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LISBON -- House Bill 33 led the topic of discussion at the Columbiana County Educational Service Center September board meeting held Tuesday.
The bill, signed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Feb. 3, restructures the Ohio Department of Education (ODE), strips the partially-elected State Board of Education of all but its regulatory powers and gives power to a cabinet-level agency called the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (DEW). It grants DeWine the power to appoint the director of a renamed DEW, while the board and state superintendent will be relegated to a subset of their current powers, mostly focused on teacher licensure and discipline. HB 33 also included an expansion of the state's education voucher program to all students but with reduced scholarship amounts provided to families earning above 450% of the federal poverty level.
The board passed a resolution to make provisional changes to board policies and administrative guidelines and forms to comply with HB 33 which will become effective on the 91st day after DeWine's signing. ESC Superintendent Anna Marie Vaughn said the ESC has until Oct. 22 (approximately) to comply in terms of policies because throughout the ODE is referenced and must be changed to DEW. Board member Richard Stoudt was the only board member to vote against the resolution.
"This (resolution) is just acknowledging the change in the name and slowly as we go through the year we will see changes in policy to reflect that. There is still a lot that is still unanswered so not everything we will be able to respond to," Vaughn said.
Vaughn went on to explain more about the process.
"As I noted in the transition to the department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) that was supposed to be started right after the passing of the budget but really will take longer. They indicated we will not see a full transition until the end of the calendar year," she said. "There were many questions at yesterday's state board meeting. Obviously, the state board has elected state board members who are very concerned as they feel as elected members they will not have access to decisions that are being made and will not be able to respond to constituents. The transition will involve a lot of communication. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future."
In announcements, Vaughn and Assistant Superintendent Marie Williams reported to the board that the Kids STEAM University was a success, with 172 students registered. The event invites area students up to fifth grade and their families to participate in hands-on activities created by area schools, community partners and local businesses to engage children in science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. All county school districts were represented at the event which featured 30 stations by exhibitors and 10 sponsors. Those sponsors were Humtown Products, Williams & Case Insurance Agency, Heritage Thermal, CMT, Butech Bliss, Telpi, the Mahoning Valley Manufacturing Coalition, the Salem Health District, and The Columbiana County Sheriff Department. Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe and Middleton ACE hardware provided lunch free of charge. Exhibitors included the ESC, the Columbiana County Mental Health and Recovery Board, the Columbiana County Career and Tech Center, Salem Public Library, Crestview Schools Ohio EPA, Beaver Creek Wildlife Center, the county health department, Ohio Division of Forestry, Community Legal Aid and more.
"It was just another great morning-slash-afternoon and I would just like to thank our sponsors and exhibitors who helped make the event a success," Williams said. "We had wide-variety of students from preschool to fifth-grade and up. All our exhibitors had a lot of great activities for kids to do. The "Realm of the Reptile" interactive reptile exhibit was a huge hit. They brought lots of snakes and bearded dragons and all kinds of other things. The kids really, really liked it. Again, just thank you to all of our sponsors and all of our exhibitors that participated."
Williams also reported the Ohio Department of Education released its annual report cards for school districts across the state on Thursday, providing the board with copies of county school district ratings.
In the past a letter grade has been issued.This is the first year Ohio schools and districts received overall ratings of 1 to 5 stars in half-star increments for five rated components -- achievement, progress, gap closing, early literacy and graduation. The state education department said an overall rating of at least 3 stars means a district or school has met state standards.
Columbiana led all county districts with 4.5 stars. Leetonia, Crestview and Beaver Local scored four stars -- all exceeding state standards.
In personnel matters, the board approved stipends for MVCS teachers Charles Oliver and Brian Palmer and Sarah Underwood and renewed the contracts of East Liverpool Christian School employees Denise McIntosh and Shannon Thomas as well as approved 16 tutors at the school. The board also approved three job coaches, seven online teachers, several Leaning's Kool After School Program staff through the county and several other certified personnel items.
The board also approved to sell Bus 11, approved substitute bus driver wages at $15 per hour, approved the teacher-pay scale as presented (to stay in state compliance), the 2024 appropriations and estimated resources and bills totaling $965,305. Donations to the Kids STEAM University (totaling $850) from Willaims & Case Insurance, Brian and Shelly McLaughlin and Anthony Miranda were accepted.
selverd@mojonews.com