LIBERTY-BENTON LOCAL SCHOOLS

MAY DISTRICT BOARD REPORT

DENNIS L. RECKER, SUPERINTENDENT

Enclosed is the latest edition of “The Board”. (Item A)
At our last local superintendent’s meeting, we had the opportunity to listen to a state finance official provide a synopsis of an attendance audit at one of the “electronic” schools. One e-school is collecting state and local revenues for 6000 students statewide. Last year, 60 of the students graduated. Assuming that 500 of these students were seniors, that is a graduation rate of 12%. I spoke at length with a teacher at one of the other electronic schools. He has 150 students assigned to him. 60 students have yet to complete any work. 90 are working, 30 of the 90 appear to be “on track” to completing their coursework. Last year, only 20% of the electronic school students took their OGT’s. This year it appears 98% have tested. The solution was, by one of the schools, to provide the students $100 to take the test. Another school had a drawing for plasma TV’s and other “goodies”. What is kind of humorous about this is the teacher I talked to has seven years of service with electronic schools and is very good at his work. The parents and students he serves are now beginning to dictate to the teachers what they will or will not do. The public school was failing, so the electronic schools were the alternative. What now is to become the alternative to the alternative? I just found this kind of “interesting” to say the least.
I receive a publication directed to people 50 and older which provides another point of view on the impact of the possible TEL amendment. Note the enclosed article. Yes, I’m a card carrying AARP member. (Item B)
We had a court hearing in Seneca County which we, (L-B) were requesting a change regarding us being charged for a special education student’s education at another school, due to the parent being incarcerated in the ROC. This was “huge” because if the original court order were left to be intact, L-B would be liable for all students on IEP’s whose parents were “residents” of the ROC. Other schools would clamor for inmate transfers so their costs could be shifted to L-B. K.C. Colette, assistant prosecutor, went to court on our behalf at my request and we’ve had the original order vacated. There will be a final ruling later this year, but to date, all looks favorable for us. (I received notice late Friday, 5-5-06, that L-B is not responsible for these costs.)
University students working to become teachers are now provided broad experiences before they enter the profession. This card caught my eye and comes from what used to be a neutral college student. (Item C)
As you see the expenditures of the district being dictated by federal or state statute, it might be interesting to see the acronyms our principals and teachers work with on a daily basis. This was part of the reason I asked for additional supervisory support last year. This is an area which is now so specialized, we need to not only be current, but nearly perfect in following this legislated protocol. I’m also attaching a report showing 8 months of time and how much we’ve used the SERCC, (Special Education Regional Research Council) as our served population increases. (Item D)
Friday, April 28, was spent in meetings. A luncheon meeting was hosted by BGSU’s Division of Educational Administration and Leadership Studies with guest speaker, Senator Joy Padgett, Ohio Senate Education Committee Chair. Discussion centered on the new Ohio core and singling L-B out as an example of how to achieve this goal. From there, it was on to the agency of the North Central Campus for Emerging Technologies. This is a very good concept in terms of re-vitalizing American manufacturing with engineering innovations and servicing as an incubator for Hancock County. Where I see us in this picture is, 1. L-B graduating high performing students and 2. introducing a concept of innovation, which will eventually “fed in” to the NCC-ET concept. I’m enclosing a sample of our last meeting so you can “get a feel” for what this group is attempting to accomplish. (Item E)
Enclosed is an article from Newsweek regarding the nation’s top 1000+ high schools (they forgot L-B). I researched the performance of the schools in Ohio that qualify, and placed L-B “in the mix”, using other data points that are relevant to determining the success of the student, thereby directly reflecting on our status as a system. I then pulled those same data points from our state comparison group, and finally from our county. This gives us a board an executive perspective using 3 different sub-groups. This also provides credence to what we are attempting to initiate with different universities. I’m sending this to them and to our legislators. I’m also sending a copy of this to Newsweek.

