Due to reduced local and state funding and increased operating costs, several attendance areas in the Northeastern Local School District are suggested to be altered for the 2013-14 school year. Redistricting attendance areas will allow Northeastern to reduce transportation operating costs, while still maintaining a balance of enrollment between schools. Currently, there is a portion of the district in which the district buses to multiple attendance areas.

Beginning in August of 2013, the new attendance border will be State Route 4. All areas north and west of Route 4 not a part of Northridge will now be within the Rolling Hills attendance area. Students living south and east of Route 4 will now be a part of the South Vienna attendance area.

This change will affect two current routes (Bus 4 and Bus 19). For example, the current route for Bus 4, which is north of State Route 4, will now be Rolling Hills Elementary, Northridge Middle School, and Kenton Ridge High School attendance areas. The current route for Bus 19 will be South Vienna Elementary, South Vienna Middle School, and Northeastern High School attendance areas.

Students affected by redistricting, who wish to remain at their current school may apply and will be accepted for intra-district open enrollment. Seniors affected by the change, who wish to remain at Northeastern High School, will have priority to ride an intra-district transfer bus. This bus will pick up and drop off students from the park and ride lot in New Moorefield.

Student Impact (Reference Attached Maps)

Forty-seven (47) students will be redistricted to a school in which they DO NOT CURRENTLY attend. The students impacted by this proposal are as follows:

• Seventeen (17) students living in the Rolling Hills attendance area and currently attending Rolling Hills Elementary will now be in the South Vienna Elementary attendance area [Map #1].
• Twelve (12) students currently living in the South Vienna Middle School attendance area and attending SVMS will be shifted to the Northridge Middle School attendance area [Map #2].
• Eighteen (18) students living in the Northeastern attendance area north and west of Route 4 and currently attending Northeastern High School will be shifted to Kenton Ridge. Five (5) of these students will be seniors who will have priority to be bused from the New Moorefield park-and-ride [Map #3]. 

Fifty-one (51) studentswill be redistricted to a school in which they CURRENTLY attend. The students impacted by this proposal are as follows:

• Ten (10) Kenton Ridge High School students currently residing in the Northeastern attendance area will now be living in the attendance area they currently reside [Map #4].
• Nine (9) Northridge Middle School students living in the South Vienna Attendance but attending Northridge Middle School will now be living in the attendance area of the school in which they attend [Map #5].
• Thirty-two (32) South Vienna Elementary students, currently living in the Rolling Hills attendance area but attending SVES, will now be living in the attendance area of the school they currently attend [Map #6].

Fiscal Impact

Fiscally, the redistricting will save at least, an estimated $11,000 plus annually.

Communication

• Discussion by the Board at the May Regular Meeting.
• Letter home to parents affected by pending change will be sent during the last week of May.
• Recommendation for Board approval at the June Regular Meeting.
• The 2013-2014 district bus schedule will be published in the Communicator and mailed to all community members in early August.

In an effort to meet the changing needs of our students, Northeastern is currently moving forward with designing and implementing our own Northeastern Virtual Learning Program (creatively named NEwhere) as well as improving instruction and assessment across the district. The need for this program is two fold. In order to provide our students with the most relevant and comprehensive education possible, students need flexibility in taking courses and to be provided more curricular opportunities. Consistent with this argument, our teachers also need more up-to-date and comprehensive instructional resources.

The design of these programs could look like one of the following:

• A home schooled student who takes courses at home or virtually but benefits from having access to highly-qualified, Northeastern faculty.
•  A Northridge student who attends onsite full time but would like to take an accelerated math course.
• The Rolling Hills class, whose teacher uses educational software to assess and differentiated language arts intervention, instruction, and enrichment for her class as part of the normal school day.
• A Northeastern High School student who takes an online chemistry course but participates in the labs offered at one of our high schools.
• A South Vienna student who is involved in an accident and will miss school for an extended period of time but can still access the curriculum virtually at home.

From a district perspective, Northeastern loses over $400,000 in per student funding each year to charter, online, and community schools. Any investment in building virtual and blending learning options will not only broaden the opportunities for our current students. In short, the district cannot afford to miss the opportunity to build these programs in order to remain competitive with other districts and educational providers. Here is a link to a web page we are currently developing to showcase the program www.nelsd.org/NEwhere.aspx. 

Good Morning Everyone!

This week across the nation communities are taking the time to celebrate the staff that work with their young people everyday. Since all of us work in schools, we understand the importance in the life of a child of the chance conversation, the yell of encouragement at a ball game, or the extra few minutes spent with a student attempting to master a particular skill. We also are well aware that our students learn much more from us than about science, math, or English. Our students learn ways to respond to adversity, or appropriate ways to handle success, or how to treat one another from the ways adults at their school handle the same situations. In short, our jobs, whatever they may be, touch the lives of children everyday. Because of this fact, our work has meaning and importance.

While our district may be challenged financially, we are rich when it comes to the effort, professionalism, and altruism of the adults that work with our young people. Thank you for your efforts today and everyday.

Also on Tuesday, the Ohio House introduced Sub HB59, which is a substitute budget bill. At this point, the governor’s proposed budget, which projected Northeastern to be flat funded for two years and then to lose over 1 million dollars annually, has been disregarded. This is extremely good news for our district.

On Tuesday of this week, ODE released simulations for future report cards based on last year’s data. As you may recall, recent legislation has altered the way our district and school report cards will look beginning this August. Although an overall grade of A-F will not be given to districts and schools for the next two years, A–F scores for individual areas of performance will be given beginning this August, I have listed below the categories to be graded and the scores our district would have earned had the system been in effect this year:

·         Performance Indicators: A

·         Performance Index: B

·         4 year graduation rate: B

·         5 year graduation rate: B

·         Value Added: All Students: A

·         Value Added: Gifted Students: B

·         Value Added: Lowest achieving 20% of students: A

·         Value Added: Special Education: A

·         Annual Measurable Objectives: D

This week internet-searches, social media exchanges, and television viewing across the country has focused on the NCAA basketball tournament and all the madness that it brings. Perhaps one of the allures of watching the tournament is to see the proverbial “Dave” from the small upstart conference beat “Goliath” hailing from one of the larger BCS conferences. As each of the teams enters the tournament, no matter how long the odds, everyone is looking for their “One Shining Moment.”

As districts across the state grapple with the possible effects of the Governor’s proposed budget (HB 59), I could not help but think about Northeastern and our role as underdog in terms of school funding. Northeastern receives a little over half of its operating funds from local sources, about 43% from state funding, and a small portion (4%) from federal grants. Due to a variety of factors including but not limited to the passage of just one operating levy since 1998, a decline in property values, cuts to state funding, losses in stimulus monies, etc., revenue for our current school year is projected to be approximately $2,200,000 dollars less than revenues from four years ago or a decrease about 8%. As part of the district strategic plan, our district has established fiscal benchmarks and strategies in order to ensure the effective stewardship of public dollars. NELSD reduced the general fund budget over $1,100,000 last year to move back a potential FY14 deficit another year. The district is poised to conduct the same level of reductions in FY13 to move the deficit back an additional year.

According to the state budget proposal our district like the majority of school districts in our state is projected to be flat funded. In reality, Northeastern has lost over $1,000,000 in state aide since FY09. Particularly troubling for our students, however, is the fact that the funding proposal includes over $1,100,000 dollars in “guarantee funds.” After the conclusion of this budget, the guaranteed funds are all but guaranteed, and it is anticipated that these funds would be reduced altogether. In comparison, the $1,100,000 dollars that Northeastern would lose is over $400,000 more than any other district in Clark County. This further reduction in funding coupled with the current state of financial distress of the district would be disastrous. Since state funding has now shifted to larger suburban areas, this can be likened to the NCAA equivalent of the more affluent districts playing the part of #1 Kansas and Northeastern playing #16 Western Kentucky.

Northeastern like all the teams that earn berths in the NCAA tournament has performed well this year. In terms of academic performance for districts, Northeastern moved up 56 places in the state rankings. In terms of academic growth, NELSD moved up several spots to rank 140^th of 832. From a per pupil spending aspect, initial projections on ODE’s website indicate the district has the 77^th lowest per pupil spending rate of the 612 traditional districts in our state. Keeping with the NCAA tournament analogy, Northeastern would not be on the bubble. We are performing and deserve an opportunity to compete. This opportunity should come in the form of additional state funds.

It may be difficult to comprehend, but Ohio’s proposed budget for education may well be more controversial than the NCAA selection process. The proposal comes as a great benefit for suburban districts (by coincidence many of whom compete in power conferences) and a detriment to small, rural, or otherwise poor districts. If the idea is to provide all students, regardless of zip code, a quality education then a better formula must be developed and implemented which would hold districts like Northeastern harmless from aspects like “guarantee funds.” If the educational portion of the budget is passed as proposed, it will become more like the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), which rewards schools not solely on performance but on stature.

It is important to note that the budget includes a number of significant methods to increase funding to private and charter schools. Interestingly enough, in the most recent state performance index rankings out of 942 schools and school districts, the lowest 93 were charter schools. Expanding vouchers and funding to private schools at the detriment of traditional schools in many cases is akin to our schools being invited to the “big dance” and requiring the team that went 0-30 during the season to come along for the ride.

The 3^rdgrade reading guarantee and HB 555 require teachers who currently teach in grades KG-3 to meet certain credentialing standards in order to instruct students who are identified as needing further improvement and monitoring in reading. The Ohio Department of Education is due to release additional ways that teachers could become credentialed by the end of the week. Right now, one of the four ways to become credentialed is to obtain your K-12 reading endorsement. Working cooperatively and capitalizing on an established partnership, Wittenberg and Northeastern have partnered to offer the reading endorsement to our teachers. The program will be taught using a blended curriculum (i.e. a mix of onsite and online coursework) and be team-taught using both Wittenberg and Northeastern faculty. South Vienna Elementary teacher, Kiley Anderson is helping to facilitate these classes.

Cohort teachers will complete ten semester hours of coursework including a practicum prior to the end of August. The twelve teachers enrolled in the program will be tutoring NELSD students in reading over the summer as part of their practicum. Further demonstrating a creative way to solve this program, Northeastern was approved to use Race to the Top money to assist district teachers with the cost of tuition. Both schools are hoping to offer future cohorts in order to credential more teachers.

For our teachers, it is important to understand that the 3^rdGrade guarantee does not mean a mass reduction in force or a cavalcade of involuntary transfers. Although this will be influenced by ODE’s announcement this week, the district is currently drafting a plan to submit to ODE, which provides districts with an additional year to meet credentialing requirements.

The Board of Education met last evening to conduct its regular March business meeting. As part of the consent agenda, the Board approved a number of actions regarding personnel. As a matter of routine, the Board acted to nonrenewal supplemental contracts. Though the district has been inconsistent on this practice in the past, the action to non-renew is routine and consistent with our contract. The Board will take action to employ coaches and advisors for the upcoming 2013-2014 school year beginning in April.

As part of the action agenda, last night the Board approved an agreement with Electronic Security Services to use permanent improvement funds to significantly upgrade the security of and limit the access to each of our buildings. EES is contracted to install an intercom system, video camera, and doorbell in each of our schools. Visitors to each of our buildings will notify the office upon arrival and be approved for entry. The locks on outside doors across the district will be changed to support this improved security. Staff members will be issued key fobs to allow for building access. Since December among other safety strategies, each of our buildings has conducted a safety audit. Among the common recommendations across the district was to improve limiting access to each building.

During informational updates, the Board discussed several scenarios for placing a levy on either the August and/or November ballots. Information was presented to the Board on how a 6 mill or 8 mill property tax and a .75%, and 1% earned income tax levy would improve the fiscal well being of the district. The Board discussed the four options and will continue this discussion at a special meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 4^that the Central Office.

Prior to concluding the meeting, the Board met in executive session to consider the appointment, employment, and/or compensation of a public employee and/or official.

Last week the Ohio Department of Education [finally] released the official report cards for last academic year. While the actual information was released in spreadsheet form in the fall, the final results had been held due to inquiries into attendance reporting in nine districts around the state. Because this information was previously released, our district has been able to celebrate the fact that the performance of our students once again helped the district earn a rating of Excellent with Distinction. In addition to the state’s top rating, Northeastern students achieved at a higher level than ever before and continued to show above expected growth when compared with students around the state.

At the time when this information was released, it was pointed out that for our district to achieve our goal of “…becoming one of the Premiere districts in Clark County and beyond,” our students would have to continue to improve in comparison to students in other county districts, in surrounding counties, and in districts designated similar to us by the state. After all, our students are already competing with these students in terms of college admittance and scholarships and in the workplace.

As part of the release of the final report cards, the state also released rankings for school districts, community schools, and STEM schools in terms of academic performance (Performance Index) and academic growth (Value Added). I am happy to report that our Northeastern students showed improvement in the state rankings in both areas.

NELSD students improved greatest in comparison to the rest of the state in terms of academic achievement jumping 56 spots from 326^th to 270^th out of a possible 942 districts. The district also improved its ranking compared to county districts (up 1 to 3^rd), surrounding districts (up 2 to 13^th of 26), and similar districts around the state (up 2 to 17^th of 21). In terms of academic growth, Northeastern students moved up five spots to rank 140^th of 832. Similar to academic achievement, the district ranked 3^rd in Clark County in this area.

The goal of any organization is to improve given multiple measures. In a business it may be to improve market share and to increase revenues. In schools, it is to ensure that our students are achieving at an increasingly higher level and regardless of their academic skills, growing at a quick pace. I am very proud of our students, staff, and community and their efforts to improve. Thanks to all of you who worked diligently day in and day out to better the future of our students and of our community.

The Northeastern Board of Education approved the 2013-14 Academic Calendar at its February 28^th, 2013 Regular Meeting. You may access a copy of the calendar here.

The Northeastern Board of Education met in Regular Session on Thursday, February 28^th, 2013. During the meeting the Board approved routine personnel matters, accepted donations, and approved overnight trips as part of the consent agenda. Trips to the regional and state wrestling tournaments as well as to Camp Wilson were approved with funding coming from the athletic fund and student contributions respectively.

