Statewide Education News

May 7 is School Bus Driver Appreciation Day (Daily Sentinel – Pomeroy)

Stan Heffner, State Superintendent of public instruction, reminds Ohioans that Monday, May 7, 2012, is School Bus Driver Appreciation Day in Ohio. “Safely transporting students to and from school is vital to education,” said Heffner. “The professionalism of Ohio’s 15,000 school bus driver is why the school bus remains — by far — the safest way for students to get to school. Read More…

Clyde to take part in school pilot test (Fremont News Messenger)

A group of McPherson Middle School eighth-graders will take a pilot social studies online assessment this month. The Ohio Department of Education selected Clyde-Green Springs Schools to participate in the test. Assistant Superintendent Laura Kagy said the online assessment will serve as a preview for how the state intends to administer future assessments. "This is to help facilitate that transition," Kagy said Tuesday. Read More…

Local Issues

Local school for autistic kids abruptly closes (Canton Repository)

Dragonfly Academy, a local private school for autistic children, unexpectedly closed its doors Thursday morning amid allegations from parents that promised services were not being provided. Parents were notified via text message from the school’s executive director, Brianne Bixby-Nightingale, at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday that the school would be closed Thursday and today for “restructuring,” several parents confirmed. Read More…

Monroe board agrees on emergency property tax levy (Middletown Journal News)

Monroe Local Schools board officials unanimously approved an emergency property tax levy on Thursday, which is expected to be placed before voters in August. The board decided upon a 5-year, 7.5-mill emergency property tax that is projected to raise more than $2.5 million for each year. Read More…

Transgender student-teacher dismissed (Wilmington News Journal)

When an area school district dismissed a Wilmington College (WC) transgender senior in January on the second day of a student-teaching placement at Hillsboro High School, the district may have broken federal law. In a statement to the Wilmington News Journal, the Hillsboro school district superintendent based the dismissal on an alleged violation of the Licensure Code of Professional Conduct for Ohio Educators. When on two separate occasions the newspaper requested he cite an excerpt from the code for his decision, he declined to discuss the matter in further detail. Read More…

Plan for smaller schools OK’d in Youngstown (Vindicator)

Ninth-graders who aren’t enrolled in one of the school district’s specialty programs will return to East High School next year, where they’ll be housed in a small-school environment. The city schools’ Academic Distress Commission approved Superintendent Connie Hathorn’s plan for the change at a meeting Thursday. Read More…

Ex-Gov. Strickland to Address Schools Forum (Youngstown Business Journal)

Former Gov. Ted Strickland will be among the panelists Monday night to discuss “the protection of the public school system from privately operated schools,” the Mahoning County Education Service Center announced Thursday. The meeting, sponsored by the educational service center, will be held at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of Boardman High School, 7777 Glenwood Ave. Other panelists are Ron Iarussi, superintendent of the service center; Frank Lazerri, superintendent of Boardman schools; Deborah Cain, a member of the state board of education; Read More…

Lakota students share opinions on how to run district (Enquirer)

During a focus group session at the Lakota Central Office Thursday, it was the students teaching Lakota administrators on how to better run the state’s seventh-largest school system. The student-led focus group was the first of four sessions with Lakota officials, as the school district looks for more effective ways to educate its students. “Students will tell you the truth and that is what we are looking for,” Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia said. “We want to make sure we are responsive school system in meeting their needs. In order to do that, we need to ask them. Read More…