To give credit where credit is due, while the press and researchers focus on the end of school career performance indicators, and rightly so, these successes could not have been achieved without the positive learning experiences of our elementary and middle school. Along with the students and parents, credit should be extended to the teachers and our support systems, and especially to the building principals, past and present, who seriously take the responsibility of improving learning.

Colleges require students to take college boards (ACT) and then they look at level of student preparation for purposes of remediation and secondly, persistence, or the ability of students to continue into their second year of college. Stacking L-B in with the top schools in the nation, (and of the 17 Ohio Schools specifically named), how did L-B students fare? This data comes from the Ohio Board of Regents, Class of 2003, Newsweek, and Ohio Department of Taxation. (Item F)

Fed Adj Gross Ohio Rank Newsweek Perf School % taking ACT % of students % onto

Financially National Rank ACT Avg remediated year 2

Persistence

$42,268 185 65 Walnut Hills 94% 25 23% 88%

$126,360 5 97 Chagrin Falls 88% 24 20% 86%

$96,943 13 99 Wyoming City 93% 24 22% 87%

$34,363 449 286 Columbus Altern. 95% 22 29% 86%

$38,585 275 451 Perry 90% 22 46% 84%

$80,790 21 463 Aurora 88% 22 36% 85%

$74,801 30 706 Madeira 82% 24 26% 93%

$143,792 3 725 Ottawa Hills 94% 24 9% 83%

$102,230 10 777 Bexley 89% 24 19% 93%

$97,830 12 830 Upper Arlington 91% 24 18% 92%

$109,332 8 848 Hudson 95% 24 16% 92%

$87,457 18 896 Sycamore 91% 24 22% 90%

$73,964 23 947 Mariemont 91% 23 32% 83%

$72,701 31 956 Centerville 81% 24 27% 87%

$62,541 47 1042 Massillon Jackson 92% 22 35% 88%

$34,363 449 1100 Centennial 89% 19 47% 77%

$77,490 27 1133 Bay Village 93% 23 25% 85%

$50,311 89 (14^th) No ranking L-B 93% (5^th) 23 (11^th) 19% (3^rd) 93% (1^st)

These 17 schools were awarded recognition by Newsweek, and deservedly so. Liberty-Benton could not be listed, due to lacking the attributes sought, (AP/IB) by the Newsweek authors. However, when other criteria commonly used to determine success were used, and if we made ourselves the 18^th school in this list, how would we fare?

Percent of students taking ACT 93% (5^th highest)

ACT average score 23 (11^th)

Percent of students needing college remediation 19% (16 of 18) 3^rd best performance

Percent of students entering sophomore year of college 93% (1^st)

Rank of wealth by federal tax return 89^th in Ohio, 14^th of 18 listed schools

This is the hard data of performance that Liberty-Benton now enjoys, after years of hard work on the part of staff and students. Not only do we test well, our students maintain high grade point averages, and to go along with college entrance scores, have the lowest recorded levels of college remediation and the highest rates of persistence, or successfully moving into their second year of college. Add to this, the fact that 80% of our seniors already meet the proposed Ohio Core, tentatively scheduled for implementation in 2011, that 60% are involved in athletics and another 20% are involved in the arts and music, you begin to see what makes this district a place, “Where Eagles Learn to Soar”.

If we take the earlier format and apply it to those schools we are compared to in Ohio, what results are attained?

Fed Adj Gross Ohio Rank School % taking ACT % of students % onto 2006-07 Balance

Financially ACT Avg remediated year 2 in terms of per
Persistence pupil reserve

$50,311 89 (6^TH) L-B 93% (3^RD) 23 (1^ST) 19% (1^ST) 93% (1^ST) $3538 (1^ST)

