are monitoring compliance with state law. A Springfield News-Sun investigation following the death of 14-year-old Makayla Norman found few if any consequences for school districts that lose track of homeschooled students. Individual districts are responsible for keeping tabs on parents who teach children at home. Read More…

• Common Core setting a new education standard for Ohio (Newark Advocate)

Place three rectangles of varying shapes and sizes in front of a group of third-graders. In today's classes, a teacher might ask what the length of one side is, or what the area is. In a year or two, however, the broader question might just be: "What size are these?" Educators are being asked to teach differently, thanks to the new Common Core State Standards. This means the classroom could operate much differently come 2014 -- although some districts are implementing them sooner. Read More…

• Realities of racism: Coaches, players dealing with racism in high school sports (Daily Times)

Arguably one of the most important moments in civil rights history occurred in 1947, when a Scioto County resident tore through the race barrier of professional sports and signed an African-American named Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers. More than 60 years later, coaches at Portsmouth High School say racism is still alive in the basketball venues of southern Ohio and may even be keeping the school out of the SOC. Read More…

• Contenders: Repetition helps students to catch up (Dispatch)

The Contenders know what to expect in all of their classes. The instructions are always the same in Aimee Babb’s math class: Take out your notebooks and copy the information from the board. When language-arts teacher Shauna Crim asks students to read along with her, she consistently tells them to underline key words and draw a box around terms they don’t know. At every visit to the computer lab, they are quizzed on what they know in math and how well they understand reading passages. Read More…

Local Issues

• More schools try solar power (Dispatch)

The solar panels at Bluffsview Elementary School were once such a novelty that people flew in from Chicago just to take a look. The vice principal of the Worthington school was invited to Washington, D.C., to speak about the project. Twelve years later, solar panels pop up at schools with such regularity that state organizations can’t keep track of them. “It’s almost to the point where it’s happening so fast now it’s going to be commonplace,” said Glen Kizer, president of the Foundation for Environmental Education in Columbus. Read More…

• Cash-strapped school districts see benefits, problems with open enrollment (News-Herald)

Open enrollment is offered by many area school districts for various reasons, not the least of which is money. The policy, whereby students are given the option to attend schools other than the one assigned based on where they live, beefs up budgets through funds that follow the student from their home district to the one in which they’re enrolled. West Geauga has offered open enrollment for five years, with numbers growing steadily, according to Superintendent Tom Diringer. Read More…

• CPS votes today on administrative cuts (Enquirer)

CORRYVILLE — Cincinnati Public Schools will vote today to lay off 40 administrators in what is expected to be the first of several rounds of budget cuts for this district of 33,000 students. It’s among at least three local school districts deciding on layoffs today. Mount Healthy’s school board will vote on the layoffs of at least 34 workers following the failure of its levy March 6. Clermont Northeastern’s school board will vote on multiple job cuts, including assistant superintendent, assistant principals and special education coordinator positions. Read More…

• Schools checking for gas, oil below (Dispatch)

The state has told public universities and community colleges in the path of Ohio’s drilling boom to figure out how much of the oil- and gas-rich Utica shale lies below their campuses. These “property inventories” are required by a new state law that opened public lands to drilling. Though the debate over that law focused on whether drilling should be allowed in state parks and forests, it covers all public land. It’s also prompted a debate over whether the state’s 37 colleges and universities should profit from “fracking.” Read More…

• 21 local schools in noncompliance with Ohio's safety plan (WTOV 9 NBC)

In the aftermath of the shooting at Chardon High School, the Ohio Attorney General's Office issued a reminder to schools throughout Ohio to file safety and building plans with the state. But a Target 9 Investigation found that 21 schools in the Ohio Valley are red-flagged by Attorney General Mike DeWine's office as being late to turn in their paperwork. Though schools are required to submit that information to prepare all agencies in case of an emergency. Read More…

• JVS cutting programs, employees (Morning Journal)

OBERLIN — Several satellite programs will be axed as a result of $1.1 million in cuts forced upon the Lorain County Joint Vocational School after failing to pass levies in the last two election cycles, according to Superintendent John Nolan. Among those casualties will be the marketing management program at North Ridgeville High School and a computer network program at Firelands High School, Nolan said. Read More…

• Three routes, one goal (Dispatch)

In November, The Dispatch wrote about Hannah Ashton Middle School in Reynoldsburg and its radical approach of teaching students by their ability. Advanced students are grouped together (in C.R.E.W.), as are the lowest-performing ones (Contenders) and those in the middle (Navigators). Advocates say the strategy allows teachers to craft their lessons based on the needs of their students. Those who are academically behind can work on material more slowly with additional support. Read More…

• Springfield schools spent $360K in 2 years to attract students (News-Sun)

SPRINGFIELD — By the end of the year, Springfield City School District will spend $360,000 on marketing and communications over two years — a necessary expense in the competitive market of education, according to officials. The district uses outside firms to assist with marketing and employs an in-house consultant. Spending on marketing and communications totals about $150,000 to $175,000 a year in the district, including the salary of a communications consultant who assists with strategic planning and special projects. Read More…

• Civil-service panel usually backs schools (Dispatch)

Columbus Schools Superintendent Gene Harris’ assertion this week that rulings by the Civil Service Commission kept her staff from firing a problem bus driver isn’t supported by the facts, the commission’s director says. A review of district cases heard by the commission shows it rarely overturns district firings or suspensions. Of the 28 school-district cases heard by the commission from 2009 to 2011, it upheld the district’s decisions in 24. Twenty of the cases involved employees who had been fired. Read More…

• C.R.E.W.: Freedom to explore brings responsibility (Dispatch)

