David Bressman - Worthington City School Board

Thank you for taking an active role in our school system.

												Elementary 
												program review
In August of 2006, the 
										Elementary Principals Team began a 
										journey to identify opportunities to 
										enhance the elementary program.   The 
										team is looking at improvement 
										possibilites for an already-excellent 
										elementary program. The common themes, 
										identified through extensive community 
										and staff discussions, will guide 
										recommended changes. The common themes 
										include:
Delivery (meeting each student's 
											needs, small class sizes, grouping 
											kids by learning style, interest, 
											etc., school calendar) 
											
Teacher qualification and 
											professional development 
											
Technology 
											
Building suggestions/issues: 
											(open spaces, labs) 
											
Tolerance, cultural awareness 
											and understanding 
											
Critical thinking, 
											problem-solving, creativity 
											
Parent involvement and support 
											
Community involvement, 
											education, support and 
											responsibility
As of September 2007, the elementary 
										principals have been engaging staff 
										members to share the yearlong review 
										process. Staff members will be involved 
										in developing a process for 
										change, data-gathering, research, and 
										benchmarking of best practices in 
										elementary education. In addition, each 
										school community will be invited to 
										participate in discussions about 
										creating the school that best meets the 
										needs of our students.
Please feel free to contact your 
										building principal for more information.

										
										http://www.worthington.k12.oh.us/district_news.php

July 3, 2007 - 
												Property Tax Savings Now 
												Available to Ohio Senior 
												CitizensSenior 
												citizens and disabled Ohioans 
												may now apply with their local 
												county auditor to lower the size 
												of the property tax bills on 
												their home through the 
												newly-expanded Homestead 
												Exemption. 

								
								
								Click here to read the rest of the article

								 

													In the continuing search for 
													truth amidst the hype, the 
													Plain Dealer provides a 
													much-needed, more balanced 
													view, of the proposed 
													Education Amendment. The 
													Amendment has a lot to cause 
													concern and many of these 
													are described below. 
													However, the Amendment's 
													critics have been noticeable 
													for a lack of an alternate 
													solution. Keep checking for 
													more updates on the 
													Amendment.

													 

													Ohio school 
													reformers say Maryland is a 
													model 

 

													Monday, May 28, 2007 
													
														Scott Stephens
Plain Dealer Reporter
Takoma Park, 
												Md. -- Helen Smith, the 
												principal of Carole Highlands 
												Elementary School, has plenty of 
												worries. Most of her 587 
												students come from working-class 
												immigrant families representing 
												45 nations. One-third have 
												limited English skills. Students 
												come and go from the school with 
												alarming frequency. Many live in 
												poverty.  But one thing Smith 
												doesn't have to worry about is 
												money.

								
								Click here to read the rest of the article

								 

											From the 
											Dover-New Philadelphia Times 
											Reporter. Mr. Farrell does a nice 
											job of summarizing, and putting in 
											perspective, the arguments of the 
											PROPONENTS of the suggested 
											constitutional amendment as well as 
											the arguments of the OPPONENTS of 
											the amendment. [I have learned that 
											positive and negative views are 
											verboten]. I'm not saying this is my 
											position or that it is not but I do 
											admit to some degree of fatigue with 
											those on both sides of the 
											amendment. The time for adult 
											conversation about school funding in 
											Ohio may have finally arrived. Then 
											again, given the dialogue in 
											Worthington to date ... maybe not.

											 

											Wake me up when school funding 
											formula is fixed

											By DICK 
											FARRELL, T-R Editor

								
								Click here to read the rest of the article

								 

								Public 
								Schools Are Overachievers. No, Really

										A 2006 
										study by the National Center for 
										Education Statistics, the statistical 
										arm of the U. S. Department of Education 
										found that private schools have higher 
										NAEP test scores than public schools. It 
										also found, though, that private schools 
										have more rich kids and fewer poor kids, 
										fewer special education students, fewer 
										English Language Learners, and fewer 
										minorities.