$42,532 179 Bluffton 89% 23 52% 96% $1270

$50,945 83 Pleasant 92% 21 52% 88% $1398

$45,360 130 Berlin-Milan 92% 21 38% 73% $950

$55,142 65 Huron 94% 21 33% 85% $625

$51,784 79 Newbury 85% 22 41% 82% $973

$49,198 97 Fairbanks 100% 23 28% 89% $1354

$41,334 199 Berkshire 91% 21 46% 87% $221

$46,812 114 Lakeview 91% 22 43% 87% $282

$44,300 145 Woodmore 88% 20 35% 92% -$202

$47,706 105 Buckeye 95% 21 37% 87% -$696

$41,872 190 Swanton 63% 22 51% 67% $1010

$45,141 137 Monroe 89% 20 52% 82% $828

$45,874 123 Columbia 84% 20 64% 84% $1751

$50,607 86 Bloom Carroll 77% 22 48% 68% -$392

$45,279 131 Greenon 80% 20 69% 79% $378

$41,812 191 Eastwood 93% 22 41% 85% -$578

$41,701 194 Northwestern 82% 22 40% 76% $1079

$38,168 294 Margaretta 93% 21 49% 70% $1350

$51,874 79 Tipp City 91% 22 34% 91% -$43

$58,158 54 Big Walnut 85% 21 54% 84% $67

Hancock County schools comparison: L-B Rank (2^nd) (1^st) (1^st) (1^st)

$42,014 187 Arcadia 90% 21 43% 90%

$40,693 214 Arlington 93% 21 47% 76%

$38,635 272 Cory Rawson 91% 22 41% 84%

$35,918 393 McComb 81% 20 64% 76%

$51,012 81 Van Buren 97% 22 32% 89%

$39,197 256 Vanlue 93% 20 83% 87%

$44,439 144 Findlay 86% 22 34% 82%

Since costs and annual increases bring about discussion, we know that salary costs alone without a base salary improvement increases this budget area by 3% per year due to incremental growth based on negotiated agreement. Any base increase automatically increases that level even more. Add to that insurance premium increases (national trend of 15% per year), and we find ourselves facing energy cost increases, material increases, additional staffing needs for specific student population sub-groups, with the end result being unable to specifically address what an annual cost increase would be.

Looking at seven of the Ohio school “most similar” and including the following gives a perspective of how varied costs can be:

School 2003-04 CPP 2004-05 CPP % difference 2006-07 Balance on per pupil basis

Liberty-Benton $6999 $7221 +3.2% $3538

Bluffton $6826 $7278 +6.6% $1270

Pleasant $6260 $6627 +5.8% $1398

Berlin Milan $7597 $7897 +3.9% $950

Huron $7565 $8133 +7.5% $625

Newbury $8950 $8632 -3.5% $973

Fairbanks $7859 $8444 +7.4% $1354

Berkshire $7678 $8072 +5.1% $221

Sadly to say, these balances can disappear overnight, either if we are not careful, or if we get unforeseen expenses. While we reduced costs the year we failed our levy, we held to 3.2% growth for 2004-05. However, with our need for teaching specialists and aides, we will see increases that will deplete our balance.

FYI! Hancock County 2003-04 CPP 2004-05 CPP

Arcadia $7478 $7430 -0.6%

Arlington $7521 $8372 +11.3%

Cory-Rawson $7724 $8348 +8.1%

McComb $7184 $8250 +14.8%

Van Buren $7581 $7907 +4.3%

Vanlue $8438 $8341 -1.1%

Findlay $8825 $8949 +1.4%

L-B $6999 $7221 +3.2%

10. Enclosed are two policies that we will have a first reading on. (Item G)

11. In May’s “American School Board Journal”, I came across these two articles that provide insight as to the
long term implications for the board and its responsibilities to the community. (Item H)

12. An update from BGSU per their vice-provost. (Item I)

13. “A Critical Position in Critical Condition” addresses the complexities of school district leadership. (Item J)

14. Strategic planning documents on the job outlook are enclosed for your review. (Item K)

15. Attached is the resignation of Kristy Milligan, elementary teacher. (Item L)

16. I’ve been asked to be a member of another committee and am enclosing a copy of its agenda. I’ve agreed to serve because it does have direct implications to our children, staff, and community. (Item M)