Of note on the action agenda, the Board adopted the 2013-14 academic calendar, purchased a new 77 passenger bus with funding from the Permanent Improvement account, and approved moving both the March and April Regular Board meetings up one week due to conflicts. Board meetings are now scheduled for Thursday, March 21^stat Northeastern High School and Thursday, April 18^that Kenton Ridge High School. Both meetings will begin at 6:30 pm.

The Board also passed several resolutions pursuant to SB 342, which outlines requirements in increasing individual staff member contributions to STRS. Finally, the Board hired Dr. Jack Kramer (no relation to the superintendent) as the district’s Mental Health Consultant pursuant to the settlement agreement with the Department of Justice.

The Governor’s Office released funding projections for districts based on his school-funding proposal yesterday. For Northeastern, this was much ado about nothing as the current proposal indicates that the district will be flat funded for the next two years. Particularly troubling for Northeastern is the fact that the flat funding proposal includes over 1.1 million dollars each year allocated to the district as a part of “Guarantee Funds.” Information that we received at last Thursday’s Budget announcement indicated that these funds are not “Guaranteed” past the biennium. Although many details of the plan are yet to be understood, the proposal seems to shift increases in funding to a number of large suburban districts. The explanation for this by the administration was that these districts saw increased enrollment and declining housing values over the past few years. The administration has noted that the estimates will change throughout the budgeting process.

As I have mentioned previously, we still need to be extremely cautious when considering the aspects of being flat funded. While funding may stay the same, expectations for districts as a result of policy decisions in Columbus often have financial implications. For example, when considering the staffing and professional development direct and in kind costs of the 3^rdgrade guarantee, districts will once again be in a situation where more and more reliance will be shifted to the local taxes. Couple this with the scheduled end of Race to the Top funding next year and the outlook is even more bleak. Currently, we use a large amount of our RttT funds to provide professional development to our staff. Without this funding source, our district will have an increasingly difficult time effectively meeting the training needs of our staff.

In our district, our five-year forecast approved in October reflected a slight increase in state funding. This was reasonable given the information at the time (and the information released as late as last Thursday). The five-year forecast is updated in May of each year. Given the current funding proposal and other contributing factors, it appears the district’s projected deficit in FY15 will grow from $650,000 to at least $750,000 - $800,000.

This simply means that the district will continue to implement cost reduction strategies and be forced to place another operating levy on the ballot this November. The stakes, however, will now be much higher. Cost cutting measures alone can only be successful for a limited time. As years pass, it becomes more and more difficult to find a large amount of savings through spending reductions. New revenues will be essential simply to maintain current programs. Based on the information that we received yesterday, these revenues will not becoming from the state.

This Columbus Dispatch article includes a recap and a searchable database for districts around the state.

Over the past few weeks, our district has partnered with QBase a local technology firm to assess and make recommendations for improving our district’s support and implementation of technology. Recently, the company spent two days visiting district schools, observing processes, and interviewing key staff members to learn more about our district and our needs. It is extremely important to note that QBase has provided this service at no cost to Northeastern, which is a savings of thousands. I would like to express a heartfelt thank you to Kevin Schleinitz, Vice President of QBase and a Northridge and Kenton Ridge parent, for providing this service.

The district’s Race to the Top team met this past Tuesday to determine a process for approving Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) and for implementing the new Ohio Teacher Evaluation System beginning next fall. This is a huge undertaking as the committee is working out a plan for drafting, revising, and approving approximately 80 SLOs over the next 25 weeks. A large amount of this work will be completed leading up to and on our District’s final waiver day of this year, April 8^th. 

The SLO approval process is important, especially in the short term, as only about 25% of teachers currently have value-added data in which to base their evaluations. The remaining teacher evaluations will be based on the collaboratively developed SLOs. It is expected that once the new state assessments are implemented, approximately 80% of all teachers will have access to value-added data. More information on this process will be forthcoming from Mr. Blazer, your building principal, and our teachers who are working as part of the Transformation team.

Today, schools around the country and as well as around our district will showcase innovative digital learning activities as a part of the 2^ndAnnual Digital Learning Day, which was created by the Alliance for Excellent Education. This organization is a national policy and advocacy organization that works to improve the implementation of policies across the country in order to better student achievement particularly in the area of 21^stcentury skills. Here is a link to the national #DLD site: http://www.digitallearningday.org/ 

This event comes at a perfect time for our district as we have seen a great increase in the effective use and access to technology in each of our schools. At the beginning of this school year, I challenged our district administrators and our teachers to learn, model, expand, and implement more successful technology integration strategies. We are beginning to see more and more evidence of this as our administrators and staff as whole are becoming more versed with our district learning management system (LMS) - Schoology, are participating in professional development and sharing best practices via Twitter, and are seeking cost effective solutions to bolstering our curricular through the expansion of online programs.

This shift in perspective is demonstrated today and throughout this week in some very creative ways. For example, Rolling Hills Elementary teachers have committed to “paperless days” this week as they rely on technology to help facilitate instruction. In other buildings the staff are using programs such as Sketchpad to teach Geometry concepts,www.pollanywhere.com as a means for formative assessment, and Schoology’s online assessment tool to administer a class assessment. If you are doing something digital and unique in your classroom, please be sure to sign up and share these activities. You can do so by accessing signing up at E-Tech’s website: http://www.etech.ohio.gov/digital-learning-day-learning-activity.

I was one of several hundred people who attend Governor’s Kasich’s announcement of his school-funding plan. While this speech was more about policy and less on specifics, districts around the state breathed a sigh of relief when a promise that no district would receive less state funding than the year before was made. We must temper our enthusiasm when considering this statement, however, because during the previous two years (beginning in 2011) overall educational funding for our state was cut 1.6 billion. The new budget is set to increase educational funding at 1.4 billion not quite recovering to the level of previous cuts. This funding level, however, does not take into account the cost of the various components of the bill including broader support for college options, an expansion of vouchers, an inference of requiring gifted services for all students that qualify, etc. While it appears that we have established a new “normal” when districts are happy to learn that funding will not decrease, we must be extremely cautious of the direct or indirect costs with any policies, programs, or mandates included within the budget. Individual district simulations are due to be released later this week. It is assumed that districts will then truly begin to see the possible ramifications of the proposed budget.

Please remember that the Governor’s Budget is still only a proposal introduced for our state representatives and senators to approve along with the rest of the budget. The budget must be approved by June 30^th of this year. It is quite possible/probable that the original proposal will change prior to it being signed into law.

I have listed below a member advisory from our state’s superintendent, school board, and treasurer associations. All credit for the following information is given to these organizations.

###

Damon Asbury, OSBA

Tom Ash, BASA

Barbara Shaner, OASBO

Re: Governor announces school funding plan

As you are no doubt aware, Gov. John Kasich unveiled his plans for changing Ohio’s education and school-funding system in a meeting yesterday with school superintendents and community school leaders.

Calling the plan, “Achievement Everywhere: Common Sense for Ohio’s Classrooms,” the governor and his staff reviewed the proposed new funding system’s concepts. 

After reviewing the initial release of information, we were encouraged to see the following concepts:

• 5.9% and 3.2% increases in base funding for fiscal years (FY) 2014 and 2015, respectively.

• Funds targeted to lower-wealth districts.

• No change from existing levels in the Tangible Personal Property (TPP) and Utility Tangible Personal Property (UTPP) tax replacement payments.

• No districts would receive less money than they do in FY 2013.

• Funds targeted for special needs students and for equal access to early childhood education.

• Grant funds available to help districts investigate innovative programs to maximize resources.

• $8 million for school safety grants.

• Proposed relief from certain mandates.

We are concerned about the proposal’s expansion of “choice” options and what impact that might have on school districts. It is still unclear exactly what is included and what the long-term effects on districts will be.

You may find a link to the governor’s website explanation of the plan here.

We do not have enough details to fully evaluate the plan at this time. The governor’s staff indicated that district-by-district spreadsheets should be available as early next week that will show the effects of the proposal for each district. We expect to learn more as the budget process continues. The governor will present his budget proposal to the legislature on Monday with his “blue book,” which will outline the administration’s priorities for the biennium. We expect the legislative language for the budget bill itself to be released sometime later this month.

We look forward to working with the governor, his staff and the legislature as the budget process moves through the General Assembly. If you have questions, feel free to contact us.

The Northeastern Board met twice in January, once to organize and once in regular session. During its organizational meeting the Board voted Doug Murphy, President and Leonard Kadel, Vice President. The Board established the fourth Thursday of each month as its regular meeting date, except in the months August, November, and December when the Board will meet on the third Thursday. Each meeting will continue to begin at 6:30 pm and rotate between each high school.

At its January meeting the Northeastern Board of Education voted unanimously to adopt a policy on assessing fees for student participation in interscholastic athletics and activities. The district adopted the policy as part of a greater plan for decreasing general operating expenditures as it seeks to close a projected $650,000 deficit by the summer of 2014.

In order to develop the policy, the Athletic Council, which is comprised of Board representatives, athletic directors, and administrators across the district met several times to review current athletic expenses, participation rates, and examples from districts currently implementing a similar policy. The new Board policy requires a $125 fee be assessed for each high school sport. A lower rate of $75 will be assessed for marching band and cheerleading due to the current expenses students already encounter with these activities. Middle school interscholastic participation will be $75 per season with middle school cheerleading being assessed a $45 fee. Participation fees will include the costs of mandatory athletic drug testing as outlined in current Board Policy.

As part of the policy the Board also designated both an individual and household limit on participation fees. No middle school student shall pay more than $150 and no high school student more than $250 in combined participation fees for the academic year. In addition, each household shall not pay more than $500 in combined participation fees for the academic year. When recommending the exact fees, the Athletic Council attempted to develop a fee schedule, which was respectful to our community members, comparable to surrounding districts, while ensuring a source of revenue to offset the large cost of extra curricular programs. During the last school year, the general fund for the district was charged approximately $650,000 in athletic expenses. It is expected that this policy will recoup about $100,000 when fully implemented. 

It should be noted that the fees could rise significantly if the district does not secure new operating revenues within the next year. You may access a copy of the policy here.

Good Afternoon Northeastern Local Parents! This is a reminder that all district schools will begin Wednesday, January 30^thon a planned two-hour delay for professional development. The two-hour delay will be used specifically for staff training on anti-harassment strategies and to identify student achievement measures needed for the soon to be implemented new teacher evaluation system.

On another note, I would like to invite all of our parents to take part in an online survey regarding district finances. Specifically, the survey is asking the community for further suggestions for reducing the district’s operating expenses. Northeastern recently adopted a Pay-to-Participate policy and will be involved in another round of staffing reductions this spring. All of these efforts are needed to push back an operating deficit projected for the summer of 2014. Your participation in the survey and your views are valued and appreciated. You may access the survey from the district’s homepage.

Thank you for listening. Have a great day.

During its regular January meeting, the Board of Education will complete reductions outlined as part of the District’s Fiscal Wellness Plan for January 2013. These reductions will include the institution of Pay-to-Participate fees for all Interscholastic Athletics, Marching Band, and Cheerleading. Although athletic drug testing will not be eliminate, the cost of athletic drug testing will be included in the Pay-to-Participate fee, thereby reducing the cost from the district’s general fund. Expenditures for professional development will be limited for the reminder of the 2012-13 school year by limiting expenditures to monies already allocated in building budgets. Any professional development costs covered by grant programs such as Title 1 and Race to the Top will still be permitted. Finally, field trips will be limited to one per grade level. In total, the measures taken by the Board in January are projected to save the district approximately $100,000 annually.

Northeastern continues to keep the safety and well being of our students and staff in the forefront of our daily actions. Since returning from winter break, the district has held lock down drills in each building in conjunction with the Sheriff’s Department. This was an exercise Northeastern began in September of this year and will continue in the future.

In addition using resources from the Ohio Department of Education, each building through its leadership team is currently conducting a safety audit to reflect on current and best practices. The audit checklist involves teams assessing current practices through the course of 29 reflective questions covering such areas as safety planning, efficiency and effectiveness, discipline policies, school climate and community outreach, safety programs and curricula, facilities and equipment, and transportation. Each individual school and the district as a whole will use the results of these formative audits to influence current practices. Finally, the district is working with several vendors regarding pricing of increasing controlled access to each building and discussing implementing guest, student, and staff identification procedures.

Recently, the Clark County Commissioners and Sheriff Kelly have announced that additional deputies will be hired by the department solely for the purpose of increasing the presence of law enforcement in our county schools. The additional officers will receive training similar to School Resource Officers and visit county schools regularly. It may become more common to see police vehicles parked outside our schools or see deputies walking the hallways with our students.

Plans to open the Global Impact STEM academy for the 2013-14 school year are proceeding but not without significant challenges. Recently, the Clark County Commissioners withheld $50,000 in planned support as questions regarding the feasibility of the South High School site remain unanswered. At the crux of the issue is the pending approval of the Ohio School Construction Commission (formerly OSFC). The OSCC is currently reviewing the total scope of the project and will decide whether or not funding of the project is appropriate. The Ohio State University is assisting the project in raising over three million needed for the local share needed for renovations. In the interim, the school has determined three finalists to serve as Director. Each has agricultural experience. The curriculum, originally to be completed by December 2012, has yet to be completed. Once finalized, the curricular design of the school will be similar to the Columbus Metro School.

Currently, it is believed that local districts could send students to the school for part of the day. Fiscally, districts would contract with the school and share the appropriate funding depending on the amount of time each student would attend. For example, if a Northeastern student attending the school for two classes, Northeastern could contract with the school to allow the student to take classes for 2/7 of the state per pupil funding amount. Northeastern remains the representative for the six local Clark County school districts on the GISA advisory board.

