- We start to today with a clutch of stories from Lorain. The “realness” of the arrival of a CEO in the district seems to have caught up with the elected school board. In the wake of the “meet the candidates” night earlier this week, they have determined they are “not satisfied” with the search process. (Northern Ohio Morning Journal, 7/20/17) I'm not sure if it's the process so much as the outcome of that process, but here is what the board members say they are upset about. If you think any of this sounds familiar from the saga of the ADC in Youngstown, you would not be incorrect. Wonder if there’s a hotline? (Elyria Chronicle, 7/20/17) As you may have noticed in those earlier pieces, an emergency board meeting was called for last night following the determination of “dissatisfaction”. With no detailed agenda put forward ahead of time, we all had to wait with bated breath as to what action the board would take. So here it is: The board was reorganized so the outspoken VP (“Dissatisfactor in Chief”?) would become president, and he then changed out the board’s teacher rep sitting on the ADC. Scary. And then they solemnly resolved to tattle on the ADC to State Superintendent Dad that the search process wasn’t FAAAAAAAAAAIR and that he should give them a new process RIGHT NOW!! (Northern Ohio Morning Journal, 7/20/17) The Chronicle’s version of the meeting is pretty interesting too, quoting others besides new board prez Dimacchia (congrats, by the way, your honor). Is now the right time to note that the elected board is not really supposed to be involved in the CEO selection process? If not, sorry about doing so. (Elyria Chronicle, 7/21/17)
- This piece probably has no relation to the foregoing stories, so apologies for placing it here where such relations may be unfairly inferred. It just caught my interest. Not sure why. The Mansfield school board is considering hiring one of its former members as a principal. She was a teacher and a principal before she was a board member, so cool. (Mansfield News Journal, 7/17/17)
- This story should probably be filed either under “T” for “twisty” or perhaps under “B” for “brassy”. As you’ll no doubt recall, Ohio’s largest online school is in the process of repaying some $60 million the state says it owes due to the outcome of an attendance audit. Not in Bitcoin, mind, but via deductions from current and ongoing monthly payments. However, since aspects of that audit are still in legal dispute(s) and because the school is apparently confident of winning through, those current payments are being billed in the old way, leading to the possibility that even more money will be “overpayed” to the school should the legal challenges not go the school’s way. Hmmm… Perhaps “G” for “genius” is more appropriate. (Columbus Dispatch, 7/21/17)
- Finally today, the multi-district summer teacher development confab originally called Gobbledygook Institute (who knows what it was really called?) has been renamed as “The Big Think”, which I’m sure is better than whatever it was before. Even though I’m sure it’s not this, I can’t help picturing hundreds of teachers sitting on the floor of a fancy hotel ballroom. In silence. Thinking. Big. (ThisWeek News, 7/18/17)
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