Statewide Education News

State may alter plan for grading schools (Dispatch)

Columbus School Superintendent Gene Harris says the state’s proposal does not give schools enough credit for student improvement and graduation rates. Columbus School Superintendent Gene Harris and others took issue yesterday with a new state plan to hand out letter grades to Ohio schools — significantly below current levels, in most cases — and they might get some of what they want. Read More…

Local Issues

TPS Students have 'aha' moment (Toledo Blade)

Test packets, heaped onto a cart, scattered across Robinson Elementary's hallway. The mass of paper was a temporary hassle for Principal Anthony Bronaugh, but it was covered in positive signs: Most tests had been finished by Robinson's students, and not in a flippant fashion. Children took the test seriously. "If I went based on effort," Mr. Bronaugh said, "we would be at academic excellence." Read More…

Olentangy athletic director says he made mistakes in handling money (Dispatch)

An Olentangy schools athletic director has resigned, and another has been reprimanded after they failed to document $11,000 in expenses from a tournament account. The school board accepted the resignation of Tom Gerhardt, the athletic director for Olentangy Liberty High School, at a meeting tonight. It is effective at the end of the school year. Read More…

Schools: Senior Pranks Costly, Dangerous To Schools (WBNS – 10TV)

Bexley City Schools officials said that they were taking a proactive approach when it comes to senior pranks and vandalism, CrimeTracker 10's Jeff Hogan reported Thursday. CrimeTracker 10 obtained new surveillance video of 10 students entering Northland High School earlier this month with a stolen set of keys. Students threw eggs and smeared baby oil on steps. Police found a grocery receipt for the eggs at the scene and the students admitted to police that it was a prank, Hogan reported. Read More…

Students’ video portrays consequences of distracted driving (Vindicator)

A lecture about impaired or distracted driving won’t do much good, but a video showing teens the consequences can be a whole different story, Newton Falls High School junior Taylor Blandine said. “They’d lose interest real soon in a lecture,” Blandine said Thursday morning after juniors and seniors at her school watched a video she and dozens of other Trumbull County high-school students produced. Read More…

Lima board to consider lowering GPA requirement for sports, extras (Lima News)

In an effort to stay competitive and give students opportunities to participate in athletics and other extracurricular activities, Lima schools is considering lowering what is required academically to take the field. Currently students must have a 1.75 GPA to participate in athletics or any extracurricular activity that students don't get a grade for. The district's Athletic Board of Control voted last week to lower it to 1.5. Read More…

Liberty school items located (Vindicator)

Educational equipment that Liberty’s former conversion schools purchased with federal grants has been stored at the Portage County Educational Services Center, the schools’ current sponsors, since February, officials from the conversion schools said. Cheryl Emrich, executive director at Portage County ESC, said in an email that the center had turned over to the Ohio Department of Education Community Schools Division an inventory of what was being held at the center. Read More…

Editorial & Opinion

Guarantee the guarantee (Akron Beacon Journal)

The Ohio Senate Education Committee is considering the proposal for a third-grade reading guarantee included in Gov. John Kasich’s midterm budget review. The measure would hold back in the third grade students who are not proficient readers at grade level after two or more years in a reading intervention program. It requires also that schools provide intensive remediation until the students meet the proficiency standard. Read More…

School sale a wise move for district, community (Marietta Times)

The Marietta City Schools Board of Education approved the sale of the former North Hills Elementary School and property Monday, nearly a decade after the school closed. We think that was a wise move that will benefit the district and the community. Read More…