West Clermont December Update 2012

It is official that Dr. Brooks is leaving West Clermont. The board voted this evening to move forward without him and approved new job descriptions for a new administrative team. One that may in fact come with an organizational chart to, well, organize a district in disarray. After a myriad of cuts and levy defeats, perhaps a new team will be able to do what other administrators were not able to convince the district to do: Get its act together. 

West Clermont News Bulletin: Dr. Brooks Resigning

Sources across West Clermont and Clermont County brought this information to the attention of SCS early this morning, and is now posted on the district webpage. The information relayed is that a  communication went out to all staff this morning which stated that with board approval, Dr. Brooks will resign in early spring of 2013. The next board meeting is Monday, Dec. 17th, however, the agenda is typically not set until Friday evening at the earliest. That being said, Dr. Brooks is under contract for 2 years beyond the 2012-13 school year. The assumption is the board would have to release him from that contract with a majority vote. This result, and the retirement of MES-P and non-renewal of Al Delgado would mean practically an entirely new  leadership team for the 2013-14 school year. The lone holdover being newly hired Asst. Super Klein. A reorganization was already in the works, but what impact this will have to the current plan is unknown at this time.  SCS  has reached out to board leadership, but have yet to receive word back on what will happen next. Any new information will be updated as it comes in.

West Clermont Update: Nov-Dec 2012

Following a third levy defeat of the 60-40% variety, West Clermont has much to ponder going forward. The community continues to be fractured along many lines, and it was on display at this month’s board meetings. The district will be borrowing from future revenues in order to maintain its current service levels, and will have to make cuts or concessions in 2013.

Batavia Results Certified

Information was recently relayed to the site that the final results of Batavia’s levy are in. The Board of Elections has certified the results. Passage was by a mere 95 votes, most of which were cast on election day. Absentee ballots were net 248 against, while provisional ballots were net 52 in favor.   The school board will now move forward on their building plans. They will need to accommodate the number of new students that have migrated there over the last few years, as well as update facilities that were in dire need of upgrading. (Thanks to Michael for the heads up)

Commentary: Building A Sense Of Community In West Clermont

(Editor’s Note: This is a commentary on West Clermont Schools by community member John McGraw. The piece is published in its entirety, with only two small spelling and formatting changes. If you have an article you wish to publish, please send to scschools@yahoo.com)

On November 6^th, West Clermont voters overwhelmingly voted down the operating levy placed on the ballot by the West Clermont School Board.  Einstein’s definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. The definition of foolishness is not knowing the definition of insanity. I am very disappointed for the children of the district and for my own kids who attend West Clermont Schools. 

Commentary: West Clermont Levy Failure A Failure of Leadership?

(Editor’s Note: This is a commentary on West Clermont Schools by community member Stuart Kennedy. The piece is unedited except for two small spelling changes and has been published in its entirety. If you have an article you wish to publish, send an email to scschools@yahoo.com.)

 

The West Clermont School Levy failed to pass by a 60/40 vote.  This was no surprise since the prior two 7.9 mill levies also failed by a 60/40 vote.  The school board met the day after the election to discuss their options to handle the over $2,000,000 deficit this school year and the projected $6,000,000 deficit next year.

Weighing A School Levy

Burnt out. Tired. Ready to move on. Elections are both the end of a cycle, and the beginning of a new one. Those that have closure, may move on with the implementation of a plan and will be judged on the results in the future. Those that fail or fall short, can regroup and discover the humility that goes along with not meeting the intended goal. Admit the defeat, but the decision ahead is whether to double down for next time, or to view the results as a turning point. That’s the job of leaders. This editorial in the Columbus Dispatch was published before the election, but it is perhaps more relevant after the fact and deserves a second look.

Election Night Is Here

Post your comments regarding the three levies on the ballot: Batavia, Milford and West Clermont. Up or down, keep it on topic and what your thoughts are going forward for these districts. If you researched and voted, awesome. If you didn’t and voted, read up as much as you can the next time around. If you didn’t vote…why?

The summary report from the County should be here, but if not I will update the link.

UPDATE: At 8:51, all three districts are down with less than 1/3 of the votes counted. Milford is closest to passing, at 46-54%.

UPDATE: 9:15, over 50% of precincts reporting, and all three districts are on the wrong end of the vote.

UPDATE: Batavia squeaks by, with just a few dozen votes.  Milford fails by just over 300 votes. WC fails by almost 6000 votes.

Buckeye Institute Weighs In On Levies

Clermont County has three levies on the ballot, all different in size and scope. Milford, Batavia and West Clermont residents have received a lot of information from different sources regarding these ballot initiatives. This brief by Greg Lawson is another piece of information to weigh (or not) while thinking about Ohio Schools and funding problems.

New Richmond Is Shrinking

The latest release of the 2012 School Report Cards is not the end of the road, but there are some interesting bits of information to gather from them. There has been debate about the accuracy and overall validity of these measuring sticks at this site, but also from the entity that puts them out. That’s not the focus of this article, as it will be brought up in the near future. Instead it’s the enormous drop in enrollment in New Richmond Schools.