17. Looking at different sub-groups that we place ourselves in, what is our return on investment? I’ve compared us to Newsweek’s top 1000 schools, Hancock County, and the state designed 20 school comparison schools. The following information is rather compelling:

School Cost per pupil 2004-05 Overall Expense Instructional Administration

Walnut Hills $12,734 $7100 (55.7%) $1665 (13.1%)

Chagrin Falls $10,984 $5817 (52.9%) $1438 (13.1%)

Wyoming City $9744 $5809 (59.6%) $1370 (14.1%)

Columbus Alt. $11,145 $5662 (50.1%) $1394 (12.5%)

Perry $14,436 $6409 (44.4%) $1963 (13.6%)

Aurora $9253 $4905 (53%) $1359 (14.7%)

Madeira $10,172 $6012 (59.1%) $1104 (10.9%)

Ottawa Hills $11,504 $7567 (65.8%) $1226 (16.2%)

Bexley $11,538 $6908 (59.9%) $1171 (10.1%)

Upper Arlington $11,359 $6948 (61.2%) $1127 (9.9%)

Hudson $9978 $5557 (55.7%) $1054 (10.6%)

Sycamore $12,688 $7081 (55.8%) $1509 (11.9%)

Mariemont $10,383 $5847 (56.3%) $1157 (11.1%)

Centerville $8794 $5414 (61.5%) $692 (7.9%)

Massillon Jackson $7937 $4371 (55.1%) $806 (10.2%)

Centennial $11,145 $5662 (50.1%) $1394 (12.5%)

Bay Village $10,109 $5328 (52.7%) $1482 (14.7%)

Liberty-Benton $7221 18/18 $4080 (56.5%) 7/18 $827 (11.4%) 11/18

Looking at our own county, we get the following results:

School Cost per pupil 2004-05 Overall Expense Instructional Administration

Arcadia $7430 $4325 (58.2%) $1068 (14.4%)

Arlington $8372 $4724 (56.4%) $1052 (12.6%)

Cory-Rawson $8348 $4268 (51.1%) $1241 (14.9%)

Findlay City $8949 $5312 (59.4%) $878 (9.8%)

Liberty-Benton $7221 8/8 $4080 (56.5%) 4/8 $827 (11.4%) 7/8

McComb $8250 $4735 (57.4%) $11443 (13.9%)

Van Buren $7907 $4352 (55.0%) $1093 (13.8%)

Vanlue $8341 $3973 (47.6%) $1449 (17.4%)

Also, if we look at our own comparison group, note the results:

School Cost per pupil 2004-05 Overall Expense Instructional Administration

Liberty-Benton $7221 17/20 $4080 (56.5%) 10/20 $827 (11.4%) 19/20

Bluffton $7278 $4178 (57.4%) $843 (11.6%)

Pleasant $6627 $3811 (57.5%) $888 (13.4%)

Berlin-Milan $7858 $4785 (60.1%) $939 (11.9%)

Huron $8133 $4689 (57.6%) $980 (12.0%)

Newbury $8632 $4807 (55.7%) $1368 (15.8%)

Fairbanks $8444 $4323 (51.2%) $1209 (14.3%)

Berkshire $8072 $4318 (53.5%) $907 (11.2%)

Lakeview $6995 $4007 (57.3%) $872 (12.5%)

Woodmore $8028 $4702 (58.6%) $1025 (12.8%)

Buckeye $8122 $5014 (61.7%) $1024 (12.8%)

Swanton $7077 $3797 (53.7%) $1220 (17.2%)

Monroe $10,352 $5244 (50.7%) $1403 (13.6%)

Columbia $7830 $4280 (54.7%) $1018 (13.0%)

Bloom Carroll $7767 $4316 (55.6%) $1051 (13.5%)

Greenon $7285 $3844 (52.8%) $1027 (14.1%)

Eastwood $8265 $4450 (53.2%) $914 (11.1%)

Northwestern $7250 $4128 (53.2%) $813 (11.6%)

