News Archives - Monroe School District
-Frazier Delay of School Board - Unacceptable
At the last meeting of the Middletown/Monroe School Board a good part of the meeting was spent discussing the various details which need to be attended to in the deconsolidation of the school district. Many of these problems cannot be resolved without an official school board for the new Monroe Local Schools. Two members of the Butler County School Board, Mary Pritchard and Katy Kern, traveled to Columbus on March 7, Election Day, to attend the Ohio State School Board meeting and request that an acting school board for the Monroe Local School district be appointed immediately so that the communities may move ahead with the huge jobs ahead of them in forming two separate districts. Their trip was in vain as the State School Board never allowed them to speak at their meeting. At the recent Middletown/Monroe School Board meeting Dr. Frazer stated that he sent a letter to the State School Board requesting that they appoint the new school board at their next (April 10) meeting in the interests of Monroe and Middletown. He stated that to delay this appointment is "unacceptable". Previously, the State School Board delayed the decision about allowing Monroe to split from the Middletown/Monroe Schools for months and months and the prospect of losing 30 days of working time every time the board might delay the appointments is a disturbing possibility as the June 30 deadline draws nearer. Concerns about the matter should be addressed to our state school board representative Diane Fessler at www.fessler.com/sbe.htm.
-Monroe Executive Committee and
Teachers Group Start Staffing Discussions
The Middletown Teachers Association and the Monroe executive committee began
meeting Wednesday February 23. These discussions are not binding and are just
preliminary. The two groups met to discuss staffing for Monroe
Elementary and Lemon-Monroe High School if Monroe voters approve a new district
in the March 7 elections.
-Monroe Schools would have an estimated Tax Base of $188,300
Additionally, with over 1500 new homes in the works and new businesses coming to the city, that tax base is expected to grow. The figure is about $10 million higher than CORE had originally estimated. Based on the data the committee has to work with, Monroe schools could have an operating surplus of a half-million dollars.
-Monroe School Budget presented Tuesday Nite at 7pm
The executive committee will present a budget and plans for the district at a meeting 7 pm Tuesday. The meeting will be in council chambers at the Monroe City Building. To discuss the budget or other Monroe School District Issues, click here.
-The Ohio Department of Education to Appoint Monroe School Board
The Ohio Department of Education would
appoint the Monroe School Board if a new Monroe School District is created. The
appointments would stay in office until an election can be held.
Applications to the proposed districts board are being accepted by the Butler
County Educational Service Center. Contact Dan Hare, superintendent of the
service center, at (513) 887-5504 if you are interested.
Suzi Rubin, webmaster for MainStreetMonroe is going to apply for a
board position. Carol Brotherton, a current Middletown/Monroe School board
member, is also expected to apply. The state board will review recommendations
from the Monroe community but it is unclear how final decisions will be made.
The state is not bound by the Monroe Community recommendations.
-Monroe begins superintendent talks
Monroe city
school officials need a new superintendant, and they need him by May 22. They
are to begin interviews on May 8th to fill the position, according to Dan Hare
(Butler County Superintendant) who serves as the interm administrator. So far
there have been eleven aplicants for the position which has to be filled by the
22.
The new Monroe Board of Education met in Fairfield at the Butler County
Educational Services Center to discuss how they are to start the process. The
board met mostly in Executive session, and no action was immediately expected
from this meeting. The topics from this meeting may though be part of the next
board meeting. The meeting allowed for the board to prepare for the new
superintendant. The board hopes to include citizens who would assist them in the
interviewing process. The 11 applicants are aet to go through a screening
process, which will eliminate some of them, cutting the interviews down. They
are hoping to be narrowed down to a couple of finalists by May 17th.
Applicants for the position include
Larry Knapp, Verity Middle School principal
Jim Reilly Cincinnati Public Schools principal
Robert Leahy, Franklin High School principal
Robert Hoover, Bright Local Schools superintendent
Arnold Elam, Reading City Schools assistant superintendent
Mike Russell, Benjamin Logan Schools superintendent
Dave Baker, Princeton City Schools assistant superintendent/personnel
Doug Lantz, Milford Exempted Village Schools Business manager
Frederic Reeder, United Farm Supply training consultant
Joe Pielach, Steubenville City Schools principal
Jim Garber, Bryan City Schools superintendent
Committee Recommendations Outlined
Open Enrollment
The Monroe District
should develop a policy that provides for Open Enrollment to Lemon-Monroe
High School in Grades 9-12. The following limits for total capacity
(resident students plus open enrollment students) at each grade level should
be set as follows:
Grade 12 - 175
Grade 11 - 256
Grade 10 - 247
Grade 9 - 280
The building capacity is 1000 students (including 7th and 8th graders).
7th and 8th Grades will be included in the building capacity limit and no open enrollment will be offered for these grades. Since the elementary building is expected to be over capacity, no open enrollment will be offered for K-6.
Priority Open Enrollment for current out-of-district students who are presently enrolled at Lemon-Monroe High School will be held. At the end of the Priority period, another open enrollment period will begin for the remaining seats available. This means that first available open seats go to current students, with potential 9th graders eligible to apply only during the second open enrollment period. These seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
By law, any seats must be given to Monroe residents first, and new move-ins may reduce the projected number of seats available for open enrollment.
Projected Enrollment
Current enrollment and open enrollment survey results indicate that the Projected Enrollment for the 2000/2001 School year would be as follows:
| K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Total Elementary | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Total Middle/High School |
| 85 | 72 | 98 | 73 | 88 | 82 | 74 | 572 | 85 | 101 | 171 | 239 | 238 | 166 | 1000 |
Busing
For food and bus service, we are considering both commercial vendors and using the services of the Middletown District. We have budgeted to support either solution. A team will review the situation and make recommendations to the Executive Committee at a later date.
There has been a recommendation that transportation be reviewed for increased services for the Monroe students, and a maximum of 3 centralized pickup points for the Open Enrollment students be provided.
Employment Policy
The Monroe District
should develop an Employment policy that would not detract in any way from
what the staff now has, but design the policy to treat faculty / staff as
professionals.
» Honor all seniority
» Accept accumulated sick leave
» Adopt present salary schedule
» Adopt present supplemental schedule
» Maintain benefits
» Maintain or improve student / teacher ratios