By KATHRYNE RUBRIGHT
Staff Writer
Findlay City Schools Superintendent Ed Kurt and Hancock County Superintendent Larry Busdeker both criticized online charter schools during the Hancock County Republicans’ First Friday lunch.
Online charter schools lack accountability, Kurt said.
“Charter schools in Ohio are draining limited state financial resources from the public schools, while achieving very marginal results,” Busdeker said.
Findlay Digital Academy, which is sponsored and overseen by Findlay City Schools, is an exception, both superintendents said.
That school was one of just eight dropout recovery schools in Ohio to earn an “exceeds standards” rating on 2016-2017 report cards issued by the state Department of Education in October.
The two superintendents on Friday also provided overviews of Findlay City Schools and the Hancock County Educational Service Center.
Kurt said his district has been focusing on “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and trauma-informed care. He said disciplinary issues in school buildings and on buses have decreased as a result.
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” by Stephen Covey, was the 2017 CommunityREAD book, and Findlay City Schools has been implementing the habits through a variety of methods, such as leadership teams of students and morning town hall meetings led by students.
Trauma-informed care is about understanding how traumatic situations outside of school may be impacting students.
Kurt also said Findlay City Schools’ dark fiber network is running, which will allow the district to connect more devices to the internet, and means more money can go toward purchasing those devices instead of paying for an outside internet provider.
He also spoke about the district’s general fund deficit. The fiscal year 2018 budget was approved with a projected general fund deficit of $4.1 million, which has since dropped by $270,000 because some textbook purchases will be made with permanent improvement money instead.
“We are revising our financial health plan, and it will be out here in the next few weeks, and we’re looking at ways that we can do a better job of reducing that operational deficit,” Kurt said.
Busdeker said the state underfunds schools, and too frequently makes changes to testing.
The Hancock County Educational Service Center has a budget of almost $7.7 million and employs 126, Busdeker said. Its services for schools in Hancock County include curricular improvement; gifted enrichment programming; special needs instruction and preschools; psychological services; speech therapy; staff development; community collaboration; an insurance consortium; an Alternative Opportunity Center for students doing credit recovery or who have behavior issues; a digital school; and an attendance officer.
Rubright: 419-427-8417
Send an E-mail to kathrynerubright
Twitter: @kerubrighta