Diversity high atop Wooster City Schools board agenda - here's what the BOE is doing

Linda Hall
·2 min read
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The Wooster City School District is preparing for the new school year, and high on its list is the goal of diversity. The diversity task force, initiated in 2017, met before Monday evening's regular board of education meeting on July 31.

It meets several times a year with steering committee members Superintendent Gabe Tudor, Steve Shapiro, Yvonne Williams, and Rachel Relle.

Monday's meeting included the entire group for an annual report, Tudor reported at the regular board meeting. Members discussed the goals the task force will continue to pursue, such as hiring "good quality educators here; and when we can get those that would be from a diverse background, that could be a good example for our students."

"We're always excited about that possibility," Tudor said.

A Dangers of Indifference class, which started out as a Holocaust class and incorporates "the potential ramifications" of being indifferent, is offered at Wooster High School, Superintendent Gabe Tudor said at Monday's board meeting. FILE PHOTO
A Dangers of Indifference class, which started out as a Holocaust class and incorporates "the potential ramifications" of being indifferent, is offered at Wooster High School, Superintendent Gabe Tudor said at Monday's board meeting. FILE PHOTO

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High School classes aligning with group's goals

The group also talked about Wooster High School classes aligning with the group's goals, he said, such as Dangers of Indifference, which started out as a Holocaust class and incorporates "the potential ramifications" of being indifferent.

That class will have 70 students this year with several sections, while the Civil Rights class will have eight, a population that ebbs and flows, Tudor said.

The district will continue to provide implicit bias training for staff members online and in professional development.

Also on the agenda was connecting the pursuit of district diversity with "engaging all groups in strategic planning," Tudor said, and providing "a self and welcoming environment for all students," especially helping the underrepresented population.

District finances were $1.3 million better off than expected

Treasurer Amy Welty gave the board a positive outlook for district finances, reporting the district received $322,000 more in revenue than the amount projected in the May forecast.

Expenditures also had "a favorable variance," Welty said, of a little more than a million dollars. In terms of the previous forecast, "we were $1.3 million better off."

Additionally, Welty said, in running simulations for the new state budget, she expects to see an increase in state funding for the next year.

Among the donations to the district noted by Welty were $4,300 from the Ralph R. and Grace B. Jones Foundation, and $4,300 from Greg and Kathy Long "to defray eligible food service fees for incoming Wooster High School seniors."

Outstanding food service bills for students coming out of the pandemic are "pretty significant," Tudor said, encouraging those who qualify to fill out the form required for free and reduced lunch fees.

Among the agenda items approved by the board was a contract for this school year for the discontinued International Baccalaureate Academy, housed at Wooster High School and operated by the Tri-County Educational Service Center, so that 14 seniors who started the program as juniors can complete it this coming school year.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Wooster City School District Diversity Task Force report