Margaretta $8367 $4478 (53.5%) $977 (11.7%)

Tipp City $7191 $4122 (57.3%) $945 (13.1%)

Big Walnut $8245 $4569 (55.4%) $1021 (12.4%)

            Compared to the schools that were part of Newsweek’s top 1,000, we can see there is a significant
            difference in the resources expended on a per pupil basis. On top of this, I begin to see a huge discrepancy
            regarding what is called the “65% Solution”. L-B is last in actual dollars spent in instruction, but in the top
            half as a percentage of those dollars spent in instruction, but in the top half as a percentage of those dollars
            spent on instruction. I believe that this goes to show that while political analysts purport to have all the
            answers for public education, that until they could experience the actual impact of such a “cure”, are simply
            posturing a financial position for political gain.

To provide more insight, Swanton was just removed from state receivership, and eliminated all services, other than the most essential, and provided a “bare bones” education. They actually have the largest percentage of revenue dedicated to administration (17.2%) of any schools on any list. This shows how flawed the concept of a “65% solution” really is.

This provides more of a contextual basis in which to look at how we allocate our resources, and again Liberty-Benton is positioned well academically.

If we create an aggregate performance of the 45 schools listed, L-B ranks 41 of 45 in cost per pupil, 40^th of 45 in actual dollars per pupil for instructional purposes, yet 19^th of 45 in the percentage of dollars directed to instruction. Administratively, we ranked 42 of 45 in actual dollar per pupil spent administratively and 35^th of 45 in the percentage of dollars divested for administrative purposes.

Within any of these sub-groups, or in the aggregate, we excel academically and operate very efficiently, and are actually under-staffed in some areas, particularly in administrative support. Instructionally, however, next year we will be having a net gain of at least 3 teachers on staff. Due to our efforts in meeting the No Child Left Behind regulation, two of these teachers will be special education certified. Also, due to the needs of this sub-group of children, we will need to supply more teacher’s aides, at a cost yet to be determined.

18. The future of passing levies becomes more difficult each year. This is a “breakdown” of how different types of operating issues fared. (Item N)

19. At the last L-B alumni association banquet, I presented the plaques to Nancy Holley (21 years of service), Bruce Depinet (14 years of service) and Tim Oller (6 years of service). These people, pretty much by themselves, kept the alumni group functioning. With the lessening of attendance though, this group has formally disbanded. Have “got wind” of this possibility, I felt that on the boards behalf, recognition was due to these individuals.

20. We need to renew our membership in the Ohio High School Athletic Association for 2006-07.

21. We have been selecting some staff to help our increased need areas. We have offered employment to Stephanie Boyer, middle school intervention specialist, and Lindsey Pester subject specialist in the middle school math area.

22. I’m enclosing the last 3 year cycle of the budget for our natural gas consortium. Expenses increased 44% over a two year period, even after our reduced costs, compared to the open market. I posed a question to our board of directors that if schools face future constitutional spending restrictions, then logic dictates that all our expenditures are limited. What would be the impact upon us, if we have a utility increased rates 20% and we’re held to a 3.5% or less cap, depending on the school district? We also negotiated a 15% reduction in transmission costs through attorney Klassen with Columbia Gas for the schools who are part of the consortium. Even with our purchasing leverage, we still have the reality of significantly increased expenditures. (Item O)

23. I met with American Red Cross representatives to review their request to use LBHS, particularly the gymnasium as a mass care shelter. This is in case there is a pandemic. We have an agreement with St. Catherines to do the same for short term care in case they had a disaster. With a 40 square ft. minimum space required per victim, the gym could accommodate up to 250 victims. This agreement is in addition to us being an immunization site. Frankly, we’d be used a s a mass care shelter first because it would be 6-8 months of the initial pandemic before a flu serum could be manufactured for mass utilization. Also, any of our food stocks that might be used for victims and volunteers would be reimbursed to us.

