By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The Bowling Green Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday evening to defend public education in Ohio.
The board passed a resolution opposing House Bill 290 – known as the “backpack bill.”
“Public education, as you probably know, is under attack,” board member Ginny Stewart said at the monthly school board meeting.
“Our funding will once again be on the chopping block,” Stewart said, referring to the stalled funding for Ohio’s Fair School Funding Plan.
Not only is the Fair School Funding Plan failing to progress in its original form, but public schools stand to lose more funding if the “backpack bill” is passed, she said.
The bill would allow any K-12 student in Ohio to take a voucher amount to any charter or private school. The vouchers would be $5,500 a year for K-8 students, and $7,500 a year for 9-12 students.
“These are dollars taken away from public schools,” Stewart said.
At the same time that this bill is being considered, a review of public and private schools in Ohio shows that charter and private schools don’t out-perform public schools, according to the Ohio Education Association.
After a year of the COVID pandemic, public schools in Ohio saw an average drop of 10% in their student performance indexes, and a 17% increase in student absenteeism. During the same period, charter schools saw an average 25% drop in performance indexes, and a 45% absenteeism increase.
“It is clear Ohio charter schools are not making the grade,” Stewart said.
Reports show that 606 of Ohio’s 612 public school districts have lost resources to charter schools – which are not subject to the same accountability standards, Stewart said.
House Bill 290 would divert public tax money that taxpayers had approved for their public schools, she said. And in many cases, Stewart predicted, that money would simply subsidize parents who already send their children to private schools.
Stewart asked the school board and those in the audience Tuesday to send letters opposing House Bill 290 to State Rep. Haraz Ghanbari, R-Perrysburg, and State Sen. Theresa Gavarone, R-Huron.
“I think it’s very important,” she said. “Make your voice known. We can make a difference.”
In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, Superintendent Francis Scruci read off this list of donations made to the district in the past month, totaling nearly $11,000. Donations included money for the high school choir, the athletic department leadership fund, and the Conneaut Principal Fund.
Other donations included $3,000 which purchased 87 Lands End winter coats, clothing for Kenwood Elementary, snacks for the high school, items for the high school drama club, and several books for the Kenwood library.
Board member Tracy Hovest reported that the Old Newsboys in Toledo were making vouchers available for coats and shoes for students.
Stewart said the community has been very generous meeting student clothing, food and toiletry needs – but she reminded that the needs continue after the holidays.
“This goes on,” she said. “It doesn’t stop at the end of the year.”
Stewart also noted that the district is still in need of substitutes, paras, and volunteers.
In other business, Scruci reported that the district and community had seen an increase in COVID cases, followed by a decrease in the last couple days.
“Maybe we’ve gotten through the Thanksgiving impact,” he said.
Scruci also stressed that the district is not pushing people to get the COVID vaccine.
“We make the opportunities available,” through vaccine clinics at the schools, he said. But vaccines are not required of anyone. “That is an individual choice,” Scruci said.
In other business, the board:
- Hired Tabitha Hiler-Young as the district’s new food service director.
- Heard from board President Norm Geer about the 24 public meetings and “countless” subcommittee meetings held by the board this year. “We’ve accomplished much. But we have more to accomplish,” he said.
- Learned from board member Ryan Myers that the mini-split air conditioning systems would soon be going out to bid for the high school, Conneaut and Kenwood elementaries.
- Heard from board member Tracy Hovest, who said the Trivia Night raised about $11,000 for the BG Schools Foundation. She also mentioned that the foundation is in need of members from the community.
- Listened to citizen Dan Carpenter, who wanted to make sure the district would not be mandating vaccines – which the district has no plans to do. He also expressed his opposition to requiring masks at schools. Carpenter also asked if the board had agreed to teach Critical Race Theory in the district. Scruci responded, “we’re not.”
- Scheduled its 2022 organizational meeting for Jan. 4, at 5 p.m.