Good Afternoon Parents,

This is Lou Kramer, Superintendent of the Northeastern Local School District, with a brief announcement. Our school district, like so many others across the nation, held classes today with very heavy hearts. As you might expect our students and staff were particularly somber considering the events which took place last Friday in Newtown, Connecticut. Despite this solemn mood, effective teaching and learning took place today in each of our schools. Exams were held at both high schools and classroom activities were held at the elementary and middle schools as planned. Given the situation our administrators, counselors, and staff as a whole did a wonderful job of assisting students and each other if needed. Whenever appropriate, conversations were held with students in order to help work through this situation.

It is important for all of you to know that since last year, Northeastern has looked critically at our District Safety and Crisis Plans. We have sought input from the Clark County Sheriff’s Department and the Local Clark County EMA in order to update our response plans and resources in case of an emergency. I have outlined many of these steps in a statement on the front page of the district website for your information.

As parents you can help too. Please take this opportunity to emphasize to your child their role in maintaining a safe school environment and provide examples of how to do so. Have conversations with your kids about what to do in case of an emergency and give them examples of who to contact in case they have a particular safety concern. Please also caution them to be extremely careful of their own words and actions, especially in regards to the use of social media.

While we understand that the events in Connecticut are extremely rare, the fact that it did happen still has a profound effect on all of us. Please understand that we will continue to update our response plans and despite budget constraints will work to upgrade our facilities as quickly as we can.

In light of the tragic events in Newtown, CT last week, it is important for our parents to know a few of the steps the district has taken recently to ensure the safety of all of our students and staff. Since last school year, Northeastern has sought input from the Sheriff’s Department and the Clark County Emergency Management Agency in updating the district and building Safety and Crisis Plans. Based on this input, revised Crisis Plans were published and implemented at the beginning of this school year.

In early September of this year, Northeastern invited officers from the Clark County Sheriff’s Department led by Captain Eric Holmes, to personally witness safety drills in each of our schools. Captain Holmes and his staff helped to provide valuable feedback to improve our response in case an emergency situation would occur in one of our schools. In addition to updating Crisis Plans and thoughtfully performing safety drills, our district also established an anonymous safety tip line and web method for reporting issues of safety, bullying, or harassment at the beginning of this school year. The district is also in the process of updating surveillance equipment in our buildings and participates in the Clark County

School will resume across our country this week but perhaps with a different perspective. Like many other districts, Northeastern will take this opportunity to continue our reflection on our district Crisis Plan and make changes if needed as well as to continue to practice safety drills throughout the year. While we understand that a tragic situation like the one that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary is extremely rare, we will continue to work with our parents and community to provide the safest and best learning environment for our students.

Currently, the Senate is holding discussions on HB555 or the report card bill, which is set to overhaul the current state school district report card system. HB555 was approved in the House last week and is on a fast track to receive Senate approval.

Overview

Among other things HB555 replaces the current rating system (Excellent with Distinction, Excellent, etc.) with an A-F lettering system. In other words in this regard, the bill seeks to do legislatively what every media outlet does anyway in August of each year when District Report Cards are supposed to be published. The bill also establishes a dashboard comprised of six (6) different performance areas in which to measure district success. These areas include achievement (performance index), student progress (value-added), Gap Closing (replaces AYP and measures the success of closing achievement gaps and is required by federally law), graduation rate (will include both a 4 and 5 year cohort measure), K-3 literacy (as related to 3^rdgrade guarantee), and college/career readiness (more than likely participation/performance on national college entrance exams, dual enrollment course offerings, etc.).

If the bill passes in its current version, the new system will go into effect this school year for all components of the dashboard. The overall composite score for a school or district will be delayed two years, but this will occur at the same time the new PARCC assessments are scheduled for implementation. The Ohio Department of Education has long publicized that achievement levels will drop when the new assessments are introduced. To compound matters, HB555 seeks to increase the benchmark for each district from the current 75% student proficiency rate on the OAA/OGT to 80% with the more rigorous tests. Because of the change to more rigorous assessments and the increased benchmark (from 75 to 80%), it can be reasonably projected that almost all if not all districts will drop in the performance at least initially.

This will have profound fiscal ramifications on more and more districts due to the existence of EdChoice Scholarships. EdChoice Scholarships are vouchers, which allow a limited number of students who reside in districts that are persistently low performing (Academic Watch or Emergency for two of the last three years) to attend a chartered, non public school. As more districts are rated Academic Watch and/or Emergency, more students will be eligible for these scholarships.

The bill has several other provisions including but not limited to establishing a different rating system for drop out prevention charter schools, designating charter school sponsors to be rated on certain criteria (student performance, compliance, and quality practices), revamping an advisory committee to oversee the process by eliminating teacher, superintendent, and Board representation by adding three members appointed by the Speaker and three by the Senate President.

Perspective

There is a great deal of discussion regarding this bill and the overall ramifications it will have on individual districts. One of these aspects includes the composite A-F score that each district will receive. Ultimately, the final grade will be determined by averaging in some fashion the six dashboard indicators (achievement, value-added, etc.) as mentioned previously. The controversy exists in determining the weighting of each component in the final average.

Personally, I believe our community and communities across the state already equate the current ratings of Excellent with Distinction, Excellent, etc. to letter grades. In this regard whatever the specific averaging, districts will seek to understand and adapt to the new system. Communities and parents will need to learn alongside of educators what exactly the new system is telling them. Like educators, parents will make informed decisions regarding the data contained within the rating system. At first, a large amount of confusion will exist, but over time organizations will adapt as they have always done.

In reality, our district is already positioned to several aspects of this system by establishing a district-wide strategic plan which emphasizes high academic achievement, identifies steps needed to improve, and establishes metrics for success. The plan uses metrics such as achievement and value-added in comparison to other districts much like the new rating system will compare districts to one another. In addition, district established goals of increasing student participation in college entrance exams and in Dual Enrollment and AP courses are also consistent with the new system.

Suggestions

Many aspects of HB555 outline a well thought out and comprehensive manner in which to measure schools and districts and therefore (it is hoped) improve student achievement. I believe one of the strongest aspects of the bill is the dashboard approach, which seeks to present a comprehensive view of district performance. Having worked in rural, suburban, and urban districts, I appreciate greatly the balance between student achievement and growth. I also empathize with the aspects of measuring organizational improvement (Gap Closing and to an extent Literacy and College and Career Readiness).

However, the timing of the implementation of the bill is a significant concern. Understanding the current educational climate in Ohio, consider everything that students are to be taught (Common Core Standards), the manner in which they are taught (Teacher Evaluation), and the measure of student achievement (PARCC assessments) is changing. The Ohio Department of Education is barely keeping up with these changes. This is evidenced clearly in the implementation of the student growth measure aspect of the new principal and teacher evaluation models. Northeastern being a Race to the Top district has faithfully worked to implement the new systems. While the professional conversations that have occurred due to these systems have been excellent, the management of the training and implementation of the new systems have been a nightmare. As a RttT district, we are expected to fully implement these systems next year, however, ODE has just begun to introduce vital capacity aspects (Professional development on Student Learning Objectives as an example) to support implementation. The timing of this bill in conjunction with the multitude of other initiatives currently being enacted in Ohio’s educational system leaves the state with a hodgepodge of initiatives, muddled in various states of implementation. On a weekly basis, districts are bombarded with new guidance, strategies, or resources. Sometimes (such as guidance for technology device use with the new assessments), this guidance changes as well.

Additional Suggestions

Allow time for changes outlined in the bill to be implemented with integrity prior to high stakes consequences being administered. In short, allow districts the time to adapt to different expectations not react to them. Specifically, postpone the implementation of the new system until at least the start of the 2013-14 school year. In addition, postpone indefinitely the change in benchmark from 75% to 80%. This is perhaps the largest flaw of the bill. When the new assessments are implemented it is projected in some grade level subject areas for student performance to drop by over 40%. The students in these tested areas are not 40% lower performing than the students the year before them, the benchmark simply changed. There exists little rationale, which justifies changing the rigor of the assessment and the benchmark for success at the same time.

Level Playing Field: Consistent with providing more time, phase in high stakes aspects of the report card system, specifically in regards to EdChoice. Measure all schools and districts equally according to the new system.

Funding: Although this is an old argument, it is still extremely relevant. Funding remains a consistent hurdle for most districts, especially one such as Northeastern. Aspects in the bill, which will become part of the new report card such as Dual Enrollment and AP courses, take money to develop and implement. For a district that will shed spending to meet a significant, budget shortfall, it becomes increasingly difficult to meet this expectation.

Over the past two weeks, Mike Landis, NELEA President, Beth Crawford, NELEA Vice President, and I visited each school to help coach Building Liaison Committees on the process and practice of collective problem-solving. Expectations were discussed regarding holding monthly meetings and keeping collective notes to document successful solutions developed by the team. Each building should be meeting each month between January and April in 2013 and following the process outlined in our coaching meetings. As I have mentioned before, I believe this process is extremely helpful in assisting both the district and the individual buildings to focus on solving issues and not on complaints. While our district has established various district improvement committees in areas like Student Achievement, School Climate, Technology, and the like, the district liaison essentially serves as the glue that helps all of these teams perform.

The Board of Education met last Thursday to conduct its regular November meeting. During the meeting, the Board discussed results of the November Operating Levy. Specifically, the Board began discussions on ramifications for the district and when the district may place another operating levy on the ballot. It was noted that the operating issue lost by a 60%-40% margin with a voter turnout of approximately 62%. Those voting on the day of the election did favor the issue slightly more than those voting in early or absentee balloting. 

On a related note, the Board was given a recap of pay to participate fees for schools in both the OHC and CBC. Discussion was held on this information as well on the costs of athletic drug testing. The Board scheduled a meeting of the Athletic Council, which is classified as Board committee for 5 pm on December 13^thto discuss this issue in more depth. Since this is a Board committee, this will be a public meeting. The Board will continue these discussions in the coming months and will likely vote on these issues at its January regularly scheduled meeting.

Along the issues of finance, Board members discussed the possibility of increased shared services in order to cut costs. It was noted that the district is reviewing all operations areas in order to identify improving cost effectiveness. The aspect of shared services is just one area being explored.

During the meeting the Board also approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the Great Lakes Equity Center, which is located in Indianapolis and is a part of Indiana University-Purdue University. The Center will provide technical assistance to the district for revising policies, procedures, and education in regards to providing equity for educational opportunities for all students.

Rumor: The district is still considering whether or not specific reductions will be made as outlined prior to the election.

Answer: The Board approved a Fiscal Wellness Plan in May of 2012 outlining reductions that will and have to be made. While the Board will ultimately vote on the exact amount and specifics of Pay to Participate and to eliminate athletic drug testing, these cuts will be made because of the failure of the levy. In addition, managerial decisions such as limiting general fund field trips and professional development are also being implemented. The Fiscal Wellness Plan will be updated in the months to come with further reductions in consideration of the failed operating issue. The Board will vote to approve an updated plan in the spring of this year.

Rumor: Only the cuts outlined for January 2013 (i.e. Pay to Participate, Drug Testing, limited field trips, and limited professional development) will be made. Subsequent cuts outlined for Spring 2013 may or may not be implemented.

Answer: Since the district failed to pass an operating issue in 2012, it cannot begin to collect money until January 2014 at the earliest. Therefore (and as stated since May 2012), the reductions outlined for January and Spring 2013 in the Fiscal Wellness Plan will all need to be implemented.  

Rumor: The district has already established a list of positions to be reduced.

A recap of all election issues this past week indicates that statewide, school related issues passed at a rate just above 52%. Be advised however this percent takes into account all school issues including renewals, facilities, and permanent improvement levies. Statewide school district levy renewals passed at an 86% rate, including the only school district to pass locally. When considering only new operating funds, the passage rate was much lower. Just under one third of the 88 total issues passed this week. This is slightly above the 30% rate of new operating funds that have passed in recent elections. No school issues asking communities for new operating funds were passed in either Clark or Champaign Counties. Including all early voting and absentee ballots, the final election results show Northeastern’s 1% earned income tax was defeated 60%-40%. Statewide none of the four school district earned income tax proposals were passed.

OSBA Executive Director, Rick Lewis explained to Hannah News Service, "The two-year state budget approved by lawmakers in 2011 ultimately reduced funding to public schools as part of an effort to close a deficit. Changes in state funding related to tangible personal property tax reimbursements, combined with the elimination of federal stimulus dollars, have left Ohio schools with nearly $1.6 billion less funding in the current biennium than they would have if education funding remained at 2010-11 levels."

Locally, the defeat at the ballot box does not deter us from our mission to provide the best education possible for our students. In short, we will continue to strive for awesomeness, it will, however, be increasingly challenging for the district to continue programs at the same level.

Specifically, the district will continue to implement and update our Fiscal Wellness Plan. This plan will include a reduction in programs and staffing. You will find the May 2012 version of this document here. Given the levy defeat this document will be updated soon. The timing of an additional levy for the district has yet to be determined.

Credit given to The Buckeye Association of School Administrators (Member Advisory Nov. 8^th) and Hannah News Service (Focus Education Nov. 7^th, 2012).

With the failure of the November operating levy, Northeastern will be in the familiar situation of working to push back a projected deficit another year. This is a familiar challenge for a district, which has a decades long challenge in passing new operating levies.

During this the spring of 2012, Northeastern formed a stakeholder committee, which provided input into developing a District Financial Wellness Plan. The plan was approved by the Northeastern Board of Education in May of 2012. This plan outlined common sense strategies for cutting operating costs, while maintaining the integrity of educational programs as much as possible. Implementation of the plan began in May, which led to reducing 29 positions within the district. This reduced operating expenses by almost one million dollars. These reductions in addition to other strategies and economic factors helped to move a possible deficit of $750,000 at the conclusion of FY14 into a carry over of almost one million dollars for the same time period.

During the winter and spring of the 2012-13 school year, the administration and Steering Committee will once again be tasked with moving back a projected deficit. The current five-year forecast projects a deficit of $650,000 at the end of FY15. With a Fiscal Plan already in place, the district will address this shortfall in the following ways:

January 2013

• Institute pay to participate for middle/high school sports at a rate to be determined by the Board.
• Elimination of drug testing at the middle school/high school.
• Limitations of general fund field trips.
• Limitations of general fund expenditures for professional development.

