Buchtel High School’s 10th-graders improved in all five categories of the Ohio Graduation Test, the Akron Public Schools (APS) Board of Education learned during the June 8 meeting.

Assistant APS District Superintendent Ellen McWilliams and Julia Mann, executive director of secondary schools, presented the results of the test from March of this year.

Buchtel improved by 10 percentage points in its writing score, from 72 percent passing to 82 percent. The school’s sophomores also improved four points in math, nine points in reading, eight points in science and seven points in social studies.

Firestone High School moved up in math (4 percent), science (2 percent) and writing (6 percent)

Overall, the APS District schools improved six points in math, nine points in writing, five points in science and one point in social studies. In reading, Akron students remained at a 75 percent passage rate.

In other news, the school board and Treasurer Jack Pierson talked about the progress of Ohio House Bill 1, the school funding reform bill.

The Ohio Senate passed a version of the bill that removed Gov. Ted Strickland’s evidence-based school funding proposal, according to APS officials. Instead, the Senate chose to study the plan during the next two years, while retaining the current per-pupil system.

“This is unconscionable,” said school board member Kirt Conrad. “They are moving backwards.”

Also, Pierson said overall school funding might decrease over the next two years, as legislators are looking at revised revenue figures. Strickland is required to sign a funding bill by July 1.

In other news:

• Superintendent David James announced the annual Zoo Backpack Adventure will take place Aug. 11-12 at the Akron Zoo. James said the district has a goal of providing 3,000 students with backpacks filled with school supplies.

• Firestone High School parent Heather Heslop Licata spoke to express her dismay at the transferring of principals and assistant principals among the APS schools. She called it a “systemic illness in the district.”

• Vsaaman Tausir, of Firestone, and Bonnie Vue, of Garfield High School, received the Jim Beal Scholarship Award presented by the Subcontractors Association of Northeast Ohio. Both students are aspiring engineers.

“When you complete your studies, you will be the next generation of this industry,” Beal said.

• Armin Cvoric, of North High School, won the first annual Frank Myers HVAC scholarship from the Professional Association of Comfort Contractors.

Myers is retiring this year as a teacher at Buchtel High School and was the district’s apprenticeship coordinator.

“Armin has taken advantage of the opportunities that public education has afforded him,” Myers said.

• The school board passed a resolution to name the Perkins Middle School auditorium after Wanda Swails, a 30-year APS employee who has served as a teacher and community volunteer.

Before the meeting, the Joint Board of Review met to discuss the school reconstruction project. The Joint Board approved the construction documents for the $11 million Schumacher Community Learning Center.

The Joint Board also awarded contracts for demolition and asbestos abatement at Crouse Elementary School. Gateway Environmental Services, of Highland, Ill., will demolish the building (but save the gargoyles) for $219,000. LVI Environmental Services Inc., of Cincinnati, will perform asbestos abatement for $553,490.

The next APS school board meeting is scheduled for June 22 at 5:30 p.m. the Sylvester Small Administration Building, 70 N. Broadway.