Statewide Stories of the Day

Educators hope to clarify Ohio Lottery profits for schools (News-Herald)

Record earnings for the Ohio Lottery have educators worried about public perception of that news. While it is required by law that all earnings from the Ohio Lottery be distributed to K-12 education, the Ohio Department of Education says the breakdown of where that money goes isn’t as simple. According to ODE, there are many possibilities for the extra revenue, and they all depend on state legislators. For instance, a spokesman for ODE said that although the extra money is guaranteed to be given to Ohio education. Read more...

150 Ohio Schools Out Of Compliance With Safety Information (WBNS 10 CBS)

COLUMBUS - State law requires schools to turn in safety blueprints to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. According to Attorney General Mike DeWine, more than 150 schools are out of compliance with the law. There are no penalties for schools that do not submit their safety information. DeWine said that prevention is on the top of his safety list. “Law enforcement does not have access to this information,” DeWine said. “Fire and rescue do not have access to this information.” Representatives from more than 250 Ohio schools and communities gathered. Read more...

Toledo schools join Columbus in attendance data trouble (Dispatch)

Toledo City Schools leaders were wrong to think that they were allowed to “scrub” attendance records to improve their state report-card numbers, a state spokesman said. “We do not allow school districts to manipulate that data to improve attendance rates or test scores,” Ohio Department of Education spokesman John Charlton said. “Districts may correct data that they entered incorrectly, but only under a specific set of rules and state laws.” Read more...

Local Issues

Court upholds Granville teacher license suspensions (Newark Advocate)

Licking County Common Pleas Judge David Branstool upheld a decision by the Ohio Department of Education to suspend the teaching licenses of two Granville teachers accused of falsifying state test scores. In a decision rendered Friday, Branstool affirmed the state board’s decision to suspend for one year the licenses of English language learner teachers Jane Pfautsch and Mary Ellen Locke, over irregularities involving state testing procedures in 2010. Read more...

Northeast Ohio schools might be insulated from falling residential property values (Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND — Home values in the Cleveland school district have fallen more than 21 percent in the last few years. They're down 26 percent in the Euclid school district and 33.5 percent in Maple Heights, which had the largest fall in Cuyahoga County. Those drops will mean a tax bite for those districts, but not the budget disaster you might think. The falling values won't bring real tax relief for homeowners, either. The Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office on Tuesday released changes in the residential property values for all school districts in the county after its reappraisal. Read more...

Youngstown school board OKs 2 new contracts (Vindicator)

Youngstown - The school board approved two new contracts with two unions, both calling for no cost-of-living increases and an increased health-care contribution from employees. The board approved the three-year agreements at a regular meeting Tuesday with the five building-trade unions and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1143. Both pacts run through Jan. 31, 2015. The contracts call for the employees to pay 10 percent of the health-care premium cost. Read more...

Marietta board discusses 3rd grade mandate (Marietta Times)

Questions and concerns about the state's recently passed third-grade reading guarantee were heard at the Marietta City Board of Education meeting Monday. Director of teaching and learning Jason Smith explained that portions of the guarantee - which requires children to meet a certain level of proficiency in reading or face repeating the third grade - will go into effect in the upcoming school year. However, it is unlikely any students would face retention at the end of the 2012-13 school year. Read more...

Middletown school’s pay more for BCESC services (Middletown Journal)

MIDDLETOWN — The Middletown City School District’s Board of Education entered into a contract Monday night worth more than $1 million with the Butler County Educational Service Center. The total contract is is approximately $140,000 higher than last year’s contract partly because it includes the salary of a new, shared business manager with Monroe. However, it will amount to a savings in the long run, according to Middletown superintendent Greg Rasmussen. Read more...

USV to pay former superintendent $39,000 (Lima News)

MCGUFFEY — The Upper Scioto Valley school board has come to an agreement with former Superintendent Rick Rolston, who the board fired in January. The board will pay Rolston $39,000. It is his per diem rate from Jan. 5, when the board voted to begin proceedings to terminate him, to April 25, when the board hired Dennis Recker to assume the position. Rolston, who came to the district in late 2008, demanded a hearing on the termination. A referee appointed by the state department of education recommended that Rolston’s contract not be terminated. Read more...

OAPSE union files grievance against Dawson-Bryant district (Ironton Tribune)

COAL GROVE — This year’s free summer lunch program was not a success for the Dawson-Bryant Local School District and the local Ohio Association of Local School Employees (OAPSE) union has filed a complaint with the district claiming the program displaced its workers, Superintendent Dennis DeCamp said at Monday’s board of education meeting. In past summers, DeCamp said, the school district offered summer meals to students in need, but the turnout was so low, thousands of dollars was lost on the project. Read more...