Spring 2013

• Reduce the number of extended contract days.
• Restructure district positions through a possible reduction in force or via attrition.
• Reduce additional teaching positions through a reduction in force or via attrition.
• Reduce additional classified positions through a reduction in force or attrition.
• Investigate with possible implementation of reduced transportation.

The committee will continue to meet during the 2012-13 school year in order to provide input into other possible strategies to improve the fiscal outlook for the Northeastern Local Schools. On Monday, November 5th, the Ohio Department of Education informed the district that its current five year forecast showed a deficit over of 2% within the next two years. A copy of that notification can be found here.

Classes will not be held at any Northeastern School on Monday, November 5^th due to a planned district professional development day for teachers and staff. Specifically, this day will be used for our district to learn more about the new Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES), which measures the performance of our staff on the state teaching standards and on student performance. Since Northeastern participates as part of the Race to the Top grant program, our district is among several others, which will lead this initiative. Currently, our district is piloting this program, but seeks to use the time on November 5^thto provide more professional development for the rest of our staff. Our individual school buildings will also have time on this day to work on individual building improvement strategies.

In February, the Northeastern Board of Education approved time, throughout the 2012-13 school year to allow the district to focus on implementation of research-based improvement strategies. In addition, the district will have full waiver days in which no classes will be held on Monday, November 5^th and Monday, April 8^th. An additional, two-hour delay for professional development will be held on Wednesday, January 30^th.

The following information was noted in a weekly email from Michael L. Sawyers, Acting Superintendent of Public Instruction - October 29, 2012.

Recently, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has posted additional guidance, resources, and materials on Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) on theEducator Evaluation webpage, including a comprehensive guidebook with guidance for selecting assessments for SLOs, scoring individual SLOs and sample teacher and principal SLOs.

Additional guidance on combining Student Growth Measures (SGMs) will be posted in November.

ODE also will be offering regional training focused on implementing SGMs for Ohio’s Teacher and Principal Evaluation Systems by the end of the calendar year. This training is optional and can be used to develop training at the local level. Districts and ESCs that have developed training plans are free to move forward with those trainings and should continue all other work toward implementing a local student growth measures plan. The ODE training, which is free to all participants, will be offered through September 2014.  Additional information will be forthcoming regarding training dates and locations.

To support the implementation of the Student Growth Measures component of the evaluation systems,ODE is working in collaboration with select regional partner RttT Educational Service Centers to train and deploy SGMs and Alignment Specialists. These SGM Specialists will support LEAs by providing technical assistance and professional development following the regional trainings to district administrators, teachers, and other personnel on the alignment of local systems to the state framework and development and implementation of district and building student growth measures using the SLO process.

While most bands at this time of year are looking forward to finishing up a successful marching band season, the Kenton Ridge Band is fine-tuning for a once in a lifetime experience, marching in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Besides preparing for marching in front of over three million spectators along the three-mile parade route, the band is also concentrating on the 1 minute and 15 second performance in front of the world-famous Macy’s Department store. This performance will be broadcast live to a NBC audience of over 40 million. KRHS is one of only 11 bands and the only high school band from Ohio to perform in this year’s parade.

Due to numerous, generous donations the band has recently purchased eight new sousaphones which will help make the school’s Macy’s Day debut extra special. The Band and band supporters totaling 322 people will depart Kenton Ridge High School on Monday, November 19^th via seven charter buses for New York City. A week long itinerary including sightseeing and the opportunity to attend several Broadway shows will be included to help make this an unforgettable learning experience. The Band, Kenton Ridge, and the entire Northeastern Local School District would like to thank our community for the outpouring of support and encouragement as the band prepares to make our district and community proud!

Two years ago, Northeastern Local made history by earning its first Excellent with Distinction rating on the state report card. The Excellent with Distinction rating was duplicated on this year’s report card in addition to the district setting an all time high on the Performance Index, which takes into account the performance of every student, on every state assessment. Perhaps most importantly, this year our students demonstrated Above Expected Value Added Growth indicating that our students are improving at a rate higher than most other districts. Northeastern has demonstrated Above Expected Value Added Growth every year in which it has been calculated on the state report card. Now that the district has established itself with back-to-back Excellent with Distinction ratings, we have set our sights on being a leader both inside and outside of Clark County.

The reason for this focus is simple. While we are very proud of earning the top state rating, it is apparent that when compared to the performance on state tests to other districts in our county, in surrounding counties, and designated similar to us by the state, our district performance is in the middle. If we are dedicated to providing our students with the greatest skills and advantages for their future colleges and careers, then we must compare, design, and implement strategies to outperform other districts both in our county and around the state. This is only in this way can we measure the success of preparing our students to compete with other students for college entrance, college scholarships, or future career opportunities. 

After a lengthy review of district performance data and significant collaboration with stakeholders, Northeastern has drafted a Strategic Improvement Plan that focuses on Four Core Initiatives. We believe success in the areas of Student Achievement, Technology, School Climate, and Community Engagement are essential to being a top tiered district. These Core areas are supported by performance in the areas of Fiscal Stewardship, Staff Development and Performance, and Operations. To this extent, lofty performance goals and strategies for achieving these goals have been identified on the district level. Each building will use the district framework to identify unique supporting strategies to ensure that all students in the district achieve academic success.

I encourage you to look closely and understand what we are doing to help your child achieve success. You may find more information on the district’s Strategic Plan outlined on the district website under District Improvement Planning and Monitoring. Here you will also find honest evidence of progress or challenges that the district may face in working to achieve these goals and lists of the stakeholder committees who are charged with monitoring this work.

While we are extremely proud of our students and their accomplishments, we are always striving to provide them with more opportunities for success.

Since September of 2011 our district administration and the leadership of both the certified and classified associations have met monthly in an effort to increase communication and when necessary, collaboratively problem-solve. The focus of these meetings has been on identifying issues that are district-wide and to work together to find solutions. Each team uses a win-win, problem-solving method denoted with the acronym IDEA, which stands for the following:

• I for identifying the problem
• D for defining the problem
• E for exploring solution
• A for acting accordingly

Notes from each meeting are reviewing collaboratively, signed by both parties and communicated to the district. Each month issues are reviewed and/or new issues identified to ensure that solutions are being implemented with integrity. This process for our district has particularly beneficial in building trust between all parties and helpful in navigating potentially controversial issues as a team and not as adversaries.

Attempts are being made to replicate this process in each building, but we need your help. Building principals and identified personnel should be meeting each month. To assist in this process Mike Landis and I, will be visiting each team and providing help on learning this collaborative process. These meetings should not be complaint sessions but honest efforts to come together to help our buildings and district remain a great place to work.

Local district superintendents have attended meetings on the proposed Global Impact Stem Academy since January 2012 with the developers of the school to advocate for our local districts. An Advisory Board comprised of local business, city and county officials was formed in late August 2012 to continue input into the planning of this school. Pursuant to the concerns and advocacy of the local superintendents, Senator Widener and school planners reserved a position on the Advisory Board for one local Superintendent to continue to represent local district interests. Northeastern was asked to fill that role. Based on the need for advocacy for local districts, the Northeastern Board of Education approved this appointment at its September meeting.

While it may appear strange for local districts to be involved in the planning of a STEM school, several potential benefits to local schools were identified early in the formation of the school. Local district representation on the Advisory Board helps to ensure the following possible benefits may be realized:

• Access to community partnerships via internships for home districts.
• Students could remain in home district part-time, while still having access to STEM programs not currently offered at home school.
• Access to professional development for local district staff.
• Possible sharing of staff.
• Access to possible county-wide activities.
• Potential for increased dual enrollment options.

Our Board approved this appointment, because the concept of the STEM school does have potential benefit for our students and residents. While the district remains open-minded to the school concept, there remains real concern on the potential impact for Northeastern and other local districts. In the coming weeks and months, more and more information on the Global Impact Stem Academy will be released. It remains to be seen the impact the school will have on our local districts or the potential benefits our schools may receive. With representation on the Advisory Board, the district is appreciative that our voice will be heard.

For the second year, the Northeastern Local School Board has utilized the state evaluation model for Superintendents to establish goals for Dr. Kramer. The state model evaluation process outlines a method for school boards to establish goals for Superintendents based on the established state performance standards. With the coming implementation of similar evaluation systems for Principals (OPES) and teachers (OTES), the Board used this superintendent evaluation model in an effort to lead by example. Using the state model, the following goals have been established for Dr. Kramer for the 2012-13 school year:

1. Implement a systematic, data-based, and regularly monitored process for overall district improvement (Standard 1: Vision, Continuous Improvement, and Focus of District Work).
2. Improve stakeholder perceptions of school climate and community engagement (Standard 2: Communication and Collaboration).
3. Continue to assess and implement recommendations for improving district operations, especially in regards to district finance (Standard 5: Resources).

Beginning this month administrators across the district will begin conducting staff evaluations. While ultimately this process is used for determining contract recommendations, an equally important purpose of the district's evaluation process is to improve the quality of instruction and professional practice of each educator. In order to accomplish this goal, it is best that teacher evaluations be conducted collaboratively between administrator and teacher and with a focus on identifying and achieving the goals of the district, school and the individual. 

This year, a number of teachers will be participating in piloting the new Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES) process. This will be a learning experience for us all as we build a process that is fair and focused on educator and student growth. It is important to note that while the district will be piloting the OTES this year, we will also be implementing the OPES (principal) evaluation system. Additionally, I am entering the second year of using the OSES (Superintendent) evaluation system. Each system, while targeted for its particularly group, is similar by being standards-based and results-driven.

An analysis of the state’s superintendent association (BASA) shows that 92 of the 194 school tax issues on the November 2012 ballot are requests for new school operating funds (Please keep in mind there are a total of 614 traditional districts in Ohio). These include: 24 current expense levies; 46 emergency issues; 2 traditional income taxes; 4 earned income taxes; and 2 incremental levies.  The remaining 14 operating issues are combination levies, which are combining property taxes with income taxes or are splitting the revenues between operating funds and facility projects or permanent improvements.

Today, the State Board of Education approved my recommendation to release an updated spreadsheet illustrating additional PRELIMINARY data related to the 2011-2012 Local Report Cards, including district/school ratings, performance index and attendance rate information. The next spreadsheet will be publicly released on or about Oct. 17, 2012 and will include all the data elements previously released plus these additional PRELIMINARY items. During the last few weeks, ODE has worked diligently to upload and verify remaining data for school improvement purposes. As we wait for additional information related to the investigation from the Auditor of State, ODE remains committed to sharing existing data with our schools and the public at large.

The Secure Data Center will reopen for schools and districts on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012. Schools will have full access to updated preliminary Local Report Card data and reports while ODE extracts data for public release.

On or about Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012, ODE will post the updated spreadsheet on our website illustrating Local Report Card indicators for all districts and schools. This release will include rating, performance index and attendance rate information, all of which remain subject to change pending the outcome of the investigation by the Auditor of State.

ODE will not publish PDFs of the Local Report Cards until the investigation by the Auditor of State is concluded or as otherwise agreed upon by the State Board of Education.

On behalf of the State Board of Education and all ODE staff, I thank you for your continued patience and cooperation related to the release of data related to the 2011-2012 Local Report Cards.

Over the course of this week, each district school will be conducting safety drills in collaboration with the Clark County Sherriff’s Department. Since last school year, Northeastern has sought input from the Sherriff’s Department and the local Clark County Emergency Management Agency in updating the district and building Safety and Crisis Plans. Director of Pupil Personnel, Mr. Steve Linson, and Clark County Sherriff’s Department Captain Eric Holmes, have arranged building drills in each school this week. Captain Holmes has provided invaluable input into updating the district’s capacity to keep all of students and staff safe. Northeastern has placed an emphasis on improving the school climate and better engaging our community throughout our district. Improving safety plans and collaborating with local authorities are just two examples of these improvement strategies in action.

The Northeastern Local School District will begin Wednesday, September 26^thtwo hours late so that the district may focus on both district and building improvement strategies. During the two-hour delay, individual schools will conduct data walks to review past performance data and to plan improvement strategies for the coming year. In addition, educators will collaborate on individual building improvement strategies such as coordinating resources to meet the 3^rdgrade guarantee, planning for the effective use of technology and improving the successfulness of reading/math instruction.

In February, the Northeastern Board of Education approved time, throughout the 2012-13 school year to allow the district to focus on implementation of research-based improvement strategies. This is the first of two delayed starts this school year. The second two-hour delay for professional development will be held on Wednesday, January 30^th. In addition, the district will have full waiver days in which no classes will be held on Monday, November 5^thand Monday, April 8^th.

The Kenton Ridge High School Choir program has started the 2012-13 on a particularly high note, earning invitations to sing at both a state conference and professional basketball game. The KRHS Women’s Choir was one of only handful of choirs to be selected to perform at the 2013 Ohio Music Educator’s Association Annual Conference. The ladies were selected based on a blind audition CD sent in by Choir Director Ms. Val DeTray. This is particularly gratifying as over 130 groups submitted audition materials to be reviewed. The women’s Choir will travel to Columbus in February to perform.

In addition, the KRHS Chamber Singers were selected to sing the national anthem at a Cleveland Cavs game during the 2012-13 season. Although the game date has yet to be finalized, the group submitted an audition CD and has already been approved to perform. Ms. DeTray is seeking to couple the performance with a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame also located in Cleveland.

The Rolling Hills Elementary KIDS HOPE USA program had its annual Kick-Off Celebration on Friday, September 6th, initiating the school's second year of collaboration with Springfield's First Christian Church. With myriad positive experiences from last year, the Rolling Hills/First Christian KIDS HOPE USA program continues to grow.  To date there are 15 student-mentor pairings with a growing waiting list of students eager to connect with a mentor.  Students, staff, and mentors, alike, are excited to work together during the 2012-2013 school year in anticipation of continued positive growth. The partnership will be recognized at the annual Fall Meeting of the Ohio School Board Association’s Southwestern District as an outstanding student program. Because of this honor, the program will also be recognized during OSBA’s annual state-wide conference.