C.R.E.W. students are expected to be critical thinkers, problem-solvers and self-starters. They must juggle multiple projects and apply what they learn to the real world. In class, the sixth-graders created a children’s book that explains Buddhism. They searched for similes and hyperboles in Katy Perry’s song, Firework. They used electronic presentations to inform state senators about cloning, genetically altered plants and the Human Genome Project. Read More…

Education News for 03-16-2012

Statewide Education News

• Governor Kasich discusses fracking, taxes and schools (WKYC 3 NBC)

CLEVELAND - Governor John Kasich says he will do anything he can to help get Mayor Frank Jackson's Cleveland School transformation plan passed. He declined to talk about possible outcomes if the plan does not pass. Right now no Democratic lawmaker is willing to sponsor the bill that is intended to create more quality schools, change school governance, change teachers' seniority rights and pass a November levy. Kasich talked about this in an exclusive Thursday interview with Tom Beres. Read More…

• Youngstown school officials given more freedom (Vindicator)

Youngstown - The commission overseeing the city school district’s academic recovery has given administrators more freedom to trim staff and determine class size but wants the final say on any district reorganization. The commission on Thursday eliminated the effective date and notice requirements regarding teacher layoffs. Under the teachers’ contract, the district must notify teachers by April 30 if they are on the reduction-in-force list for the next school year. Read More…

• Tutoring helps raise test scores (News-Sun)

SPRINGFIELD — Two intensive tutoring programs helped raise test scores in four of five areas last school year at Springfield High School. Through an Ohio Graduation Test boot camp and a Winter Institute, the number of students testing at advanced and accelerated levels increased by 9 percent, said Chris Shaffer, campus director. Students testing at limited, basic and proficient levels decreased by 7.5 percent. Passing the Ohio Graduation Test, which students at Springfield and other high schools took this week, is a requirement for graduation. Read More…

• Ohio Gov. John Kasich wants legislative sponsors for Cleveland schools plan; Mayor Frank Jackson asks for patience (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND - Gov. John Kasich says Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson seems to be having trouble finding a legislator from the Cleveland area to step up and sponsor his schools plan in Columbus. But Jackson said he deliberately has not asked anyone to sponsor the plan yet because he wants legislators to be comfortable with what he is proposing. "That's not what they tell us," Kasich said Thursday after a luncheon speech in Cleveland. "I've been told for five weeks we are going to have co-sponsors. We have to get them soon." Read More…

Local Issues

• Outrage over Westerville pay-to-play plan isn’t unanimous (Dispatch)

Some parents are relieved that Westerville school leaders plan to charge athletes more than twice as much to participate — they feared a bigger increase. But other residents say the district should be more lenient after voters approved a March 6 levy that will cost taxpayers an additional $221 per year on a $100,000 home, starting in 2013. School administrators unveiled a plan on Monday to charge $240 per high-school sport, up from $100, and $120 for middle-school, up from $50. Read More…

• North Ridgeville schools superintendent prepares to unveil staffing cuts, pay-to-play plan (Sun News)

NORTH RIDGEVILLE - Schools Superintendent Larry Brown will unveil a plan March 20 for staffing cuts and a pay-to-participate program beginning in the 2012-2013 school year. Brown, speaking during a North Ridgeville Chamber of Commerce luncheon March 15, said the plan is necessary to avoid a $1.3 million deficit by the end of the next school year. Brown talked for about an hour, outlining the district’s various accomplishments and discussing its need for additional revenue. Read More…

• Painesville Schools launches D.O.G.S. to emphasize male role models (News-Herald)

Painesville Schools have launched a new program that seeks to bring fathers into the school buildings. Maple Elementary is the first school in the district to launch the WATCH D.O.G.S. program, or Dads of Great Students, which began in 1998 and is now in more than 2,000 schools across the country. The program looks to give students positive male role models, whether it be dads, uncles or grandfathers, and provides an extra adult to watch over the school. Read More…

• Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's proposed panel to review charter schools could meet behind closed doors (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND - Mayor Frank Jackson's proposed panel to hold Cleveland's public charter and district schools accountable would be able to work behind closed doors, according to the latest draft of laws needed to create it. Proposals given to state legislators last Saturday call for the Cleveland Transformation Alliance, which would have the power to block new charter schools from opening if they did not meet standards, to be exempt from state open meetings or open records laws. Read More…

• Ledgemont facing budget cuts, seeking new board member (News-Herald)

The need to balance a tightly squeezed budget has prompted Ledgemont School Board members to make cuts in personnel. “No one’s happy about doing it but unfortunately it has to be done,” said District Treasurer Kelly Moore following a board meeting this week. Reductions include the elimination of seven teaching positions, a high school special education tutor, and an elementary aide; and modifying the full-time status of a music teacher position to part-time. Read More…

• It is cheaper not to fire principal accused of misconduct, officials say (Journal-News)

MADISON TWP. — The decision not to fire Madison Elementary School Principal Matthew Gray following numerous incidents of misconduct, including a physical altercation with a student last May, is one of cost-savings, according to school officials. The Madison school board unanimously voted March 5 not to renew Gray’s contract, which expires July 31. The day after the board action, Superintendent Tom York said Gray was told to work from home the remainder of the school year. Gray will continue to receive his annual salary of $78,763. Read More…

• Hilliard schools official resigns amid financial probe (Dispatch)

A Hilliard athletic director transferred more than $10,000 from a tournament bank account into personal accounts as “mad money,” according to an investigation that apparently prompted his resignation. An accountant who handled the investigation also questioned Neill “Chip” Ebert, the athletic director at Hilliard Bradley High School, about a $40,560 gap between the deposits reported to the Ohio High School Athletic Association and what ended up in the tournament accounts over a 2-1/2-year period. Read More…