By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Francis Scruci is no shrinking violet. If parents don’t know what is going on in the district, there’s a good chance they haven’t been listening.
In his first year as superintendent of Bowling Green City School District, Scruci has made the most of high tech and low tech communication to find out what citizens want, and to tell them what is going on behind school walls.
“One of the things I heard was that the communication was really lacking,” Scruci said about the initial comments he heard from local citizens. “What I’m hearing now is people know what’s going on in the schools.”
For those who prefer face to face conversations, Scruci holds frequent group chats at local coffee shops. For those who prefer social media, Scruci sends out videos every Friday giving parents and students updates.
“I think we get more out of that than if I would send out emails,” he said.
The superintendent is not above pulling silly stunts and jamming to music on the videos – that’s as much for the students as the parents.
“I want our kids to know that I have a personality. They see I can laugh at myself. They see they can approach me.”
When he arrived in Bowling Green last year, Scruci quickly attained status among students by being present at nearly every school event. And in many cases, he was more than present. At the first football game last fall, he climbed up the director’s ladder and took a turn conducting the marching band. When the elementary students started a new reading program focused on a cute rodent, he walked around with a stuffed “Humphrey the Hamster” in his shirt pocket.
When it comes to parents, Scruci prides himself on being straight forward, and not candy-coating the truth. “There aren’t any hidden agendas. We’re calling a spade, a spade. That’s something I’ve done everywhere I’ve been.”
When Scruci and the school board meet on Tuesday at 5 p.m., they will look at that agenda, and discuss progress made on the district’s strategic plan that was adopted last August.
“We got a lot of things accomplished in one year. I’m pretty pleased with the amount of progress we’ve made,” Scruci said.
“The first year is always a tough year,” he said. Some new superintendents come into districts wanting to take charge. “That’s not a good approach. It tends to alienate people.”
Instead, Scruci came in with the intention of first getting acquainted with the community and the school district. He has been listening to what residents want, and he’s been telling them where the district stands academically, financially and structurally.
BG Schools ran into an unexpected problem last year when the district was put in the Ohio Improvement Process. But Scruci is confident the district can rise above that ranking.
The district has formed a literacy task force, is working to improve technology and creating mentoring programs for kids. The process for hiring and training new teachers has changed. And more “curriculum mapping” is being done, “so we eliminate gaps and overlaps.”
The district is continuing to increase opportunities for students, by offering options like more advanced placement classes. “We’re going to look at ways to ramp up our offerings to kids,” Scruci said.
The new superintendent has revamped the way the district hires teachers. First, the district held its own job fair – weeks before other teacher job fairs in the region. “We got a jump on the hiring process” and got the cream of the crop, he said.
Also each school building staff is now part of the hiring process, picking out people that are a good fit. “I want to make sure the people we are hiring are coming in with the culture that we want.”
“I’m looking for teachers that have the ‘teacher’s heart,’” Scruci said. They have to know more than just the subject matter they are teaching. They need to have compassion and the ability to build relationships with kids, he said.
In an effort to help new teachers feel a part of the “Bobcat family,” Scruci asks each of them to come to a school board meeting, where they can be introduced to the board.
“We want them to feel fortunate to be part of our district,” he said.
Scruci is also adding an extra day to the previous one-day new teacher orientation process. “We were setting them loose after one day,” which just wasn’t enough, he said.
The new superintendent also reversed the district’s unofficial policy that halted international travel by students after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Scruci said there is nothing like traveling abroad to inspire students.
“It makes the classroom come alive for kids,” he said.
So far, two groups are planning trips, with Spanish students heading to Cuba and drama students traveling to London next year.
“That’s an exciting change for the district. It’s good for kids.”
It’s that criteria – whether or not it’s good for kids – that directs many of Scruci’s decisions. That doesn’t mean the students, or parents, will like it. Scruci took some heat last year for organizing a drug search of the entire high school. The criticism by some parents didn’t change his beliefs, and won’t discourage him from doing the same in the future.
“I’m not going to bury my head in the sand and say there aren’t drugs on our campus,” he said. “We are not going to overlook that there are drugs in this community.”
Scruci believes students found with drugs benefit from being caught. “That process gives us an opportunity to help a kid.”
It’s possible the school board may discuss implementing random drug testing, which is already done by most school districts in the area. If that happens, Scruci will suggest testing of all students, not just athletes.
“Our board of education is truly focused on making decisions based on what is good for kids,” he said. “We’re not about making popular decisions. We’re about making the right decisions.”
As Scruci starts his second year with the district, a huge decision looms on the future of school buildings. A study by the Ohio School Facilities Construction Commission showed that all of the buildings, except the newer middle school, are in need of some costly improvements.
“That has to take center stage,” he said. “We really have to find out what the community wants.”
One community workshop has been held on the topic, and another is planned for June 28 at 7 p.m. Scruci wants to hear from community members if they want to spend money renovating the existing schools, or consolidating the three elementaries on a new central campus.
“I’m not married to anything this community doesn’t want to support,” he said.
Scruci understands that people are emotionally tied to their neighborhood schools. But he also understands that the district should try to get the most out of tax dollars. And despite the belief that students walk to neighborhood schools, Scruci said the numbers prove otherwise. Just 5 percent of the students walk to Conneaut, 8 percent to Kenwood, and 13 percent to Crim.
“Kids don’t walk to school today,” he said.
Scruci is also troubled by how hot the high school gets during the first few weeks of the school year. The temperatures are almost unbearable, he said.
“They weren’t built with today’s learner in mind.”
But Scruci wants the community to set the course for building changes. “We have to come together and say what’s best,” he said. So more public meetings are planned to gather input.
By December, “we should have a good idea of what the community wants to do.”
