State report cards were released last week. How did your district do?
Good morning, Columbus!
I am writing this newsletter from Ohio University’s campus. I attended Ohio University President Hugh Sherman’s annual media roundtable. There’s something nostalgic about being back on a college campus during Fall Semester between the hustle and bustle of the students and the (soon to be) crisp autumn air.
Sherman is halfway through his two-term presidency. He was appointed as OU’s 22nd president in May 2021, two weeks after former Ohio University President M. Duane Nellis announced he would be stepping down. OU is currently in the search process for a new president, with the goal of having a new leader in place by no later than July 1, 2023.
Now onto the rest of the education news of the week.
Review session:
State report cards came out this week, but with no letter grades. Anna Staver explained how the the revamped report cards will feature star ratings along with new categories and new calculations. The hope is that this new system will be fairer for schools and easier for parents to understand.
Michael Lee and I looked over the report cards and wrote a story detailing how Franklin County school districts performed.
Out of a five-star system, Columbus City Schools saw two stars in its achievement rating and one star each in its graduation and early literacy ratings. However, the district did receive three stars in the progress and gap closing ratings.
Board President Jennifer Adair, in addressing during the board meeting what the district expected to be low scores, said that "it shows again how broken a system we have in terms of where urban education sits. It shows the work we have to do to make systematic change."
The report cards are available at education.ohio.gov/Topics/Data/Report-Card-Resources.
Other school districts in Franklin County and surrounding counties saw high ratings, with many seeing full five-star ratings in various categories.
“There are correlations between wealth and the resources that districts have and those ratings,” Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro said. “I would caution against ever using the word perfection. It doesn't matter where you are, there are always room for improvements.”
Twelve Ohio school districts — including New Albany-Plain Local Schools, Olentangy Local Schools and Upper Arlington City Schools — saw five-star ratings in every category.
Read more about the state report cards in our story here.
Extra Credit
Some Columbus City Schools earlier this year were reported to have no warm or running water in certain areas while others had stained ceiling tiles from leaky roofs, chilly classrooms because of faulty heating systems and other safety issues. That's what The Dispatch found when it reviewed Columbus Public Health school environmental health and safety inspection records of Columbus City school buildings from February through May.
Columbus City Schools received nearly $455 million in federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, which were intended to help school districts recover from the coronavirus pandemic by addressing learning loss, making building improvements to indoor air quality, purchasing remote-learning technology and more. Read how the district is spending the money.
Teachers were technically allowed to start carrying firearms in their classrooms last week, but in reality that didn't happen. The reason is simple: Ohio's School Safety Center hasn't finalized its curriculum for the 24 hours of training required by House Bill 99.
In a split vote, Hilliard City Schools on Sept. 12 joined other suburban school districts in allowing release time for off-campus religious instruction during the academic school day.
As always, thank you for reading! If you haven't already, please subscribe to The Dispatch. And if someone sent you this email, make sure you subscribe to this newsletter to never miss an issue.
Until next time,
Megan Henry
Email: mhenry@dispatch.com
Twitter: @megankhenry
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: How did your school district do in the state report cards?
