51 District Treasurers Honored at CORAS January Meeting
At the January 20 meeting of the Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools, 51 district treasurers were honored for their contribution to their school district. Mr. Richard Maxwell and David Varda were guest speakers who spoke on the importance of leadership in the treasurer’s position. Dick Maxwell was also presented a plaque for his contribution to fair and equitable funding in Ohio as well as his extensive knowledge that has been shared with school leaders over the past several decades.
Executive Director Dr. Richard Murray also announced that the March Meeting date has been moved to February 18 at the Olde Dutch Inn in Logan. The focus of the meeting will be: “Legislators want to hear from S.E. Ohio Superintendents.” CORAS has been invited to host a special meeting (FEB. 18th) to gather school information from CORAS member Superintendents that will be used in the preparation of Ohio’s next Biennial Budget process. The meeting will be held at the Olde Dutch restaurant in Logan Ohio from 9:00 to 12:00 followed by lunch.
BASA’s Director of Government Relations Tom Ash will lead the meeting, and Policy Researcher Dr. Howard Fleeter will help us guide our discussion. This is a great opportunity for Superintendents to advocate for your schools and S.E. Ohio’ classrooms. District Superintendents are being asked to provide input to the following questions that will provide data to lead this discussion. Superintendents are being asked to return answers to the following questions prior to the February meeting.
1.) What part of the current Ohio school funding formula creates the greatest problem for your school district?
Short term?
Long term?
2.) If you had a 5% increase in basic aid, what would you do with the additional money?
3.) What percent and (dollar amount) of your General Fund revenue goes to transportation? What programs would you offer with that amount of money?
4.) In what subject areas are you having the most difficulty finding teachers?
5.) What one thing could the General assembly do at little cost that would improve the quality of learning in your school district?
6.) What program or services from your ESC have you had to reduce or eliminate as a result of ESC cuts over the last two budgets?
7.) Why are more students not enrolling in AP classes in your district?
8.) What is the status of the use of technology (for both instruction and assessments) in your district?