24. Enclosed are copies of “The Board”. (Item P)

25. I’m recommending that we nominate Anita Schoonover as a candidate for All-Ohio School Board.
Our nominees tend to get the recognition they deserve on the behalf of the district because of our
good reputation, and when appropriate, based on service and board/district accomplishments.

ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Liberty-Benton Board of Education

May 15, 2006

As of today, we have the following number of students in our elementary program:

Apr. 2006

Pre-school - 25 (1 section – ½ a.m. & ½ p.m.) ( 25)

Kindergarten - 73 (4 sections – avg. class 18.0) ( 72)

First Grade - 78 (4 sections – avg. class 19.5) ( 78)

Second Grade - 101 (5 sections – avg. class 20.2) (101)

Third Grade - 82 (4 sections – avg. class 20.8) ( 83)

Fourth Grade - 102 (5 sections – avg. class 20.4) (102)

Fifth Grade - 102 (5 sections – avg. class 20.4) (102)

TOTAL (K-5): 538 School Average: 19.9 (538) Average (19.9)

(563 with pre-school)

The 5^th Grade Band and Eagle Singers did a wonderful job again this year presenting their spring performance! Thank you to Mr. Thomas, Miss Santilli, and Mrs. Norris for all they put into their program and their students. What is awesome is how well these students are able to perform and they are only beginning.

We plan to have our annul Outstanding Attendance Breakfast for our 4^th and 5^th grade students on Friday, June 2^nd. Students are invited to attend providing they have 3 or less absences and/or tardies for the year. Parents are also invited to attend with their child for this event. The breakfast includes a breakfast casserole, sausage links, muffins, juice, milk, or coffee. We are projecting to invite approximately 85 students this year between the two grades (75 students a year ago). Mr. Horstman, Mrs. Gazette, and Mr. Burkett will be serving the students and their parents that morning.

We are planning our summer intervention program again for this summer. The dates are slated for August 14 through August 25 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon each day. This will serve students finishing grades 1-4 (going into grades 2-5 in the fall). We plan to have the teachers and aides working with the summer intervention program approved at the June board meeting, after being posted first. We will also be continuing to provide the special education intervention program as well during this same time.

Our PTO is the planning process for a K-8 school carnival in the fall (September 30^th). We plan to have games, food, and definitely a lot of fun! More information will be coming later as expected. We look forward to being able to have an event where we can come together as a community and have fun, while at the same time benefiting our PTO programs.

Our School OISM (Ohio Integrated Systems Model for Academic and Behavior Supports) Leadership Team has been nominated by the Northwest Ohio SERRC for the Walter-Horn Partnering for Progress Award, awarded by the Office of Exceptional Children. We are in our first year of participation with this model which promotes a comprehensive school-wide prevention and intervention model that provides support systems which address both academic and behavioral needs of all our students. I want to say thank you and congratulations to the team that has worked hard and put countless hours in this year to help make our school more effective in academics and behavior. The team includes Deb Ebert, Rhonda Fawcett, Barb Gazette, Ken Horstman, Tonya Gierke, Nancy Cramer, Carol Waldman, Lisa Dager, as well as me. The team will be invited to Columbus next fall to be recognized at the Partnering for Progress Program. The winner (chosen from all SERRC nominees) will be announced at that time. Again, I am very thankful for such a dedicated team of people. Together with the full elementary staff, bus drivers, cafeteria, and custodians, we have helped create an improved environment for education at L-B Elementary!

UPCOMING ELEMENTARY EVENTS:

(May be viewed on website under elementary section – event calendar)

May 17 2^nd Grade Fieldtrip to Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum

May 18 Elementary Picnic Color Day & Field Day

May 19 2-hour Delay (collaboration)

May 23 PTO Meeting

May 26 5^th Grade Fieldtrip to COSI

May 29 No School – Memorial Day

May 30 PTO Carnival Planning Meeting 7:00 p.m. @ Elem. Café.