The Vineyard Church a premiere district Partner in Education recently sponsored the 4^thannual Northridge 5k. Once again church members donated their time and efforts to put on the race to support the technology needs of our Northridge students. Proceeds from the race over the years in addition to other funds have aided in providing document cameras and interactive whiteboards in almost every classroom. A special thank you to The Vineyard Church, all church members, and especially Pastor Neil Haney for their continued support of our district!

After two graduate degrees, you would think that I would be sick of school. But I’m not. This is evidenced not only by the fact that I have chosen to make “going to school” my career choice but also because most of my adult life, I have been enrolled in some course or another. Besides be able to learn and apply new concepts, given my field of study I take great interest in instructional delivery, especially in regards to changes in technology. Luckily, my wife understands and sometimes even tolerates this unique curiosity about me.

Recently, I signed up for another course. Beginning October 1^st, I will be taking Introduction to Computer Science and Programming through MIT. That’s right, I’ll be taking this course through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of our country’s preeminent science and technology universities located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Better still, I will be taking the course for free and at my own pace.

This course is being offered through edX (www.edX.org), which is an online learning platform created through the partnership of Harvard University, the University of California at Berkeley, and MIT. It is one course in a growing number of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) in which anyone around the world may participate. All that is required to participate is a high-speed internet connection and the desire to learn (In my case, an understanding spouse doesn’t hurt either).

Essentially, the course I will be taking will present the same content taught by the same university faculty as the course offered on campus. The only difference being, the course will be hosted virtually and the class roster may have tens of thousands of students. When I complete (and hopefully pass) the course (assuming both my wife and I survive another semester), I will receive an honor certificate from MIT.

The fact that some of our country’s most prestigious schools are giving away higher “learning” using a non-profit model should sound eerily familiar. The Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to providing access to high value educational videos and tutoring resources has grown into a juggernaut for K-12 students. For that matter as far as the web is concerned, I can think of countless apps that are available free of charge to help students.

What should be more intriguing is that this signifies a significant shift in the educational delivery of full courses. While a particular app may be able to provide some insight for learning the introductory vocabulary of a foreign language, these programs offer the full course…from the leaders in higher education to boot.

Clayton Christensen, who just so happens to be a Harvard Business School Professor, would describe this as a good example of disruptive innovation in education. Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat, would call it a “flattener.” Essentially, this signifies a shift in educational delivery as we know it. If Harvard, MIT, and Berkeley are willing to adopt a “Khan Academy” like educational system rich with an ensemble of free full courses, what is holding local districts back from adopting like-minded, web-based courses?

It is obvious to most of us, that our district is challenged by aging facilities. Whether it be electrical problems, leaking roofs, or lack of air conditioning, the challenges in each of our schools is varied and significant. Although this is true, perhaps one of the biggest challenges our district faces is the lack of access and impactful use of technology in our schools. We have come a long way in one short year to move from “tired to wired(less),” but the process of improving our technology use and capacity continues.

Keeping up with changing technology is a daunting task, but as a district we must be committed to significant improvements in this area if we are to help our students to excel in college and in their future careers. It should be recognized that although we may not have the most recent new and improve school buildings, we still can have a first rate presence on the web and provide our students and staff with a wide array of resources and opportunities.

As we start the 2012-13 school year our district has launched a technology pilot program that is focused ondeveloping a blended curriculum delivery model to better meet the changing needs of our students. In addition, the district wishes to develop and implement strategies for successful integration of technology in our district classrooms. For the purposes of this pilot, a blended curriculum model is defined as an instructional delivery process, which balances the use of traditional and virtual instructional strategies. Instruction using this model may include project-based learning, flipped learning, cooperative learning, instructional software, and may involve the use multimedia. Collaboration may occur face-to-face in small or large groups or via online discussion boards or email. While it is important to develop new flexible ways to provide instruction and facilitate learning, an emphasis will be placed on protecting the integrity of student learning and granting course credit.

Besides seeking to provide a more effective curriculum and use of resources, the district is also seeking to better compete with charter/virtual schools for resident students as well as provide a flexibility in offering the curriculum to all students. Both of these aspects have a profound affect fiscally on our district.

As part of the pilot, a half dozen teacher volunteers have agreed to the following:

·      Use a Learning Management System such as Moodle, Edmodo, or Schoology to facilitate course instruction.

·      Actively participate in a Professional Learning Community (PLC) with other pilot participants through face-to-face meetings (i.e. release time) and online collaboration (i.e. email exchanges, discussion boards, Twitter).

·      Be open to visiting other classrooms and having others visit your classroom in order to learn about best practice.

·      Help develop/share lessons and best practices.

·      Generally, be collaborative, enthusiastic, and awesome!

In order to support teachers who sign on for the pilot, teachers will benefit from the following:

·      Having classroom access to the district’s core curricular software program.

·      Being able to purchase hardware such as iPads, document cameras, netbooks, etc. using permanent improvement funds (this is different than the general fund).

·      Being granted release time to participate and collaborate regarding the project.

·      Being eligible for at least 1 (possible 2) semester hour of graduate credit through Wittenberg University at a discounted rate (Due to the district’s new partnership, the tuition charge will be at a 40% discount. The credit may be applied as an elective to a current graduate program).

Effective education allows students to build knowledge based on their own experiences. But when it comes to technology, many schools, school administrators, teachers, and parents for that matter cannot keep up with the technological experiences many students encounter everyday outside of the classroom. Whether it is massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORG), social media, or video and other file sharing communities, the digital lives of our kids are constantly evolving. With the rapid changes in our ever-evolving technical world, schools must constantly adapt teaching strategies and teaching tools in order to challenge our students.

With this in mind I have asked our administrators to move from their comfort zones and dive into significantly increasing their use and understanding of technology. The rationale is simple, administrators must have first hand experiences in the use of technology in order to engage and lead our teachers and students in order to improve and rework our educational programs.

At the onset of school year, our administrative team began using a free learning management system (LMS) called Schoology to facilitate our team collaboration and professional learning. Each administrator was asked to create an account and to “sign in” to a group and begin collaborating on district initiatives. Account creation was quick and easy and the team was quickly discussing methods to improve technology use, build systems of teaching students responsible computing, and the like. Although only two of our principals had previously taken an online course as part of their graduate work, principals quickly adapted to the LMS and begin facilitating their own team discussions in their own buildings. While only three weeks into this project, it appears that all schools have adapted the LMS for building use in some fashion. I am extremely proud of their efforts and believe them to be extremely important. The sooner that our principals and teachers become familiar with using a Learning Management System, the sooner our district may implement a broad array of blended courses (a mix of in classroom and virtual instruction) to benefit our students.

Another good example of our administrative focus on effective technology use is a greater presence of administrators on Twitter. Again, earlier this month, I challenged our district and building administrators to learn more about Twitter as a tool for communication, collaboration, and professional development. With recent studies indicating that many of our students are now migrating from Facebook to Twitter, it is important for our leaders understand the various advantages and challenges of this social media tool. At this time, you may follow about a dozen of our administrators, who have created accounts and have begun their professional learning on Twitter. It is hoped that our administrators will reflect on their individual experiences and share best practices for using Twitter to improve communication and gain a better understanding of our digitally, connected students.

You may have read recently about a handful of districts around the state, which are currently being investigated for fraudulently reporting student attendance data in order to earn an additional indicator on the state report card. Whenever a situation like this happens, it gives districts the opportunity to reflect on our own current practice and verify that our procedures are producing the intended factual results. To that end, we have recently verified both our district and building reporting procedures to ensure that our reporting is accurate. Our district attendance rate has always been extremely high with an average of over 95% of our students attending school on a daily basis over the last ten years. The 95.3% attendance rate during last school year far eclipsed the state benchmark of 93%. I share this information because I think it is important for our students, teachers, and community members to know. I hope you view this as just one example of the reflectiveness we demonstrate on a daily basis to ensure that we are effectively reporting and communicating the actual progress of our district.

Good morning: 

The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has received several calls regarding the issuance of the 2011-2012 local report cards. While I understand and acknowledge the importance of the release of your data, ODE has a responsibility to insure accuracy in the data we share with parents, students and our communities at-large.

As you are aware, ODE has been working with the Auditor of State to collect and review alleged data irregularities related to student attendance. I ask for your patience and understanding in allowing ODE to work diligentlyto determine how local report cards may be impacted for select districts statewide.

On Monday, Aug.20, during the Special Meeting of the State Board of Education, I will provide information to the State Board regarding the 2011-2012 local report cards and my proposed process to move forward related to their publication. I will update everyone after my discussion with the State Board of Education on Monday.

Thank you,

Michael Sawyers

Acting State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Over the last eight months, most of Clark County and the surrounding areas have read and heard a great deal about the proposed charter school to be located in Springfield called the Global Impact STEM Academy or GISA. The idea for the school was originated by Senator Widener in the late fall of last year and has been developed in part by The Ohio State University and Battelle. The proposal has the support of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, the Farm Bureau, both the Turner and Springfield Foundations, the Clark County Commissioners, State Representatives Bob Hackett and Ross McGregor, and many local businesses. The purpose of the school is to provide an education grounded in bio and agri-science, which is based on real-time, project–based learning through partnerships with area corporate partners.

The idea for the school is based on the understanding that one in seven jobs in Ohio is directly related to agriculture but not necessarily in the traditional sense. Senator Widener touts that employers are seeking a job force, which has the science, technology, engineering, and math background to fill the need for careers related to genetics and other bioscience fields. Students would need to apply and be accepted to the school. It is projected that the school will serve up to 600 students in grades 6-12. Students would draw from close to 50 different districts in Clark and surrounding counties.

Our individual Board of Education has spoken about the proposed school and its possible impact on our district at several meetings this year. While the Board has concerns considering the logistics of the school and the equity of funding, the district supports the opportunity that it may provide to our residents and their children. Like any other charter school, the district would lose per pupil funding for any student who transferred from our district to attend the Global Impact STEM Academy. In addition, our district would be responsible to transport students to the new school if practical. Depending on the number of students who applied and were accepted to the school, our district educational programs could be adversely affected by the decline in funding.

Although communication about the planning and logistics of the school have been frustrating at times, the local school district superintendents have been involved in three meetings with Senator Widener regarding the school designed to get input from the local districts. One of these meetings also involved school board members from all local districts within the county. I am encouraged with the level of response by Senator Widener in our meetings thus far. To his credit, he has asked for input from the local school districts and has modified the proposal for the school in several important ways. One example of this is the idea of sharing students between both the STEM school and the home district. Specifically, this benefits the students by offering students more choice in courses and programs. It also allows students to attend the STEM school and continue to participate in their home district extra curricular opportunities. Students would benefit from resources from both schools without having to give up an extra curricular opportunity for an academic one or vice versa. Simply put, this is good for our students. An ancillary benefit of this strategy is that local school districts would still be able to retain some funding for these students as well as be credited with the academic achievements of these students, whom the local districts have educated for years.

In addition, Senator Widener has modified the proposal for the school based on input from the local superintendents by agreeing to share resources and educator professional development. It has been discussed that local districts may also benefit from access to community partnerships specifically with businesses within each individual district. Finally, the Senator has included within the proposal an advisory board made up of key stakeholders including a local superintendent. Once again, I am appreciative that input was sought and considerations made based on the collaboration of our county superintendents.

The Northeastern Local School District has enjoyed unprecedented success in recent years. In 2011, the district achieved its firstExcellent with Distinctionrating and the preliminary results for 2012 indicate the district continues to improve. Over the last year, the district has adding AP and Dual enrollment offerings in each high school and continues to improve its technology access and implementation at a great rate. Based on information received by the Ohio Department of Education, these accomplishments were achieved based on one of the lowest per pupil spending ratios in the state. I am extremely proud of these accomplishments and am confident that our district will continue to provide an excellent education for our students, an education in which our community can be proud. It is important to understand that the proposed STEM academy is not intended to duplicate programs in our public schools, but instead to offer experiences in which the public schools do not currently offer.

As a local superintendent in Clark County, I understand that the planning process for this school is still ongoing. Naturally, I am concerned with a potential negative impact that a loss of funding could have on our district. Just last month, Northeastern shed approximately two-dozen positions because of lack of funding. Even with these concerns, as the district leader I am also extremely interested in providing our students with the best opportunities for them to be successful in their college and career plans. In my opinion this school has the potential to be a benefit to our Clark County community and the 600 students who will attend the school. But it is also my hope and expectation that the approximately 20,000 public school children who attend our city and county districts also benefit from the curriculum, corporate, and community resources aligned for this school. In an educational environment, which places a premium on shared services, this only makes sense. I remain open-minded and supportive of the proposal for this school and look forward to collaborating with Senator Widener and the various partners for the Global Impact STEM Academy in the future.

Our district’s partnership with Clark County’s only four-year institution of higher learning continues to expand. Besides agreeing to district-led professional development being eligible for graduate credit at reduced tuition, Wittenberg will provide the district onsite, professional development support using current University faculty. The professional development support will begin this year in the areas of technology and assessment but may expand to other areas.

In turn, our district has agreed to become a professional development school for Wittenberg by agreeing to accept a set number of student teachers each semester throughout the district. The district will also assist the University in exploring the teacher performance assessment with its students and whenever possible involve University students in future professional development activities.

The opportunity to partner with both the undergraduate and graduate schools is a good match for both Northeastern and Wittenberg. It allows both schools the opportunity to strengthen already quality programs in a manner, which shares resources. In this day and age when fiscal resources are at a premium, partnerships such as this are essential for organizations to continue to move forward.

