Division I regional track finals
Fenwick graduation 2012
Ponitz graduation 2012
Home > Blogs > Springfield Schools News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > March > 17
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Board to discuss strategic plan
Greenon board members will meet in a work session Thursday night to discuss the district’s strategic plan, according to a notice from the district.
The board will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 19, in the media center at Indian Valley Middle School on Enon-Xenia Road.
The strategic plan and “discussion of any other business to come before the board” are the only things on the agenda.
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Schools recognized at PR conference
Two local schools were recognized at a meeting of the Ohio chapter of National Schools Public Relations Association last week.
Springfield High School’s brochure — a glossy full-color publication that features actual Springfield students and staff — and the “We Are Springfield High” committee were recognized at the awards. The brochure took honors for “Best of the Best” and the committee won a “Friend of Education” recognition.
Ohio Hi-Point Career Center, the career tech center that serves students in Champaign, Logan, Auglaize, Hardin and Union counties won a “Friend of Education” award for “Mark of Excellence” for the district newsletter and a “Best of the Best” for its Web site, both accepted by Shane Haggerty, communications coordinator.
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Local student selected for athlete of the month
If you stop at a Penn Station this month, you might recognize the student featured as March’s Athlete of the Month.
The Dayton-area contest selected Springfield High School Senior Abdul Wasey as their choice for the month of March. Wasey has played tennis and soccer for Springfield in addition to maintaining a 4.36 GPA.
I’ve met Abdul Wasey a couple times. When Gov. Strickland came to SHS last month, Wasey was one of the students he spoke to and the two of them were discussing green energy as they toured the halls. I distinctly remember hearing Abdul rattle off the name of the recently-selected Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, and wondering to myself how many high school students knew that.
Wasey is also in the school’s IB (International Baccalaureate) program and has been researching human trafficking as part of that. He brought a speaker to the high school to talk to students and community members on the subject in January.
Here’s what Penn Station had to say about Abdul:
The winner of the March Penn Station Athlete of the Month is Abdul Wasey. Abdul is being awarded for his outstanding athleticism in both Varsity Tennis and Junior Varsity Soccer. Abdul not only dominates in the high school sports world but he also excels in the classroom with a 4.36 grade point average at Springfield High School. He plans to attend college upon graduation and major in biochemistry or cognitive science. On and off the field Abdul is a great addition to the community. Abdul is the Vice President of Student Council, Treasurer of Key Club, a member of the Springfield Youth Chamber Orchestra, National Honor Society member, Hi-Q member, and in his spare time, a tutor at the Warder Literacy Center. For Abdul, “Discovering he had an artistic ability,” has been his greatest achievement. In honor of Abdul’s achievement as the Athlete of the Month, Penn Station will reward him with gifts, including a $500 grant towards Springfield High School. His picture will be hung in all Dayton area Penn Stations, personalized coupons for the entire student body, and he will be in the running towards a $5,000 college scholarship to be awarded at the end of the school year. Nearly 10 years ago Penn Station launched the “Athlete of the Month” program to showcase the extraordinary student athletes in Dayton. Since then, Penn Station East Coast Subs has awarded nearly $85,000 in award money and college scholarships. Eighty-five students have received “Athlete of the Month” recognition and nine have been awarded $5,000 college scholarships. “Abdul is a wonderful, positive influence in our Dayton community. We are pleased to add him to the list of winners and look forward to continuing to watch him excel,” says Kevin Osterfeld, President of Penn Station Dayton.
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UPDATE: Who applied to be Springfield’s next superintendent?
UPDATE: I just got the list of the six semi-finalists who will be interviewed by the board next week. Check tomorrow’s News-Sun for more but here’s the list of semi-finalists:
1. Audrey Donaldson, Leadership Coach,Chicago,IL 2. David Estrop,Superintendent,Lakewood,OH 3. Douglas Heuer,Superintendent, Youngstown,OH 4. Gail Mitchell, Deputy Superintendent,Mansfield, OH 5. Steve Price, Superintendent, Middletown, OH 6. Robert Sommers, Superintendent, Butler Technology Center, Hamilton, OH
I just got the list of applicants to be Springfield City Schools’ next superintendent.
Board members are still in executive session hammering out which six semi-finalists will be interviewed next week.