								
								
								Click here to read the rest of the article

								 

Click here to view the document Board Bits from the 03/27/07 School Board Meeting.

Click here to view, (or right click to download and save to view offline), the PowerPoint presentation used by that was used at the BOE work session in May of 2006. It was developed as a result of the work of the Committee of 16. It was covered by both newspapers on May 25, 2006. Several options were discussed, including the "value added" concept.

								
								Worthington School Board Welcomes Newest Member

								I'd like 
								to welcome OSU Law Professor Charles Wilson to 
								the Board of Education. There were 26 
								applicants, 21 of whom completed a supplemental 
								questionnaire. Of the 21, 5 were selected as 
								finalists. Narrowing the list to 5 was extremely 
								hard as each applicant had much to offer. A 
								public forum was recently held and feedback 
								received on the 5 finalists. Any 1 of the 5 
								would have been an excellent choice but a 
								decision had to be made and Charlie was the 
								choice. He will make an excellent addition to 
								the Board and I look forward to working with 
								him. Here are some links regarding the 
								appointment:

								
								
								Board opts for Wilson (SNP Online)

								
								
								Wilson named new school board member (This Week 
								News)

								 

								House Bill 
								648 (HB648)
								As 
								Introduced

								Legislation has recently been introduced that 
								would enhance the current homestead exemption 
								program (HB648). It increases the qualifying 
								income level to $50,000 and applies a 10% tax 
								"circuit breaker"; in effect, the bill would 
								prevent qualified applicants' from paying real 
								estate taxes that exceed 10% of their income.

								Suggested Amendments

								Two amendments have been suggested that would 
								benefit this legislation. 

									1) Decrease the circuit breaker to 5% of 
									the qualified applicant's income

									2) Apply a limit of $1,200 as the maximum 
									credit allowed. 

								The effects of these amendments would be to 
								allow a greater number of persons a tax credit 
								while assuring that credits aren't excessive.

								
								
								http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/BillText126/126_HB_648_I_Y.pdf

								
								
								http://www.franklincountyohio.gov/auditor//Consumer/HMSTD.ppt [PowerPoint 
								Presentation]

						Worthington Board of Education looks to fill a vacancy:

								Want to make a 
								difference? Interested in serving your 
								community?  Board member Gary Tyack just got 
								elected to the Court of Appeals [congrats to 
								Gary]. Gary's term would have expired next year 
								so we still need someone to fill his seat for 
								the remainder of this term and, hopefully, run 
								for a full term next fall. Here is a link to the 
								application:
								
								www.worthington.k12.oh.us/pdf/boeapp.pdf

								 

								After applying, I presume 
								the board will have a public forum for the 
								candidates [not my idea, not a big fan of this 
								idea truthfully] sometime in mid-January. I 
								expect selection to occur in the last board 
								meeting in January. Details subject to constant 
								change!

						Board News - October 2006
The staffs at Evening 
						Street Elementary and Worthington Estates Elementary 
						were awarded the 2006 SOAR Award for High 
						Progress.  This award, presented by Battelle for Kids, 
						is designed to acknowledge Ohio Schools participating in 
						SOAR for their high academic progress in multiple grade 
						levels and subjects over the last three years (school 
						years 2004-2006).  They are among the top 5 percent of 
						schools making exceptional growth with their 
						students. Two other schools, Granby Elementary and Slate 
						Hill Elementary were also identified as high progress 
						schools placing just beyond the top five percent 
						eligible for the award.