June 2 4^th & 5^th Grade Outstanding Attendance Breakfast 8:00 a.m. Elem. Café

June 8 Last day of school for students

June 9 Teacher workday

Steven M. Gfell

Middle School Principal’s Report

April 18^th, 2006

1. Enrollment Numbers

8^th Grade................................................................... 101 (20.2 Per class)

7^th Grade................................................................... 92 (18.4 Per class)

6^th Grade................................................................... 95 (23.7 Per class)

Total......................................................................... 288 (20.5 Per class)

2. School Improvement Challenge

The Challenge was a wonderful success. I am still collaborating with staff members to implement some of the changes that were proposed. Suggestions ranged from adding a wrestling team to building a land lab to adding two new classroom doors to eliminate hallway overcrowding.

3. Camp Storer

At this point, the peeler card sale is in full swing. A number of students are selling peeler tickets to help defray the cost of the trip. I recently conducted informational meetings for parents as well as a meeting for those who have volunteered to be cabin leaders. The program has grown dramatically in two years. I had to beg parents to go as leaders the first time, and now I may have to turn fifteen away.

4. Shifting of Staff

As some of you may have heard, I have been moving staff in the Middle School. At times I imagine that “Gfell” has become a four letter word. This has been tough process, and it has been draining, but I think that all of the moves will positively impact student instruction.

5. Lisa Lammers and the Golden Apple

As you know, 8^th grade English teacher Lisa Lammers was a semifinalist for the Findlay Rotary’s Golden Apple Award. She was one of three nominees to be honored at the Weinbrenner Theological Seminary by the Rotary. Unfortunately, Lisa was not selected as the winner; however, all of the selection committee members were very impressed with her.

6. Projectile Week

May 31^st through June 2^nd will be 8^th grade Projectile Week. No, this is not a week of bad programming on the Discovery Channel. 8^th grade students have been studying projectiles, force, velocity, etc. lately, and the final culmination of this will be the aforementioned week. Mr. Homburg, Mr. Long and Mr. England have diligently built a giant slingshot from 2x4’s and surgical tubing (it frightened me how much they enjoyed it). Students will attempt to launch a rubber ball into a target zone 100 yards away using calculations that were learned in class. In addition, students will build and launch their own rockets.

7. Handbook

Attached is the 06-07 Handbook. Please look it over. I ask that you approve it in June.

8. Upcoming Events

See online calendar.

HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
Board of Education Meeting
May 15, 2006
6:00 P.M.

1.) Third Nine Weeks Attendance - Our third quarter attendance rate overall was 95%. The seniors and freshmen were tied with the best grade level attendance rate of 96% each for the third nine weeks.

2.) Fourth Quarter Interim Reports and Third Quarter Grade Cards - Our final midterm reports of the year were mailed home to parents on May 4^th. There was one complication with one student’s third quarter grade card and the grade point average calculation. We have repeatedly checked everything from our end, and everything is working properly. It involves a student who dropped a class right before the end of the first semester and avoided taking the class’s exam, but the folks at the A-site are trying to straighten out the bug from this in DASL. All other students’ report cards were fine, but no one else had dropped a class as in this particular situation. As far as I understand, the A-site staff has not issued the fix to this bug yet, but they should have it resolved fairly soon I expect.

3.) DASL Grade Point Averages - Many people have been nervous about any unforeseen grade point average changes as a result of the DASL switch-over and the media coverage of the Cory-Rawson situation. We have repeatedly checked our reports, and the directors at the A-site have confirmed for us, too, that we are fine and grade point averages for us will be calculated as usual.

4.) Summer Intervention For The OGT - We do not have our March results back for the sophomores and juniors who took the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT), but I am planning for us to offer the summer intervention program as we have always done. As soon as we receive our OGT results in late May, we will immediately start inviting students to participate. I have already discussed the program with my staff, and I already have four of the five areas covered with staff if we need them.