I’ll have those names up as soon as I get them but for now, see the complete list (names and current job title) after the jump.
Carole Ayanlaja — Calumet District 132 Principal, junior high and intermediate, Calumet Park, Ill.
Floyd Braid — i3 Training Services Inc., President and Chief Learning Officer, Cartersville Ga.
Stephen Covert — Spotsylvania County Schools, Director of Human Resources, Spotsylvania, Va.
Audrey Donaldson — Academy for Urban School Leadership, leadership coach, Chicago, Ill.
Thomas Donausky — School District U-46, executive director for secondary education (area superintendent), Elgin, Ill.
David Estrop — Lakewood City School District, superintendent, Lakewood, Ohio
I.V. Foster, Jr. — Prairie-Hills School District 144, superintendent, Markham, Ill.
Carla Franklin — Memphis City Schools, principal, Memphis, Tenn.
Luis Gonzalez — Mathis ISD, superintendent, Mathis, Tex.
Steven Greenfield — William Penn School District, assistant superintendent, Landsdowne, Penn.
Douglas Heuer — Austintown Local School District, superintendent, Youngstown, Ohio
Aquine Jackson — self-employed education consultant, former Milwaukee Public Schools Chief, Milwaukee, Wis.
James Kemp — Webster County Board of Education, superintendent, Dixon, Ky.
Aaron Mackey — Princeton City School District, superintendent, Princeton City, Ohio.
Timm Mackley — Ohio Department of Education, position not listed, Columbus, Ohio.
Michael McLoughlin — Chisago Lake Schools, superintendent, Linstrom, Minn.
Gail Mitchell — Mansfield schools, deputy superintendent, Mansfield, Ohio
Steve Price — Middletown City Schools, superintendent, Middletown, Ohio.
Robert Sommers — Butler Tech, superintendent/CEO, Hamilton, Ohio
Arthur Stellar — Taunton Public Schools, superintendent, Taunton, Mass.
Andrea Townsend — Brevard Public Schools, principal, Titusville, Fla.
Terry Truvillion — Detroit Public Schools, principal, Detroit, Mich.
James Turbeville — Tattnall County School District, superintendent, Reidsville, Ga.
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Why is Northwestern making cuts?
In tomorrow’s News-Sun, I am writing about Northwestern’s upcoming discussion of $500,000 in budget cuts.
Northwestern board members will consider this week a slate of cuts that officials say will reduce spending by $500,000 a year.
Superintendent Anthony Orr will recommend a plan that includes eliminating 6 full-time staff positions, reducing extra duties given to staff in supplemental contracts and delaying the purchase of a new school bus.
“Its my responsibility as a superintendent to be a fiscal steward for the community,” said Orr. “I believe in fiscal conservatism. It’s planning for the long term.”
If approved, the cuts would shave approximately $500,000 from the district’s budget for the 2009-10 school year, according to estimates.
Check tomorrow’s paper for more detail on the proposed cuts.
In an earlier conversation with Superintendent Tony Orr, he explained that the district was looking at these cuts to stay out of the red in the future.
It’s a bit more complicated than that. The district is not balancing its budget for next year (that’s already in place), but actually is reducing deficit spending.
This is how it’s working:
Just like households are recommended to keep a couple months’ rents or mortgage in savings, accounting practices recommend having a reserve of the cost of 60 days’ operations for school districts.
For Northwestern, that’s about $2.7 million, according to Orr.
In June, Northwestern will end this fiscal year with about that much left in its general fund, according to the district’s five year forecast. Districts do have other types of funds but those are regulated on how you can spend that money and likely wouldn’t be available to use to supplant general fund spending..
But if the district keeps spending the way it is, that reserve will drop to $1.6 million in fiscal year 2010 and about $130,000 in fiscal year 2011.
That means Treasurer Dave Bollheimer would have to predict all of the district’s spending in fiscal year 2011 within less than 1 percent of the budget. It also means that any unexpected expenses could dwindle that very modest reserve quickly. I don’t know any treasurer who wouldn’t be sweating over that small of a reserve.
If approved, the cuts the board will discuss Thursday will improve the district’s cash position in fiscal year 2011, according to Orr.
The cuts total about $500,000.
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