By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green Superintendent Francis Scruci said he could no longer sit still as teachers and administrators are being used as a punching bag for critics of school building improvements.
Nor could he keep quiet as students continue to wait while opponents use delay tactics to stall new or renovated school buildings.
So at Tuesday’s board of education meeting, Scruci asked that the board set a deadline for the task forces to complete their work and report back to the board.
“We owe it to our children and staff to move forward without delay,” he said.
Board President Jill Carr said the board would take the request under advisement.
Scruci calmly addressed the “level of hostility” rising at the school task force meetings as community members discuss the future of school buildings and how to fund them.
“It’s embarrassing for our community,” the superintendent said.
When the school board suggested that the task forces be formed earlier this year to find solutions to the district’s building issues, Scruci had one criteria – people had to address the issue with open minds.
“I was hopeful somehow this would bring our community together,” he said.
Many members of the facilities and the financial task forces are trying to find common ground. They have committed to meeting multiple times a month, for a couple hours at a time.
“I think the participation from the community speaks volumes,” Scruci said.
But the verbal attacks, insults and threats aren’t helping. Scruci mentioned one comment in particular from a facilities task force meeting last week when Rich Chamberlain suggested that the group consult Perrysburg teachers rather than Bowling Green teachers about building needs since Perrysburg gets better state report card scores.
“I go to winners when I want to win,” Chamberlain said at that meeting.
That type of attack on Bowling Green teachers shows great disrespect, Scruci said.
“That’s a reckless statement,” that doesn’t take into account the wealth of the district and the community support, the superintendent said.
“We’re doing a lot of great things and we’re making a lot of great progress,” Scruci said, mentioning a state award and presentation made earlier at the board meeting.
The board established the task forces with expectations for collaboration and mutual respect. But it’s clear, Scruci said, “that’s starting to unravel.”
“We’re wasting time and our buildings are getting worse – despite our best attempts,” he said.
Scruci also addressed what he referred to as “delay tactics.” He mentioned requests for more detail on the district’s “vision.” That is just stalling, he said, since the purpose of the facilities task force isn’t to design buildings but rather to decide whether the district should renovate, build new schools, or do nothing at all.
“The clock’s ticking – and the students and staff deserve better,” he said.
The superintendent’s comments were backed up by a couple citizens who rose to speak. Tracy Hovest said she joined both task forces because she wanted to be part of the solution. Hovest said she is willing to commit time to the process, but she is troubled by the negativity.
“I guess I drew the line when our teachers are being attacked,” she said.
Hovest said she has also noticed the stall tactics of some task force members, and supported Scruci’s request for a deadline.
Melanie Stretchbery said she has been disturbed by the “thinly veiled hostility” of some involved on the task forces. She specifically addressed wealthy members of the agricultural community who claim that school property taxes will devastate them.
Stretchbery talked about the “corporate welfare” given to farms and some businesses in the form of subsidies. Unlike school levies, taxpayers have to pay those subsidies without having a chance to vote on them.
Stretchbery, a retired Wood Lane superintendent, said the disagreeable, disrespectful and dysfunctional discourse at task force meetings is unproductive.
Then she thanked the school board, superintendent, administrators and teachers for jobs well done.
“Your service to our community is both appreciated and respected,” Stretchbery said.
Task force member Brenda Pike, however, chastised district officials for not responding to her requests for more information on the school’s vision. “I am baffled by these public servants’ refusal to meet,” she said.
Meanwhile, overcrowding continues in the district.
Scruci pointed out to the board that next year, the district will need modular units for four more classrooms at Conneaut and Crim elementaries. Redistricting will only shift, not solve the problem, he said.
The modular units cost about $20,000 a year to lease. The tie-ins for utilities at Crim may cost as much as $100,000, Scruci said.
Scruci addressed the possibility of the district getting tax revenue from the Rover pipeline which runs through the southern portion of the district.
“We’ve heard a lot the last couple years about pipeline money,” he said.
Rover had originally promised the district $1 million a year, but will more likely owe $830,000 a year. However, Scruci said the pipeline industry is lobbying to get some relief from those taxes, so school districts are being careful not to count on that money in their five-year forecasts.
“Certainly it’s a wonderful windfall if we get it,” he said.
Also at the meeting, consultant David Conley, from Rockmill Financial, gave the board an update on both task forces. The facilities task force is planning tours of newly built and remodeled schools in Northwood and North Baltimore.
The financial task force is examining the available state funding, and just starting to look at different types of local tax levies.
One of the difficulties facing the financial task force is the lack of funding currently available through the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission.
“There are no guarantees that any state funding will exist beyond next year,” Conley said.
(More news from the board of education meeting will be covered in a story later this week.)
