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Take Survey Here!
April 26, 2013
INFORMATION ITEMS FROM MR. JIM KANABLE,
SUPERINTENDENT
As an update to the discussions on our new K-8
building:
1. The location to build would be on the
same site as the current high school.
2. No decision has been made on what would
occur with the current K-8 buildings and land.
3. Another community meeting will take
place in May at the HIGH SCHOOL CAFETORIUM.
The key discussion taking place with the Board
of Education is how to finance the bond with the
community. The total amount needed based
on current pricing is $19,704,000. There
are two options that the Board is exploring for
funding the project amount, a traditional
property tax issue and a combined income tax and
property tax. Under the traditional
property tax issue the district would be
requesting 6.43 total mills or $196.92 per
$100,000. of current property valuations.
From our first community meeting we were asked
to investigate the possible combination of
income tax with property tax as opposed to a
straight property tax issue. The smallest
increment by law is a ¼% we could ask for in the
form of an income tax. If that is used,
the current breakdown of this request is very
close to a 60/40 split. Current estimates
indicate that a ¼% income tax would lower the
mileage to 3.6 mils needed to meet the bond
obligation. ($110.25 for a $100,000. home at
current value.) This number however,
remains fluid. Income tax is not constant
and has shown a pattern of growth in our
district over the years. The commitment
would be to only collect in property tax what is
needed from year-to-year to cover what the
income tax did not collect. If history is
correct, then the property tax mils will
decrease over the 35 years of the Bond.
Thank you for your interest and support in
providing us with your thought on the
combination of income tax with property tax
versus property tax only.
Please take just a moment to answer one survey
question at the link above:
Click Here for Survey Information!
April 16, 2013
As we began the 2012-13 school year, many “new”
items were placed upon the schools across Ohio.
These included a new 3rd grade
reading guarantee, a new process for teacher and
principal evaluations, and an A to F report
card. During this year so far many other items
have either surfaced or resurfaced. I wanted to
use this format to inform our community on two
items that we have “chosen” to look towards.
First, we are in the process of surveying our
community on the possibility of a new K-8
building. I want to be clear that no decision
has been made at this point. We are conducting a
survey to receive feedback on this topic. From
that survey we will make a decision. Please take
the time to give us your input.
Some have asked me then why an architecture firm
has been hired. This is a recommendation of the
Ohio School Facilities Commission for schools in
our situation. We do plan to use OSFC money
available to the district, now a 45% share, if
any construction is done. I feel this issue is
an important one to look at now based on the
availability of funds from OSFC and the issues
we face with security and maintaining the
current structure.
Second, we are embarking on a move to have every
student with their own technology device. This
will include an IPad for students in grades K-8
and a laptop for grades 9-12. This move is paid
for mostly with Permanent Improvement money,
which is derived from our income tax collection.
It will be a three year process to pay for this
program. Some may ask why make this move.
Integrating
technology into classroom instruction means more
than teaching basic computer skills and software
programs in a separate computer class. Effective
tech integration must happen across the
curriculum in ways that research shows deepen
and enhance the learning process. In particular,
it must support four key components of
learning:active engagement, participation in
groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and
connection to real-world experts. Effective
technology integration is achieved when the use
of technology is routine and transparent and
when technology supports curricular goals.
-From Edutopia
Article
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VALUES
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EXCELLENCE
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COMMUNITY
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LEARNING
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LEADERSHIP
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MOTIVATION
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PEOPLE
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Liberty-Benton Rankings
 The
Ohio Department of Education will soon be
releasing rankings of all Ohio schools based on
multiple indexes
(the first of which will be Performance Index, a
measure of how well our students did on state
testing and most specifically how well they did
in achieving beyond the proficient category).
This initial list is not official, but in the
following school year it will become an official
measure of all Ohio Schools (per HB 153
requirements). Based on the results from
previous year’s data here are our rankings:
Our district is ranked 102/610 for all
traditional districts in the state.
Our district is ranked 112/989 for all
districts in the state. (Including
Non-traditional charters.)
Other county school rankings were:
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Van Buren |
80 |
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Arlington
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180
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Arcadia
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188
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McComb
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223
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Cory-Rawson
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273
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Findlay
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323
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Vanlue
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337
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Our High School is
ranked
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125/743
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Our Middle School
is
ranked
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87/643
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Our Elementary School
is
ranked
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599/1745
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The ODE will
eventually use these results to mandate
and/or enforce reforms in the lowest ranking
schools.
(Currently they are stating those in the
bottom 5%).
Also, on this report is the expenditure per
student for last year. The results are as
follows:
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Liberty-Benton
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$ 8,780
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Arcadia
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$ 9,456
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McComb
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$ 9,984
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Van Buren
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$10,039
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Arlington
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$10,271
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Cory-Rawson
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$10,367
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Findlay
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$10,376
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Vanlue
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$11,152
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