Local Issues

Brecksville-Broadview Heights school board meeting draws hundreds as teacher negotiations continue (Sun News)

Emotions ran high at the July 17 Brecksville-Broadview Heights Board of Education, as teachers, parents and residents asked tough questions of the board in front of a crowd about 300 people. Jeff Luce, who recently resigned from his post as Advanced Placement math teacher at Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School after 18 years, said he was concerned the board would bypass more qualified teachers for younger — and less expensive — educators. Read more...

No mediation sessions yet slated in NB contract talks (Findlay Courier)

NORTH BALTIMORE - North Baltimore school officials and the teachers' union are checking their calendars to arrange a date for a mediator to join stalled contract talks. An impasse in negotiations was declared recently and a mediator was contacted. "We're waiting for dates they have available," Eve Baldwin, the school district's treasurer and a member of the board's negotiating team, said Tuesday. Vacation schedules have made arranging a date challenging. Read more...

New Lex students to get iPads through lease deal (Times Recorder)

NEW LEXINGTON - Summer's end might be unwelcome, but New Lexington High School students will have a something to ease their pain this year -- free iPads. New Lexington City Schools recently signed a three-year lease with Apple. The district will pay $416,316 -- three payments of $138,772 -- and in return will receive 600 32GB iPads with WiFi. That equates to about $690 per iPad over the three-year lease. That's more than the $599 list price to buy a new iPad outright, but the New Lex deal also comes with a two-year protection plan. Read more...

District adds business chief (Tribune Chronicle)

WARREN - A former superintendent from Trumbull County is returning to the area to work at the city school district - as its executive director of business operations. Warren City Schools Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously appointed Michael Wasser of McDonald to the post. He was awarded a one-year contract, which provides an annual salary of roughly $90,000, effective July 23, 2012, through June 30, 2013. Wasser is replacing Michael Notar, who moved from the position to the high school principal's seat earlier this year. Read more...

Editorial

Promising plan (Findlay Courier)

Suppose, with one good idea, we could: Decide the fate of Findlay's Central Middle School after students move out this winter? Keep at least part of the beloved old school around for our lifetimes? Save a key property from becoming an embarrassing, gaping hole in Findlay's downtown, and huge parking lot for no one in particular? This seems to be the promise of a plan for a performing arts center built around the Central Middle School auditorium and unveiled to the public via the Findlay Board of Education. Read more...