More than likely, the Board of Education will take the final step this Thursday to place a 1% earned income tax on the November ballot. An earned income tax is a tax applied only to those who are actively employed (For example, this would not include retirement income). All of us within the district know all too well, a short list of reasons why the levy is necessary (8 years since the last request for new funds was approved, 10% decline in state/federal funding last year, higher insurance costs, large tax appeal in 2012, etc.). Having gone through a significant staffing reorganization this year including reducing approximately two-dozen positions, we also understand the implications of our challenging budget. However, those in the community may not necessarily have the same knowledge. Although there will be much to say regarding the levy in the weeks to come, please remember that one of the best sources of factual information are the employees that work in the district. I encouraged you all to stay informed, understand the district’s goals, strengths, and challenges, and be able to answer a question when asked.

Gahanna Lincoln High School's Clark Hall was praised as a state-of-the-art facility by Gov. John Kasich Friday as he visited the building and met with students. Kasich held the event to discuss the importance of integrating 21^st Century technology into the classroom."You let kids start to get a view of what their internal skill set is -- and they know it, we all know it -- and combine it with a job opportunity and have an education system that can train them to do those things you're going to solve so many problems and you will make education relevant," ensured Kasich.

Joining the governor for the event was State Superintendent Stan Heffner, Sen. Kevin Bacon (R-Columbus), Governor's Office of 21^st Century Education Director Dick Ross and several city of Gahanna leaders.

Clark Hall has created relationships with surrounding businesses to help pay for the facility. School leaders said the building will be paid for in 25 years and after that the facility will create a revenue stream back to the district.

"The idea that could figure out a way to bring profitable businesses in to help pay for this cost of this construction is unique," mentioned Kasich. "It does allow the profit system to help educate people and after all they want people to be educated because they've got to hire them ... they've got to have a workforce. So it kind of all fits together."

While taking questions from the media, the governor discussed the upcoming school funding plan. He did not release any details, only saying that there will be two to three "really big things" included.

"You cannot have good education without adequate resources but just pouring money into something doesn't mean you're going to get better," Kasich claimed while using Steubenville'sWells Academy as an example of a school with low funding but high performance. 

While much of the attention on the governor's Mid-Biennium Review (MBR) education proposals has been centered on the Third Grade Reading Guarantee, another provision helps encourage and strengthen education through unconventional and technology-based learning.

"Why not give young people a chance to learn in exciting new ways that are consistent with what they like to do most of the time?" Kasich questioned as he related to his own daughters' interest in technology. "Why do I have to shove a book at them if I can help them to learn online with the devices that they use and get excited about?"

The governor suggested that the growth of blended learning will include an evolution in the way teachers educate students. Kasich used Ryan Kitsmiller, a teacher at Clark Hall, as an example, calling him more of a coach than a traditional teacher.
"Everybody's a little different -- everybody learns at different speeds," explained Kasich. "What he's doing here is he's saying if you learn at this speed or at that speed or if you learn better with pictures as opposed to some sort of numbers -- we're going to help you to learn in the way ... you can learn."

Kasich commended the leaders of the Gahanna-Jefferson School District for creating Clark Hall with its unconventional environment and added that, "It's difficult -- I think -- for leaders to be able to implement a significant change. I think they've done it the right way."

The state of Ohio is currently in the process of talking to business owners and representatives about their current and future needs regarding employment, said Kasich. It is a way to help the state understand what jobs are out there and what schools could be teaching to help apply to those future jobs.

The governor added that he believes everyone is born with certain skills so some people are meant to grow up to be doctors while others are scientists and engineers. He believes the schools should be able to tailor its curriculum to encourage a variety of job paths that include giving them an up-close look at the kinds of jobs to which their education could be applied.

The governor hopes to unveil at least a portion of his plan through next year's State of the State address.

Recently, Mr. Blazer and I had the opportunity to meet with representatives from Wittenberg and formalize the beginning of a multifaceted partnership agreement with Wittenberg. Initially, this partnership will focus on the opportunity for our district to provide graduate level courses to our staff through our own in district professional development. NELSD teachers would have the opportunity to participate in PD within the district and receive graduate credit at a 40% off the current tuition rate. Courses earned at NELSD could then be used as elective courses as part of a Master’s Degree in Education at Wittenberg. In addition, NELSD and Wittenberg are also exploring mutual opportunities in regards to onsite professional development, pre service teacher training, and technology/technology support. More information on the graduate course offerings will be communicated at the beginning of next school year.

I would like to express a special thank you to those of you who have worked tirelessly to get the website up and going. As we have expressed all along, the website should not just look good, but should be a vehicle to engage our community and shape our priorities. If you take a look at the district page and each of the buildings, you will see wonderful examples of this philosophy in action.

Last week, the Board formally adopted the Super Kids reading program for grades K-2. During this school year, the program was fully implemented in Kindergarten and piloted in grade 1-2. This adoption was based on positive feedback from administrators, teachers, and parents and initial success from our students. Funding for the adoption will be taken from Permanent Improvement monies.

As I emailed last week, the Board approved the district’s Fiscal Wellness Plan at its meeting last Thursday. Besides reducing positions, the Board has discussed placing an operating levy on the ballot for November of this year. Although in recent years the district sought bond issues for new buildings, it did not seek an operating levy. The last operating levy was passed by Northeastern voters in 2004. It is expected that the Board will pass a first resolution for the levy in June.

Congrats to Mr. Blackburn, the staff at RHES, and Kids Hope Ohio for being accepted to participate in the 2012 OSBA Student Achievement Fair in October. Each year the Ohio School Board Association selects outstanding student programs to highlight at its annual fall conference. Kids Hope Ohio partnered with Northeastern during the 2011-12 school year to provide reading mentoring for our elementary students.

Driven by the goal of effective fiscal stewardship, the Northeastern Local School Board voted to reduce 25 staff positions recently at its May Board meeting. Of these positions, seven classified and five and one half certified positions were reduced through attrition. In addition, ten additional classified positions were eliminated and two classified positions reduced in hours because of fiscal reasons. The reductions were made through a combination of non-renewal, attrition, and a reduction in force. In total, the moves will save the district approximately $725,000 a year.

Northeastern, like most districts, is currently facing significant financial challenges. These problems exist for a variety of reasons including an almost 10% decline in state and federal funding, a large gap since the last operating levy was passed (2004), a sizable tax appeal by a local corporation, and rising insurance costs. The combination of these issues caused a projected shortfall of over one million dollars for the district at the conclusion of the 2014 fiscal year. The steps taken by the Board in May, will allow the district to reduce expenditures in an effort to carry over funds into the 2015 fiscal year.

The recent moves by the Board are not the first strategies taken to address a growing discrepancy between revenue and expenditures. The district reduced six and one half positions at the conclusion of last school year. In addition, over the past four years, both certified and classified Northeastern employees, have received a collective 0% raise on base salary and have taken step freezes during half of that time.

Northeastern enjoyed a historic opening last fall as the district celebrated its first Excellent with Distinction rating on the state report card. The district plans to build on this success through the establishment of a dedicated and monitored strategic improvement plan, which focuses on maximizing student achievement, creating an effective and supportive school climate, supports the successful integration of technology across the curriculum, and encourages meaningful community engagement. Despite the recent cost cutting, Northeastern is committed to ensuring our students are provided with the opportunities necessary not only to be successful, but to excel, in their future college and career plans.

Tomorrow morning,www.nelsd.org will have a new look as we launch our new district website. The purpose of the new site is not just aesthetic. The site will be used to highlight our district priorities, our progress toward achieving our goals, and improving the method in which we communicate and collaborate with our stakeholders. The site possesses a number of options in which our current site does not, including an intranet site, which will allow for greater collaboration by our staff. 

Like anything, the website will be a work in progress and should improve greatly over the coming months. Special thanks to John Schmid and our building representatives, who have worked very hard to transfer and update information on the new site.

At the end of the 3^rdquarter our district very ambitiously sought the feedback from every parent in our district. We did this as one measure of our success as a school district. The information gathered from the survey will be used on both the district and building levels in order to help influence our improvement efforts. We are currently working on compiling our district results and sharing them with the community. 

With a great amount of support from our building secretaries, teachers, and principals, and of course our parents, we had an over 78% return rate for our survey. To put this in perspective, 78% equates to almost 2,900 surveys, which were completed by our parents and returned to school. This is an amazing response rate. A special thank you to everyone who made this possible. 

Similar to the parent survey, a staff survey will be sent out within the next week to gain feedback regarding our district improvement efforts and current capacity. Directions on how/when to complete this survey will be forthcoming. I would encourage you all to participate in this survey as our district priorities will be influenced in part by your responses. Our goal is to have a higher return rate for the staff survey than our parent survey.

I invite you all to join me at tomorrow’s 3^rdannual Northeastern Local “Finishing Together” 5k. This event was originally established to demonstrate the collaborative and supportive nature of our staff and community. In that regard, if someone would be interested in carrying me to the finish after about mile 2, I would be most appreciative. The race will be held tomorrow at 6 pm at Buck Creek

In order to address a projected budget short fall for the 2013-14 school year, the Board last evening discussed a draft Fiscal Wellness Plan which is intended to help the district save approximately $750,000 for the coming school year. Part of this plan will be to continue the painstaking process of reducing positions for 2012-13. The plan is based on information gathered from district and Ohio Department of Education staffing studies conducted in the Fall of 2011, stakeholder meetings held during the winter, and input from both associations gathered this spring. In addition, a district finance steering committee, which includes parents and community members met several times in the spring of 2012 to assist in providing input into this process.

It is important to note that whenever possible the district will seek to reduce positions through attrition. However, reductions in force may be needed for the district to meet the budget shortfall for FY14. While the decision to reduce any position is not taken lightly, every effort has been made to consider the ramifications of any decision and to give respect to any staff member who may be affected. Please understand that we will continue to consider staffing levels and the timing of these strategies throughout the end of the school year.

Last evening, the Board of Education approved contracts with both our employee associations. The vote capped a very productive and collaborative negotiation process in which the staff, administration, and the Board worked together to find ways to help improve the district, while being fiscally responsible. I would like to personally thank Steve, Roxann, and both negotiating teams for their part in helping to make this process a positive one with a focus on improving our district.

If there is one thing that is constant in our society, it is change. Whether it is new laws, new politicians, new discoveries, or new challenges, things happen on a daily basis, which either immediately or eventually have an impact on our daily lives. This is especially true these days in education, where initiatives set forth in last year’s state budget and in the Federal Race to the Top program, now are having a broad influence on school districts. In particular, these two initiatives are influencing a number of issues in our district including but not limited to what is taught, how districts are graded, and how teachers, principals, and superintendents are evaluated.

In order to prepare our students for changing college and career standards and our district for changing expectations, we need to have an effective plan. This plan must be based on the right data and must include feedback from students, parents, teachers, and the community. During the course of this school year, we have been working on understanding our district, its strengths and weaknesses, and crafting a strategic plan, which helps our district become the premier district in our county and beyond. In order to do this, we have identified key metrics for success, sought greater input from our stakeholders, and enacted strategies to help us improve. In particular, our district has targeted academics, school climate, fiscal stewardship, effective communication, a highly successful staff, and improved operations as keys to our district success.

You can see some of our progress in improving our district through the establishment of common instructional schedules for the 2012-13 school year, which include at least 80 minutes of daily language arts and math instruction in grades K-8 across the district. In addition, you may also see our progress through expanding AP and Dual Enrollment offerings in both of our high schools, increasing access to technology for all students, and aggressively seeking the input of our stakeholders through surveys and focus groups. District stakeholders groups have already met to help improvement efforts in the areas of academics, finance, and climate. These groups will continue to meet at least biannually to ensure the district is making progress.

The Northeastern Local School District, like most, is currently facing significant financial problems. These problems exist for a variety of reasons including an almost 10% decline in state and federal funding, a large gap since the last operating levy was passed (2004), a sizable tax appeal by a local corporation, and rising insurance costs. While we work diligently to increase our revenues and decrease costs, we cannot lose track of our goals to improve opportunities for our students. I encourage you to continue to monitor our district improvement process via our district website. A new district website will be launched in mid May and should include the results from our most recent parent survey.

I wish your child a successful conclusion to the school year. If there exists anything that I can do for you or your child, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Our district schools enjoy strong parental and community support but sometimes our district as whole lacks a specific identity. The reality is if you ask someone from outside of our community which schools are within the Northeastern Local School District, may are surprised to learn that Northridge Elementary and Middle Schools, Kenton Ridge High School, and Rolling Hills Elementary School are a part of our district. The Board has had brief discussions of whether or not this is an issue for our district. To that extent, one item on a recent parent survey asked the question:

To be more representative of the entire district, I support changing the name of the district from the Northeastern Local Schools to something else.

The administration has conducted an intense study of the fiscal health of the district during the course of this school year. Projections and key aspects of this study were shared with the Board in January as part of the State of the District Presentation. Since January, the district’s five-year forecast has been revised to include up-to-date information including the district’s adjusted October 2011 count. The revised five-year forecast is not favorable for Northeastern moving a previously projected $650,000 shortfall for FY14 to a projected deficit of $1.6 million dollars. A recap of the key aspects of these projections are listed below:

Key Aspects of the District’s Current Fiscal Health:

•   The last district operating levy was passed in ’04 and began collection in ’05.

•   Overall state funding declined 9.71% in FY12 (current year).

•   Enrollment declined 114 students this year from last year, which accounted for a loss of $350,000.

•   Loss of Tangible Personal Property tax “hold harmless” equaled more than $500,000.

•   Navistar Tax Settlement equates to approximately $550,000.

•   The district is currently negotiating reopeners for salaries and insurance with both associations.

During the course of the 2011-12 school year, the district requested that ODE conduct a staffing study to compare our staffing levels with those of the rest of Clark County and to the 20 other “comparable” districts in which ODE compares NELSD for report card purposes. In addition, the district conducted its own assessment of staffing. A recap of findings is listed below:

Key Aspects of District/ODE Staffing Studies

•   The district per pupil spending is less than all other County Schools and comparable districts.

•   According to ODE’s comparison to similar districts, NELSD is above average in comparison with other district staffing levels.

•   NELSD has the highest pupil/administrator ratio when compared to all schools in Clark County and similar districts.