						

						On Monday, October 30, 2006, district treasurer Jonathan 
						Boyd presented the annual five year forecast to the 
						Board of Education.  This update includes a number of 
						reductions recommended since the defeat of the May, 2006 
						operating levy as well as some savings from lower than 
						projected costs for insurance and natural gas.  Perhaps 
						most noteworthy is a projected general fund balance of 
						slightly more than $946,000 through the 2009 fiscal 
						year.  The passage of Tuesday's bond issue will 
						necessitate another revision to the five year forecast 
						as bond issue funds would be used to cover capital costs 
						now identified in the general fund.  This would decrease 
						annual expenditures and likely increase the available 
						balance.  Overall this is good news for the schools and 
						the community and shows tangible evidence of district 
						efforts to operate more efficiently

Confused about how to find your Board of Elections or information about candidates or legislators? Want to download voter registration, early voting application or poll worker forms. A quick link to all of this information is found at www.candidatenight.org which describes itself as "dedicated to making every Ohioan's VOTE and VOICE heard". This site aims to provide you with the resources you need to be fully informed about your voting rights. We also want to help prepare you to ask your candidates important questions about how they plan to make Ohio a better place to live, work and raise a family. We'll even give you sample questions."

I haven't read the whole site but the links are useful.

Who supports private schools? Books, computers, buses, but also rules

							BY DENISE SMITH AMOS | 
							ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Joanne Browarsky's sixth-graders at St. Cecilia 
						elementary in Oakley read science books stamped 
						"Property of Cincinnati Public Schools." ... Across the 
						region and state, private and religious schools get tens 
						of millions of dollars in taxpayer support each year ...
						read the rest of 
						the article here

						As 
						an example of how Worthington Schools uses stakeholder 
						resources wisely, I thought you ought to know that:

						 

						Worthington City Schools has been awarded the Governor's 
						Excellence Award in Workers' Compensation.  The Governor 
						selected six recipients in the state of Ohio for this 
						honor in 2006 - Worthington City Schools (Worthington), 
						City of Marysville (Marysville), Mack Iron Works Co. 
						(Sandusky), Interstate Cold Storage Inc. (Columbus), 
						Cleveland Plumbing Supply Co. Inc (Chagrin Falls), and 
						Messer Construction (Cincinnati).  A reception was held 
						at the WEC board room on August 11, 2006 at 3:00pm.  The 
						Governor's office and the Bureau of Workers Compensation 
						will be presented the award to Jonathan Boyd, 
						Treasurer/CFO, on behalf of Worthington City 
						Schools.  According to the treasurer, Worthington is 
						only the 2nd school district to be so honored.

						 

						From the Bureau of Worker's Compensation website:
						http://www.ohiobwc.com/employer/brochureware/gea/winners.asp
Worthington Schools, Worthington

						This school district in Columbus� northern suburbs gets 
						high grades for its ongoing efforts to develop an 
						effective workers� compensation and workplace safety 
						program. The district, which consists of 20 schools and 
						provides services to more than 9,000 students, has seen 
						a decline in workers� compensation claim frequency, 
						severity and reporting lag time by: 
Using available BWC resources; 
							
Teaming with BWC, its managed care organization 
							and its third party administrator to proactively 
							manage claims; 
							
Participating in the Capital Area Safety 
							Council; 
							
Implementing a transitional work program 
							beginning with the 2005-2006 school year.
Worthington Schools has also 
						implemented crisis teams and training to facilitate 
						quick response times in the event of an emergency. 
						Automated external defibrillators are also available in 
						buildings district-wide.

Posted July 26, 2006

You may have heard that the district is considering an income tax. Since this is a new idea for this district, it may be difficult to figure out if you are hearing the whole story. The link below is to a document from the Ohio Department of Taxation - if the link does not open for you, you may need to copy and paste the link directly into your internet browser. This publication is, to my knowledge, the most complete, non-partisan, explanation of a school income tax. We still need to discuss whether an income tax for Worthington is, at this time, fair and appropriate.

Click here for Guide to Ohio's School District Income Tax

(document is in PDF format which requires the free Adobe Reader to open)

Link to 2005 Articles and Archives

May 2006 Levy Related

Link to 2004 Articles and Archives

Some interesting Websites:

email me

01/27/2008

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