LIBERTY-BENTON LOCAL SCHOOLS

MONTHLY DISTRICT BOARD REPORT

DECEMBER 2005

 

  1. The Ohio Board of Regents publishes an annual study, listing the performance of our students attending any Ohio public college or university.  The purpose of this is to determine the levels of competence and college preparedness of students entering university and therefore indirectly judging the effectiveness and quality of education received at a particular school system. 

The data being shared by The Ohio Board of Regents is for the graduating class of 2003.  What is exciting to me is that this was the first L-B graduating class which was required to take a minimum of four college preparatory classes their senior year.  We felt the increased rigor would enhance student success at college level.

The results have been astounding.  This class at L-B had 93% of students entering college having completed the minimum core of college prep work, as compared to 70% of Ohio graduates, 68% of graduates in districts similar to L-B, or 79% of parochial school graduates.

The news gets better.  The average first term college grade point average for an L-B students was a 2.9, compared to an Ohio average of 2.7, a 2.7 for similar districts, and a 2.8 for parochial school graduates.

We now see what the impact of this requirement meant to the success of our students.  The college remediation rate for L-B graduates was 19%, down from the 30% remediation rate of the class of 2001.  This compares to a statewide remediation rate of 41%, a 40% remediation rate for similar districts, and 31% remediation rate for parochial school graduates.  While we have been “better” in this area the past 10 years, compared to other schools, we really made significant progress the past four years.

Not only does this address the issue of adequate preparation, but the level of persistence, or students continuing education improved for L-B graduates to 93%, up 4% from the year before.  This compares to a statewide persistence rate of 81%, a persistence rate of 81% for similar districts, and a persistence rate of 89% for parochial schools.

This data is overwhelming in its validation of what we are becoming as a school.  There will be continued improvement in our academic performance if we can continue to provide the academic and financial support to our students, and to continue to allow the administration and faculty the opportunity to create higher expectations with the needed support of the community.

At a time when schools are being questioned about their capabilities, I relish the thought of showcasing what we’ve become, and more importantly, of what we will yet accomplish over the next three to four years.

Last year, Newsweek published a list of the top 1000 schools in the USA.  Just for laughs, I wanted to see how their remediation rates compared to L-B’s 19% rate:

School                          Remediation rate                       2003-04 cost per pupil

Wyoming                                  22%                                         $9,126

Chagrin Falls                            20%                                         $10,305

Ottawa Hills                             9%                                           $10,650

Centennial                                47%                                         $10,758

Walnut Hills                              22%                                         $12,695

L-B                                          19%                                         $6,999

As stated by Erasmus, “Concealed talent brings no reputation”.

I find it interesting that no matter what “standard” is being used, we are doing fairly well.  I’ve included a more detailed report you should make yourselves familiar with.  (Item A)

  1. In the event of a pandemic and the need for a mass inoculation site, Liberty-Benton High School could be pressed into service, due to its ability to accommodate great numbers of people.  The Hancock County emergency services agencies believe we would need to move 70,000 people through our facility within a 3 day period.  I’ve reviewed the operational plan that would be utilized for our site, if needed.  If this were to occur, schools would be cancelled anyways.  In addition, our bus fleets might also be pressed into service to assist in mobilizing the victims in need of inoculation.
  2. Costs for per pupil expenditures were released for the 2004-05 school year.  The average cost per pupil in Ohio was $9052 per pupil.  The costs per pupil for Hancock County Schools were as follows:

School              Cost            Plus Percentages    Building        Staff         Pupil        Instructional

                        Per Pupil     Administrative       Operations     Support     Support

Arcadia             $7430               14.4%               18.8%             0.2%      8.4%        58.2%

Arlington           $8372               12.6%               17.8%             0.4%      12.7%       56.4%

Cory-Rawson    $8347               14.9%               22.2%             0.4%      11.5%       55.5%

Findlay              $8949               9.8%                 17%               3.3%       9.8%        60.0%

Liberty-Benton  $7220               11.5%               19.7%             0.9%      11.4%       56.5%

Van Buren        $7908               13.8%               19.9%             0.8%      10.4%       55.0%

Vanlue              $8342               17.4%               23.3%             0.5%      11.2%       47.6%

Ohio                 $9052               12.8%               18.7%             3%         10.1%       55.5%