•   NELSD has the highest percentage of budget going to personnel service than all other districts.

•   The district averages only 56% capacity per special education teacher when compared to ODE’s standard operating guidelines.

Key Strategies to Improve District Finances Already in Place

•   Reduced 6.5 positions in FY11.

•   District Employees agreed to a 0% raise in FY10, a 0% in FY11, and -1% in FY12.

•   District Employees agreed to a Step Freeze in FY12 and FY13.

•   Both associations have provided suggestions for increased revenues and reduced expenditures.

•   Each building principal and leadership team provided input for new revenues/reducing expenditures.

•   A District Finance Committee, consisting of parents, members of the business committee, presidents of both associations, teachers, and administrators, will meet in March to consider both short and long term fiscal strategies.

•   The State of the District presentation was posted on the district website and is being shared with district groups including PTOs, etc.

Our district faces some significant fiscal challenges in the short term, but we cannot lose our overall focus of revamping our educational opportunities to prepare our students to succeed in their future colleges and careers. 

In considering any potential cost cutting strategies, the Board must note the following:

Considerations for the Board

•   The Board will need to discuss and eventually approve cost cutting measures, ultimately deciding the timing and scope of each fiscal strategy.

•   The district is currently in the midst of a reopener for salary and insurance costs with both associations.

•   The Board will need to decide on when to place an operational levy on the ballot, what kind of levy, and the size/scope of the levy sought. This must be acted upon in June/July if a ballot measure were to be in play for November 2012.

•   The Board will need to participate in helping to communicate and educate our public on the positive strengths and challenges of our district.

Each year, the Springfield Rotary in partnership with several other area organizations recognizes four outstanding educators in our county through the Excellence in Teaching Awards. This year our district is well represented with two of the four honorees. Special congratulations are in order for Sarah Riley, who teaches 3^rdgrade at Rolling Hills, and Carlye Stewart, who splits time as the media specialist at both NEHS and KRHS. Both Carlye and Sarah will be recognized next week during Rotary’s weekly luncheon. This award only highlights the wonderful things that occur in both Carlye and Sarah’s classrooms and in classrooms across our district everyday. Congrats ladies!

The BASA analysis of March Primary results for all school issues on the ballot reveals an overall passage rate approaching 75% (81 passing issues of 111 presented to voters). In analyzing only funds available for new general operating expenses (i.e. new current expense, emergency, and income tax issues), Ohio voters had 39 school issues presented to them and approved 18 of them. This passage rate of 46.16% of the requests for new money is almost twenty points higher than either of the last two elections.

One of the many changes occurring on the state level right now is the introduction of a new district rating system. Basically, the state will be reworking the current “Excellent with Distinction,” “Effective,” etc. designations by rating districts on an A-F scale on several different categories. ODE has warned that this system is far more rigorous and will result in districts being rated several levels below their current rating. I am sure this system will take a while to learn, but as an FYI, our 2011 district simulation (based on last year’s data) is listed below. 

A quick comparison of the 10 districts/community schools in our county, 6 districts/community schools rated as a B, 1 C, 2 Ds, and 1F. No district from our county received an “A” as an overall grade. By comparison, 382 districts across the state received at least an excellent rating last year. Under the new rating system, only 22 of these districts would receive an “A” rating. The Columbus Dispatch has put together a webpage, which lists all of the simulations for Ohio districts and individual schools. You can find a link to that site here.

The Ohio Department of Education can be renamed to “Waiver Central” right now, as the state is seeking relief for several NCLB mandates. I have recapped key elements of ODE’s waiver submission below. All of these will have to be approved on a federal level before they can be enacted in our state. 

Replacing the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) measure (which had the unrealistic goal of 100% proficiency for reading and math for every student in every demographic group) with rigorous, but realistic, objectives that aim to cut the achievement gap in reading and math by half over six years while requiring higher performance from all students.

Replacing the existing system of using labels to rate schools on the Local Report Card with A-F letter grades.

Moving away from the system of “highly qualified teachers” and toward a new measure that bases teacher effectiveness, in part, on the levels of student performance they produce.

Streamlining many reporting requirements to ease districts’ paperwork burden.

Giving districts more flexibility in using federal funds targeted for low-performing schools, making it easier for them to determine the best solution for their students.

The district continues to move forward with improving our technological capacity. We have currently received four quotes for providing wireless access in each of our buildings. It is anticipated that each building will be equipped with wifi by the end of this school year. Although our district has many steps to take in improving our technical capacity, wireless is a logical first step, which could allow us to tap into a variety of other resources. As a point of emphasis, funding for this project is being taken from permanent improvement and vocational monies and not from the general fund.

In my State of the District address, I mentioned the need to upgrade our district curriculum to be “Google Free,” meaning students have access to a variety of informational sources, but need to understand how to interpret, understand, and communicate this information.

The proposed Springfield Global Impact STEM has received a great deal of local press lately. State Senator Widener and Springfield Superintendent Dave Estrop are touting the school. You can read one of the recent articles here.

While there is a great deal of planning left to complete before the school will become a reality, it does appear as though the project has a good amount of momentum. The obvious question is, “how does this affect NELSD?” Having been apart of several meetings regarding the school, it does appear there are some obvious benefits (and some possible drawbacks) to a new STEM school being located in our backyard. The significance of which depend on the specifics of the school as it is designed. Our district has been invited to participate in an advisory committee regarding the school and will have input on this process.

No matter how great of a year the previous year was, the turn of a new calendar year always brings positive anticipation and hopes that the New Year will be better than the last. As educators, we actually do this twice a year, once at the beginning of the school year and once at the beginning of January. As we all make our New Year’s resolutions, this is also a great time for us to be reflective on the strengths of our district and the challenges that we face.

In January, I provided the Board with an update on the “State of the District.” This report provided current information on district academic progress, the fiscal health of the district, and an overview of the climate in our schools. In addition, the Board reviewed strengths and challenges of Northeastern Local Schools and was provided with an outline of current and future strategies in the works for the district. I have placed this information on the district website and encourage you to review this information when you have the opportunity. More specific information on the district improvement plan will be shared in the next edition of the Communicator.

While our district will continue to face significant challenges in 2012, with specific regardto finances, we are setting in motion an improvement process, which is mindful of the changing academic needs of our students. The fact is as adults we live and work ina time, whichis much different than it was when we attended school. In preparing our students for college and future careers, our schools need to constantly adapt to provide students the skills to be successful in a changing world.

Often times, when educators look to measure the success of a district, it is helpful to look at two aspects: growth and achievement. In a previous Super Update I sent earlier in the year, I detailed that Northeastern ranked in the top 35% when looking at achievement. This was measured through the performance index on our most recent report card. However, when we consider the growth of our students from year to year, the news for Northeastern is even better. NELSD currently ranks 128^thout of 609 school districts or in the top 21% in the state when considering the value added to a child’s education year over year. This measures takes into account both reading and math for grades 4-8 in every traditional district in the state. Obviously, as a district we would like to improve both in both growth and achievement, but it is satisfying to know that when compared to the rest of the state, we are successful at moving our students forward year to year.

Beginning this Thursday district administrators and several teachers will be visiting each school to conduct “Curriculum Reviews” to review how our students are learning and the level in which they are performing. This process is based on the work of Michael Schmoker and is intended to increase collaboration between district personnel and building leaders. It also keeps the emphasis of our work on the right priorities, namely improving student learning. Having participated in this process in several other districts, it is always something I look forward to as it allows professionals a great time to dialogue about student learning. I look forward to seeing you all as we make our way to each school.

Last week, the district’s RttT Transformation Team met to update and solidify our plans for the current year. During the meeting, the team determined the following priorities were imperative for assisting us in implementing our Scope of Work outlined by the grant.

1.   Conduct a gap analysis to determine how far the district’s current curriculum is from the common core standards.

2.   Design a rubric to ensure consistency and support grade levels/departments in designing Short Cycle Assessments.

3.   Continue to revise and develop short cycle assessments in all areas.

4.   Investigate technology options regarding curriculum & assessment

5.   Follow up on “linkage” of teachers to classes to ensure value added data is reported correctly.

6.   Develop a timeline to ensure value added data and information is distributed consistently.

7.   Develop a timeline/implementation plan for merit pay (Please note: According to our Scope of Work merit pay is defined as teachers receiving additional pay for increased responsibilities. Our Scope of Work DOES NOT define merit pay according to student achievement).

In addition to this to do list, the group worked on a list of professional development needs. It is expected that the district will produce and follow a Professional Development Calendar for the 2012-13 school year. This calendar is designed to serve as a guide to providing ongoing professional development to support various district improvement strategies. Thank you to all of our Transformation Team members for such a productive afternoon.

Beginning at the end of this month, I will be visiting each building and presenting information on the current State of our District. I enjoy these presentations because it forces me to be reflective of what we have done, and allows me the opportunity to analyze whether or not we are on the right track. It also provides me an opportunity to meet with each staff personally. I am looking forward to visiting each building.

Good Afternoon -  

A short time ago, South Vienna Elementary and Middle Schools were placed on a lock down based on information provided by and the advice of the Clark County Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff's Office was in the process of investigating a report of a stolen vehicle which had been found in the surrounding area. The lockdown lasted approximately 15 minutes at which time, an all clear was given by the Sheriff's Department.

Although the potential danger to any student or staff member due to the situation was perceived to be minimal, precautions were taken, nonetheless, to ensure student and staff safety. You are receiving this phone call because the safety of our students and staff as well as communication with our staff, parents, and community is of the utmost importance. A special thank you to our staff at South Vienna for your help with this situation.

Highlighted in the news recently were new rankings of schools and school districts according to performance index (PI). The performance index is an interesting measure of district achievement because it takes into account the performance of every student on every state test taken during a given year. Last year for example, our district PI was based on 5,376 tests. To determine the performance index, ODE assigns a weight for each test depending on if a student scored limited, basic, proficient, accelerated, or advanced. The state then multiplies the number of tests in a particular performance area and divides by the number of total tests taken.

The state’s performance rankings are the first step in compiling with HB153, which requires all districts to be ranked by performance index and per pupil spending. This is the Ohio Department of Education’s strategy for demonstrating to the public the efficiency of each district. It is extremely important to know that the state’s PI rankings are very jumbled and often differentiate districts by only .001 or even .0001 of a point.While it is important to look at the Performance Index as one way to measure the success of our district, it is also important to note that this only measures overall achievement and not growth. Northeastern has been recognized by ODE for four (4) consecutive years of above value-added growth.

I have listed a quick recap of the performance index for selected districts (including community and charter schools) both in our area and the state. When compared to all districts across the state, Northeastern placed 326 out of 936. Eventually ODE will compare this list with per pupil spending. When looking at these rankings, it appears only nine (9) schools of the 325 districts ahead of Northeastern spent less per pupil than our district. Using ODE’s reasoning, this indicates that our efficiency as a district is considerably high when compared to other districts state wide.

Selected Performance Rankings for Districts (including Community and Charter)

#1 Constellation Schools: Outreach Academy for Students with Disabilities

(115.6 PI, 53 total students, $24k+ per pupil expenditure)

#243 Southeastern

#270 Clark Shawnee

#292 Greenon

#326 NORTHEASTERN (99.4 PI, $8,495 per pupil expenditure)

#346 Northwestern

#454 Springfield Prep and Fitness Academy

#462 Tecumseh

#726 Springfield City

#764 Springfield Academy of Excellence

#880 Springfield Life Skills

Later this month, a letter to each of our parents will be sent home detailing that the district has been designated as a “District in Need of Improvement” as per the No Child Left Behind Act. Although Northeastern received an “Excellent with Distinction” rating for the first time on our most recent report card, the district has failed to meet adequately yearly progress for the past four years.

As you may know, AYP is based on the performance of 10 different student sub groups with the expectation that 100% of students will be proficient or higher by 2013-14. As the federal benchmark has moved closer to 100%, more and more districts have been designated as district in need of improvement. Our district traditionally struggles with the achievement of our students with disabilities and our economically disadvantaged students. The strategies that we are currently researching such as establishing a consistent minimum number of minutes for reading and math instruction across the district as well as establishing common schedules are examples of two strategies to improve our AYP status.

Good Afternoon,

This is Lou Kramer, Superintendent of Schools for the Northeastern Local School District. The purpose of this phone call is to inform you about a situation which occurred at South Vienna Elementary School earlier today. Due to a police matter in the Village this morning, South Vienna Elementary School was placed on a lockdown as students arrived at school. The lockdown was instituted strictly as a precaution to ensure the safety of our students and staff. The district was in correspondence with the South Vienna Police Department and Clark County Sheriff’s office throughout this situation. The lockdown lasted less than 20 minutes at which time the school was given the all clear by law enforcement.

You are receiving this phone call because the safety of our students and staff as well as communication with our parents and community is of the utmost importance to us. If you have any questions about this situation, please contact your child’s school office.

Although our district did not have a levy on the ballot earlier this month, the General Election will influence the district beginning in January. As many of you know, Dr. Bob Boggs and Mr. John McKinnon both current Board members did not seek reelection for their respective seats on the Board. Taking their place on the Board will be Linda Jordan and John Davey. Many of you already know Linda, who served on the Board previously and is very active in community events across the district. John Davey is a retired police officer and Navy veteran who lives in Moorefield Township. Having spoken to and seen both at district events several times since the election, I can attest that each is looking forward to serving our district.

My potential relationship with our Board was a large selling point for me when interviewing for this position. In my first few months, I have greatly enjoyed working with each of them. I am very appreciative of the both leadership and service John and Bob have provided during their time on the Board and wish them all the best.

Unofficially, a total of 91 school issues received voter approval at this month’s General Election. Based on 188 ballot issues, the passage rate was 48.4%. However, when only new operating levies are considered, only 20 of 82 issues (or 24.4%) received voter approval. Of particular note, only 5 of 21 (23.8%) of facilities issues passed.

Although Issue 2 was defeated, the budget bill, which was passed last summer, contains a number of similar items. Below lists a quick explanation of what is and what is not current law.

