11/19/2009 - West Side Leader
     

Ohio Board of Education member Robin Hovis (District 5) presented Norton City Schools Board of Education members and district officials with a banner honoring the school district for achieving an Excellent With Distinction rating on its 2008 state report card.

Photo courtesy of Norton City Schools District

Board of Education members discussed the failed November bond issue and levy Nov. 16 in a work session before their regular monthly board meeting.

Acknowledging they didn’t have enough information to say why the two proposals failed, board members discussed using a research company to conduct a survey to give them some direction.

Issue No. 50, a bond issue and levy that would have allowed the construction of two new school buildings and other improvements in the district, was defeated by 58 percent of the vote in the Nov. 3 General Election. The request was for a proposed 6.98-mill, 37-year bond issue to raise $42.3 million for the construction of district buildings and a proposed 2-mill levy for the financing of permanent improvements.

According to Superintendent David Dunn, any research would be paid for by the levy campaign committee.

“We put a plan out there and it got voted down. ... Why? They didn’t like the plan? It was the economy?” said board member Jim Bennett.

Other objections included opposition to a high school building that would house students in grades 7-12 and abandoning the school property along South Cleveland-Massillon Road. Board members said they were approached individually by community members who had objections to the plan, but it wasn’t possible to make good decisions from that information alone.

Failure of the November bond issue means the board will have to go back to the drawing board to determine how to finance any plan they put forward. The district could have received $3.2 million in interest-free school construction bonds from the state if voters had approved the two issues. Bond underwriters also will have to determine new interest rates for any bond issue placed on the May ballot.

Board members agreed they will have to move quickly to meet deadlines for placing a new plan on the May ballot. They have to approve resolutions requesting plan approval from the Ohio Department of Education in mid-January and notify the Summit County Board of Elections by Feb. 18, said district Treasurer Stephanie Hagenbush.

During its regular meeting, Ohio Board of Education member Robin Hovis (District 5) presented board members with a banner honoring the school district for achieving an Excellent With Distinction rating on its 2008 state report card. The district has earned an Excellent rating in each of the last five years. Hovis said only 116 of Ohio’s 614 school districts earned an Excellent With Distinction rating, putting Norton City Schools in the top 20 percent of all school districts in the state. Furthermore, he said, the district’s leadership should be commended for achieving this rating while spending 15 percent less per pupil than the average Ohio school district.

Board members also recognized principals of the three district elementary schools that have been named “Schools of Promise” by the Ohio Department of Education. Of 134 schools recognized statewide, 100 were elementary schools, said Sharon Herchik, director of curriculum and instruction. The three Norton elementary schools were among just 48 recognized for achievement in both math and reading, Herchik said.

Board members also viewed a computerized slideshow presentation on the recent eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C. The presentation was created and narrated by students Jay Ventura and Brandon Cuda.

The board also:

• accepted the resignation for retirement of Kent Pfeister, a physical education teacher at Norton Middle School. Pfeister, whose resignation is effective Dec. 31, will have served 30 years in the school district;

• approved substitute certified and classified personnel pending background and license checks; and

• accepted the donation of $250 in paper to be used in the art program at Norton Primary School.

The board’s next meeting is set for Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the media center at Norton High School, 4128 S. Cleveland-Massillon Road.

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