  1. Ohio Board of Regents reports that 51% of graduates who do not complete a “college core” will need college remediation in the coursework.  The last data we have is on our graduating class of 2002.  L-B grads had a 30% remediation rate, which is comparable to the parochial systems in Ohio.  In the meantime, our 2002 graduates had a ACT math score of 20.5.  This has increased to 23.2 for our graduates of 2005.  the only “problem” is that we’ll not know their remediation rate until 2007.  However, the trend is very positive.
  2. There is a national “movement” calling for a “65 Percent Solution”.  This is actually being touted among some of our legislators as a way to ensure accountability and eliminate “frivolous” spending.  Standard and Poor’s conducted the accompanying research.  This study was designed for boards of education so they can study the future implications that will force schools, if and when this were to become statute.  (if you reference back to item #3, you’ll see that L-B ranks 3rd in the county with percentage of cost going to the instructional category.  Look at this to increase significantly over the next five years, due to our teacher salary indexes modification.)  Just for “laughs”, I placed our performance on the state grids.  This shows how much different all the state standards truly are.  (Item B)
  3. We faced some potential problems with our TIF, in that we might be subject to losing all the benefits we agreed to, because of the Division of Taxations interpretation of the rule.  I’m working with the commissioners and Findlay City to attempt to keep the benefits we agreed to in our TIF agreement.  As of 12-6-05, upon speaking with our prosecuting attorney, we should be “grandfathered” because the county bonded the TIF projects we entered in October.  There is some uncertainty, though, about the definition of “developer”.  It  appears by us working closely with county and city officials, and taking the appropriate action of approving the TIF’s when we did, may have prevented a loss of state revenue to the district.  Frankly, though, with the interpretation of the legislation regarding TIF’s that appeared this past month, I think we need to be aware of legislative changes that could reduce our funding in the area.  As of 12-12-05, upon speaking with our prosecuting attorney, we are okay.  The county issued bonds in late October, thanks to our timely approval of the TIF earlier in the month.  Secondly, I’d voiced a concern of a residential development being in the original TIF district, and it was removed at our request.  Had it not been, we’d have been subject to the new rules.  Because of this strategic move on our part (let’s call it dumb luck), we are now in safe harbor.  It really wasn’t dumb luck because this was an “issue” in New Albany four years ago I’d read about.  We can “breathe easy”, at least until the rules are changed on us again.
  4. I spent time speaking with business executives while on vacation, and we got to talking about schools and how we sometimes get caught up in “change for change’s sake”.  One exec told me that we should analyze our success and try to have a “sense of constancy”, especially if we are successful.  He shared how five of their plants were operating at 25% profitability in terms of sales.  With some lead management and board of director change-overs, “new ways” needed to be implemented.  Workforce and management needed to be scaled back, and changes needed to occur to stay “competitive”.  The result was, within 5 years company wide profitability of 2%, a weakened company, and a realization that maybe that the company just maybe “had it right” in the first place.  The moral of this lesson was to keep doing the good things, identify those things that can be made better, and sometimes “tweaking” has more merit than to “re-build”.
  5. In 2000, we presented a segment at OSBA on utilizing data for instructional improvement.  This led to us beginning the creation of a software product, which became very complex.  We asked our A-Site to assist in the creation of this, and as of today, we have 22 people engaged in creating this product, now called DASL.  We are undergoing training to go live with DASL this spring.  This project has generated so much interest, 135 schools will be using DASL by the end of the school year.  Schools need to “sign up” for the service, and 410 districts will be “DASL Districts” by spring of 2007.
  6. Attached are the “courtesy passes” to all winter and spring BVC sporting events as provided by the BVC through our Athletic Department.  (Item C)
  7. A FLSA “reading” just released, with an accompanying bullet point from our attorney.  It appears this is still “clear as mud”.  (Item D)
  8. Rod Winkle is willing to assist us with facilitation of strategic planning.  Looking at our school event calendar, we’ve found February 14, 2006 (planning meeting), February 21, March 21, and April 18 to be best suited (all of these are Tuesdays).  If we need additional dates, we can schedule these in later.  I asked about a fee for service, and Rod said he has none, but he’d gladly accept any donation the board would deem appropriate at the conclusion of the exercise.
  9. Upon reviewing our policy manuals, we’re finding that those holding these manuals sometimes misplace policy updates, or forget to pull the policies that are changed.  For this reason, and so community has access to school policies, I’m having them posted online.  This will help us all stay “current” and let our constituency view our policies, if they feel a need.  The cost for this is $3850, which is a one time additional cost.
  10. I’m initiating conversation to attempt to change statute, which would benefit L-B students and parents.  On one hand, we’re looking to enter into an arrangement with Oberlin College, and we’re also working with Owens Community College to do the same thing.  However, statute prevents us from working with state supported colleges.  I’ve “networked” with another public school who operates at a level nearly comparable to us (not as good, but close) to show our legislators we need to provide our students opportunities they may not receive otherwise, due to the high cost of post-secondary education.  The only real problem is political in my opinion due to revenue allocations.  We are functioning at such a high level, we have statewide credibility and we would de-rail the current attempts at destroying public education for schools like L-B.  Reasons why we need to be creating future opportunities:
    1. Students attending college increased 20% from 1996 to 2004
    2. More than 1/3 of Ohio college freshman attended one year after high school graduation.  (They also needed to find out that with diploma only, choices are limited.)
    3. Students taking a complete college core remediate at 15% versus 53% for less than minimum core.
    4. Stagnant college enrollments (Ohio avg. 55% in 1996, 57% in 2004).
    5. Even though we rank 2nd in Ohio among public schools in terms of lowest levels of remediation (19%) and highest level of persistence (93%), we owe it to our kids and community to stay at the forefront of positive change and providing more opportunities to ensure future high levels of success.
  11. Due to our “snow day” on Friday, I was unable to get my mid-month packets out. 
  12. Mr. Schimmoeller was able to get estimates on an 1800 square foot addition to the fitness center, which could be used for concession area, restrooms, and storage.  The exterior shell would be approximately $50,000 and the necessary plumbing and interior walls would be an additional $100,000 totaling $150,000.  As we move forward with strategic planning, this might be addressed as part of the greater issue of facilities.  While this may be an issue that can be addressed individually, it is part of a greater plan of facilities needs and use of grounds.  (Item E)
  13. One factor of student success not covered in my original report was the percentage of students taking the minimum college core who attend college.  We had 93% of our students complete the minimum core.  Only 17 schools in Ohio, 5 of them public, had a greater percentage of students take at least the minimum core than L-B.  They included Mansfield Christian, Medina Christian, Bethel Local, Brookfield, Cincinnati Mother of Mercy, Cincinnati Aiken, Cleveland Our Lady of Elms*, Columbus Briggs High, Columbus Eastmoor Academy, Columbus Bishop Ready, Columbus School for Girls*, Cuyahoga Heights, Christian Center Academy, First Baptist Christian, Fort Loramie, Gillmour Academy*, and Hathaway Brown*.  Only the 4 asterisked schools outperformed us.