5.) Summer Physical Education And Health Classes For Summer 2007 - Recently, letters were mailed home to parents of incoming freshmen to let them know in advance that we plan to run summer classes of physical education and health in the Summer of 2007. By doing so, we hope to appeal to two grade levels of students who may wish to take the classes in the summer; therefore, keeping more room on their schedule for other classes during the year. As we were brainstorming ideas for offering the classes this summer, we decided we would most likely get better numbers enrolled if we communicated the offering in advance and then waited to appeal to two grade levels next summer. Denise Matson is planning the physical education curriculum, and Joyce Jackson is preparing the health curriculum.

6.) Concessions And Restroom Facility For The Stadium And Track Area - I know we have briefly discussed building a facility for restrooms and concessions over the last couple of years, but I am sincerely hoping that we are getting much closer to building such a facility! For the record, I wanted to stress how badly we need such a facility in our stadium and track area. It becomes more and more frustrating and embarrassing all of the time as we receive so many positive comments about our school, stadium, track, athletic programs, events, etc….only to receive even more negative comments about the lack of a restroom and concession building. I know I can probably speak for Mr. Recker and Mr. Butler when I say we are constantly nagged and reminded of this needed structure throughout both football and track seasons, which is a huge part of our school year. Our community members, our teams and parents, the local sportswriters, other area schools, ….all frequently let us know that they do not like the portajohns at all! I really do not want to buy another concession tent out of my lowly budget when they simply do not last long in our windy area outside by the field, but the many different groups who run the concessions as a form of a fundraiser for their organizations feel we are responsible for providing them a concession stand in which to operate. Recently, when the Coke trailer is not available and a tent cannot withstand the weather and wind, the folks running concessions have started to operate out of the fitness facility. This has generated a lot of complaints from the parents who raised the money for the fitness facility, and rightfully so. They want the fitness facility to stay nice, and that will not happen if we have a lot of water tracked into that flooring! The fitness facility was built for fitness, not concessions, and I agree with those folks that if we need a concession and restroom structure, it is our responsibility to build it. How much longer will we be putting this off?? I do not mean to sound irritated, but this a very frustrating issue because we do not have a sound alternative! Also, I am in need of a staff member who will be interested in running the junior class concessions for next year, and I know that no one is eager to do it anymore because of the lack of facilities and the constant hassle with operating in various types of weather out there. I just want to make sure that this is an item at the forefront of our radar!

7.) Spring Concert – The band and choir had a nice turn-out for their Spring concert on May 9^th. The choir did a very nice job, and the band sounded awesome! We could definitely hear why the band received an Excellent rating of II at the State level. This was the best they have ever done at State competition. Congratulations to Zach Thomas, Sarah Santilli, and all of the band and choir members on a job well done!

8.) Spring Sports - The baseball and softball teams are playing pretty well, and the track teams broke the BVC records for the most points earned in the conference championship meet for both the girls’ and boys’ teams. Unfortunately, it looks like we are still likely to lose the all-sports award this year to Arlington based on the points earned for each sport. Overall, we have had a fantastic sports year, too!

9.) Franklin B. Walters - Senior Jon Edel will receive the Franklin B. Walters award and be honored during a special luncheon at the Findlay Country Club on May 21^st. Congratulations, Jon!

10.) Handbook Review - Thank you for approving the high school handbook for the 2006-2007 school year. I will save money for printing costs by getting this to the printer by May 17^th.

11.) Prom - This year’s prom, “A Night To Treasure,” was one of our best ever! There were no problems, and the decorations were fabulous. Congratulations to the juniors and their advisors, Julie Todd and Lauree Miller!

12.) Teacher Appreciation Week - Mr. Horstman and I ran the grill on May 5^th for a special cook-out lunch for the entire high school in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week. Thanks Mr. Horstman for your help!

13.) Scheduling For Next School Year - The process is going well. We will be making our first run of the schedule this week to see if we need to make any changes, or not. DASL has been pretty easy to use for this process.

14.) Academic Awards Night - Invitations will be mailed this week for students being honored during our Academic Awards Night on May 25^th. In June, I will hopefully have some impre