Teacher Salary Schedules- Currently, Race to the Top recipient (RttT) districts are required to annually adopt a salary schedule for teachers based on performance (RC 3313.141). Districts receiving RttT funds must adopt a salary schedule for teachers based upon performance in accordance with the timeline contained in the district’s RttT scope of work. If performance-based compensation is not a component of the scope of work, the board of education is not required to implement the new performance-based pay requirements. Our district’s current Scope of Work allows for teachers to receive additional compensation if they take on additional responsibilities.

Teacher and Principal Evaluations- The State Board of Education must develop a “standards-based” framework for the evaluation of teachers by December 31, 2011. The statute requires the framework to include a number of different components, including evaluating teachers based on student academic growth, accounting for 50% of the teacher’s evaluation. Boards of Education must adopt the new evaluation policy at the conclusion of our current negotiated agreement. A principal evaluation framework is also required to be developed and implemented.

Reductions in Force(RIF) - Budget bill revisions prohibit boards from giving preference to any teacher based on seniority for purposes of determining the order of a RIF or for restoring tenured teachers from a RIF, except when making such decisions between teachers who have comparable evaluations. This will go into effect once the district’s current agreement expires.

Areas of current law that were NOT changed include aspects of teacher tenure, collective bargaining, and the ability of unions to strike.  

This message is to inform you that all South Vienna Middle School Students will be dismissed early today at 2:00 pm along with South Vienna Elementary students. This early dismissal for Middle School students is due to a water main break outside of the school.It is anticipated that the early dismissal will allow adequate time to repair the break. The district is currently working with the health department, Village of South Vienna, and Columbia Gas in order to first ensure the safety of students and staff and then to address this issue. Currently, all students and staff have access to restrooms, bottled water, and will be provided lunch as planned. Follow up information will be provided to all of you as needed.

Last Friday was a very rewarding and interesting time for me as I had the opportunity to witness and take part in a variety of grade level and department meetings across the district. What I witnessed was a mix of excitement, hesitation, reflection, frustration, collaborative problem solving, and apprehension. Of course, all of these things are a natural part of the change process. I am a firm believer that the most meaningful staff development occurs when professionals are given the time and resources to collaborate with one another. Our challenge is creating and supporting a process that fosters this in an on going way.

The output from Friday’s activities will serve as a benchmark and will allow us to prioritize what grade levels and subject areas need the most support. Shawn is currently working on cataloging the feedback from each group and classifying grade levels/departments into levels of support needed. A schedule of follow up meetings based on this feedback will be forth coming. Follow up meetings will be scheduled beginning in December and continue throughout the second semester. Race to the Top funds will support this process.

As we look to transition our curriculum, assessments, and instructional resources to support the common core standards, our district will be in desperate need of effective leadership. It is important to understand that leadership occurs on a variety of levels, which are equally important. I am appreciative of our teacher leaders who assisted in facilitating our groups on Friday. As we navigate this process, teacher-based teams will be essential to our district’s success.

Friday provides all of us an excellent teachable moment for students as we plan activities to honor our veterans. This day also provides us a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate our connection with our various district communities. These programs do not take place without a substantial amount of planning and coordination. Thank you to those who worked hard to put on these events. Your efforts are appreciated. Shawn, Steve, and I are looking forward to attending the variety of activities planned on Friday across the district. 

Advanced planning continues for the district’s waiver day scheduled for Friday, November 4^th. Our two waiver days provide our staff with the unique opportunity to collaborate across the district with teachers in other buildings. This collaboration, if done effectively, is invaluable in shaping our curriculum, assessments, and instructional practices. It helps our district ensure greater alignment and consistency as well as increase student achievement. It is important to understand that activities taking place on this day align directly with our district’s Race to the Top initiatives, state requirements outlined in HB 153, and our overall district goals. Simply put, great effort has been dedicated to make these days meaningful and an important part of an ongoing plan to improve our district.

In three short years, our core curriculum and all state assessments, which comprise most of our district report card, will change. Those districts which can adapt to these changing standards quickly, will be provide students with a greater advantage in their future college and career plans.

Congratulations to Coach White and the State Champion KR Golf Team! The team was recognized during halftime of Friday night’s game and will be recognized again in November with a Board resolution.

The end of September and early October were exciting times in the Northeastern Local School District as both of our high schools celebrated Homecoming. During this time our respective schools promoted a variety of events beyond just our respective football games to welcome our alumni back to our schools. This is a great time for our district as it provides a unique opportunity to involve our community in school events. By doing so, this allows us to emphasize the importance that our alumni, parents, senior citizens and our community as a whole play in educating our students and express thanks for continuing to support our schools. Please enjoy this “Homecoming” edition of the Communicator as it highlights many of these events.

As District Superintendent, I am very happy to highlight the many positive aspects and accomplishments of our students and staff that occur in our district each and every day. Sometimes being the Superintendent also means recognizing when we did not live up to expectations as well. Recently, we had a float in the Kenton Ridge Homecoming Parade, which did not meet the expectations of our school and community. Although I believe the original planning of the float had good intentions, the final product and behavior of our students during the parade was inappropriate. Although we are always striving to improve as a district, sometimes we may not always meet our own expectations or the expectations of our community. When this occurs, however disappointing this may be, we must be accountable and learn from our mistakes. This is the same process we teach our students everyday. Please understand that despite this situation, we will continue to strive for excellence and work to maintain your trust and high expectations.

Beginning October 10^th, our district will be sponsoring our first of three wellness challenges of the year. The name of this challenge is “Fall into Fitness,” and it is scheduled to last six (6) weeks. Participation in the challenge is easy, simply track your physical activity over that time with a goal of exercising a total of at least 720 minutes. Further information on the challenge will be sent to all staff next week.

Participation in each challenge is not only a great way to jump start your own fitness goals, it is also a great way to work together as a building staff for a common goal. A cash prize of $1,000 will be given to the top percentage participating school (or district department) and can be used at the building level to encourage staff wellness. From a district perspective, our wellness challenges are not only fun and healthy but also fiscally beneficial. By promoting these challenges, our district saves on our health care premiums.

Last week, President Obama released a proposal to revamp NCLB to allow individual states to apply for waivers for relief from parts of the law. Currently, this is only a proposal. States now will have to apply for the waivers before these would be available to districts. Of specific note, states would be provided flexibility for the timeline for achieving 100% proficiency and be able to adapt more creatively to punitive consequences of being in “District Improvement.” It is not surprising that the “catch” for allowing states to do this requires states to align improvement strategies to Race to the Top. For Ohio and Northeastern specifically, this is very much in line with the district and the State’s RttT grant. As expected, look for a greater emphasis on “value added” as a determining factor of success on the “new” report cards due out in a few years.

Although it was passed this summer, the budget bill phases in a number of provisions, which will have a broad effect on our district. Despite these provisions being included in the “budget” bill, the requirements included in this legislation all but equate to unfunded mandates for school districts. We are currently assessing each of the new requirements and determining how to best meet these new requirements. In the meantime, here are a few highlights:

• Whenever practical, school districts must integrate technology into learning experiences across the curriculum. This includes requirements for districts to use distance and web-based course delivery as a method of providing or augmenting all instruction related to the Ohio Core.
• Any traditional school district under 16,000 students must enter into an agreement with an ESC, however, the district now can decide which ESC to use.
• Districts may submit a plan to ODE to require students to complete lessons online to make up to three calamity days or a minimum number of hours. This is the “blizzard bag” requirement which would allow paper copies be provided to students without internet access.
• School districts in consultation with teachers, shall adopt a standards-based teacher evaluation policy that is in line with the framework developed by the State Board. This would go into effect once a current agreement expires.
• Each district will now also be ranked according to expenditure per student. Districts will be grouped by enrollment for this ranking.

As the November general election approaches a great deal of the press will continue to be on the pending referendum on Senate Bill 5, which will be issue 2 on next month’s ballot. While we all are bound to have an opinion on this issue, it is important to recognize that whatever the outcome, Boards of Education, administrators, teachers, and support staff, will need to continue work collaboratively for the best interests of our students and community. Senate Bill 5 does not change the need for quality schools, and quality schools are only those who engage everyone in the educational process. 

Last evening the Board of Education approved three main goals for me for the 2011-12 school year. Naturally, as superintendent, these goals also then become focus areas for the district as a whole. During the course of the year, these goals will be addressed in a variety of ways and with significant input and collaboration from all of our district stakeholders. As mentioned at our district all staff meeting at the beginning of the year, the goals are related to asking the right questions, gathering important data from our district, and providing our administrators and staff the opportunities and support to use the information to improve the overall education of our students. Although we are very early on in the process of achieving these goals, I felt it important to share these with all of you.

1. Design and assist in facilitating a systematic, data-based, and regularly monitored process for overall school improvement.
2. Organize, draft, and oversee a district plan for fostering positive relationships and communication both within and outside of the Northeastern Local School District.
3. Assess and make recommendations for improving district operations. 

As most of you are already aware, Sunday marks the 10^thanniversary of the September 11^thattacks. Each of our schools and many of our individual classrooms are conducting observances or hosting activities to teach about this historic event in our Nation’s history. Ten years ago Sunday, I watched the second tower collapse during my planning period as a teacher at Cedarville Elementary School. Like many of you, I remember vividly all of the events which followed in the days, months, and years afterward. My oldest daughter was one at the time, and although it is a memory I will never forget, I realize that my daughter will never be able to recall that day as I can. This is the same for most of our district students, which makes our jobs as educators all the more important. If given the opportunity, please take advantage of a teachable moment and in an age-appropriate way, provide our students with a small history lesson.

Good morning,

This morning at approximately 8:15 am one of our Kenton Ridge students was struck by a vehicle while in the crosswalk attempting to enter the school campus. Bystanders and school personnel monitoring students entering Kenton Ridge immediately responded to the accident and stayed with the student until EMS arrived.

After the accident the student was alert but was transported to a local hospital. School administrators and counselors met with a student who witnessed the accident and are currently monitoring the situation to ensure the welfare of all of our students.

The Northeastern Local School district enjoyed a historic opening last week as staff celebrated the district’s first Excellent with Distinction rating on the recently released state report card. The state’s top district rating was awarded to Northeastern after the district earned 25 of 26 state indicators and exceeded the state value added designation. Value added is defined as a measurement of what students should learn over the course of one year, essentially the “value added” to a child’s education. Northeastern students have not only met this designation but have exceeded it each year it has been calculated. The district is particularly proud that just over half of the 5,346 tests taken by district students in 2011 received an advanced or accelerated designation.

Although the district is extremely pleased with the report card results, Northeastern administrators and staff continue to focus on several needs areas including raising the achievement of district students identified with disabilities and in all sub groups. To do this, Northeastern is focusing on creating more opportunities for staff collaboration to improve instruction and to improve differentiation of instruction of each student.

All of the Northeastern’s individual schools also received high marks for student achievement including both South Vienna Middle School and Northridge Middle School receiving an Excellent with Distinction rating. Because of the district’s strong performance on the 2011 report card, Northeastern will receive an additional $17 per student in state aid for the 2011-12 school year.

Good Afternoon –

This is Lou Kramer the Superintendent of Northeastern local schools. I am calling this afternoon to update you on the power outage, which occurred at Northridge Elementary and Middle Schools, Rolling Hills Elementary School and Kenton Ridge High School this morning. Although this was a minor situation, I believe it is important for parents to understand the situation and to also know the steps the district had taken to ensure student safety.

At 9:10 this morning, power was disrupted to Northridge, Rolling Hills, and Kenton Ridge Schools. Immediately, steps were taken by building principals and staffs to account for all students and to relocate classes to areas, which had improved lighting. Alternative plans were also started for lunches. During the power outage, each building maintained access to water and the use of restrooms facilities.

Although the buildings were without power for 44 minutes, during that time, the district crisis team had already established on going contact with Ohio Edison, the Health Department, and the Clark County EMA. Phone calls were rerouted from the affected buildings to Northeastern High School were staff had been given factual information regarding the situation. Had this situation been prolonged a district First to Know call would have been sent to parents earlier in the day with more information.

Thankfully, the power came back quickly and students and teachers enjoyed a successful second day of classes. Thank you for listening. I hope this information was helpful for you to understand how your district cares for the safety of your students. Have a great evening.

I would like to wish a warm welcome to all of our students, parents, teachers, and community members to the start of the 2011-12 school year. The start of school is always filled with anxious anticipation. Questions such as, “am I going to be in the same class as my friends?” or “how will my students challenge me this year?” are traditional beginning of the year questions for students and teachers. Superintendents, as it turns out, are not immune from looking ahead with anticipation. I am extremely proud to be your superintendent and have a great deal of personal excitement (and probably a bit of nervousness too) about this upcoming school year.

Very soon however, the anticipation will give way to the important business of teaching and learning. I am looking forward to working with our staff and community in providing the very best skills and opportunities for our students. These opportunities should challenge our students not just to make them college eligible or ready for a career but should position our students to excel in their future plans.

I am extremely excited to be given the opportunity to lead Northeastern Local Schools. The district has a history of excellence and strong community involvement. Living and working in districts close to the Northeastern, I was already aware of the history of excellence and community involvement. During the interview process, it was readily apparent that the board worked well together and was 100% vested in the district improvement process. I felt as though the Board would be extremely supportive and would work in a good partnership with the superintendent. Since being offered the position, I have been humbled by the support and well wishes of the administrators and staff. I am eagerly looking forward to getting started.

During my interview process, I presented the BOE an overview of four focus areas, which if improved, I believed could help NELSD become not just a successful district but a premier district in region. These areas included leadership and leadership development, academic rigor and relevance, community stewardship, and relationship-building and communication. I presented these focus areas based on an outside perspective and suggested that upon entering the district a large amount of listening and research was necessary to determine the exact level for each area.

During my first several months in the district, my main focus will be on meeting and forming relationships with various stakeholders and to understand how are district strengths coincide with our district weaknesses. In order to do this, I will be asking others, “Are we asking the right questions?”