Since we required the students to take more rigorous coursework the following happened to L-B graduates:

                        Minimum Core              % in Remediation          Persistence Rate

Class of 01                    74%                             46%                             90%

Class of 02                    82%                             30%                             80%

Class of 03                    93%                             19%                             93%

Realize that up to the class of 2001, we were limited in our instructional opportunities because we were all in one building.  The construction of the high school (Class of 96) allowed us to provide more rigorous opportunities, subject certified teachers, and we’d eliminated a grading system that had nearly half our graduates were considered “at risk”.  We’d always prided ourselves in our “stick-to-itedness”, but now we are able to provide higher quality education, resulting in greater levels of student academic success.  We maintained a high level of persistence, and increased minimum college core completion by 19% while driving down remediation rates 27%.  No matter how one wants to look at the data, the results have been significant and positive.  Now you see why I get nervous when lay people try to impose their points of view over the judgment of professionals.    

  1. I was reviewing the rules regarding board indebted ness for purposes of construction.  Schools now need Department of Education and Division of Taxation permission to seek these levels of indebtedness if indebtedness exceeds 4% (principal only).  We’re carrying indebtedness of 3.4 million, or 2.26% of valuation.  This gives us a bonding capacity of just under 3 million, as of today to hit 4%.  Just an FYI!  Four years ago our bond indebtedness was approximately 5%
  2. Looking into the future, with the Ohio Board of Regents remediation report, I think we should begin to look at attempting to create higher levels of performance.  Enclosed is a copy of my letter to a couple of our state senators ands state representatives.  (Item F)
  3. Emily DeWeese has resigned from her bus driving duties.  Jeff Schimmoeller has asked that Karen Crawford be recommended and hired as bus driver.  (Item G)
  4. Enclosed are copies of “The Board”.  (Item H)
  5. Brenda Frankart is asking for approval for the speech team to compete in Chicago January 19-21,2005.  (Item I)