Get the facts! The Midview Schools are continually striving to communicate relevant, factual information to our community. This page is designed to help clarify or dispel rumors that are circulating in the district.
Q:Was Howard Dulmage officially hired to serve as the Facilities Planner and Interim Support Services Administrator?
A:On Tuesday, August 4, 2009 the Midview School Board officially hired Mr. Howard Dulmage to serve as the Facilities Planner and Interim Support Services Administrator. The Board action took place at the recently implemented monthly meetings for the Board to hear updates about the Middle School Construction Project. Mr. Dulmage has served as the lead communicator on this project and will serve on a part-time basis in that capacity through the remainder of the calendar year. See attached minutes of this meeting. Please feel free to join us on the first Tuesday of each month for updates and associated resolutions regarding Facilities at West Elementary at 6:30 pm.
Q: Has the Board looked into adding a traffic light at Rt. 57 and Capel Rd. to help with increased traffic now that high school busing has been cut?
A: Yes, the Midview Board of Education contacts ODOT regularly to monitor traffic at that site in the hopes of getting a traffic light. Below is our most recent status report, sent to Board President David Zunis on February 24, 2009:
Mr. Zunis,
I just wanted to let you know we recently counted the intersection of SR 57 & Capel Road to determine how the elimination of high school busing would affect the traffic volumes. We performed this count with our tube counters and they were in place for 3.5 days (Feb. 10 - Feb. 13). The results of this count are very similar to the count we performed in November/December of 2006. Actually, the average daily traffic (ADT) volumes were slightly less with the most recent count. Below is a comparison of the two counts.
RT 57 and CAPEL RD ADT'S
| Count Year |
SR 57 SB |
SR 57 NB |
Capel Rd. WB |
| 2006 |
5571 |
5385 |
1625 |
| 2009 |
5134 |
4483 |
1590 |
With the higher gas prices over the last couple of years we have seen a decrease in traffic volumes statewide. This may be why the counts are a little less now than they were in 2006. Although the school traffic may have increased slightly with the elimination of high school busing, this is probably contradicted by the fact people in general are driving less.
As I stated before, we will continue to monitor this location for any future traffic control needs. Please feel free to contact me with any other concerns or changes to the traffic patterns. Thanks!
Julie A. Cichello, P.E.
ODOT District 3 Traffic Planning Engineer
Q: I was just wondering how the Stimulus would affect our busing situation. Will we vote on it again or will we have busing the start of next school year?
A: There are many aspects of the new stimulus packages, both federal and state, that seem like they will benefit the many school districts in Ohio that are having financial difficulties. However, the overall impact on the Midview School district will not be realized for quite some time. Therefore, it is difficult to comment on whether these changes will adversely affect our financial situation in the near future.
However, all the current cuts that have made, or will be made in the near future, are slated for the upcoming school year in addition to the current fiscal year. Our budget for next year is already in its final stages so there is little we will be able to change until the 2010-2011 school year....even if there is a windfall of funds, they will not affect us until that time.
Q: How does Open Enrollment affect the budget?
A: Midview currently accepts 215 students through open enrollment. At the same time, 116 of our students leave us through open enrollment to other districts. Incoming students are enrolled in various grades, and do not greatly affect class size. They do, however, positively affect our budget, bringing in $566,557 of income to help us operate our schools.
Q: What’s happened to our old buildings?
A: Grafton Elementary was sold to an independent developer and East Carlisle Elementary was sold to CarlisleTownship—bringing valuable income into the district--all the while helping our budget by subtracting their maintenance costs from our operating fund. Brush Elementary is now being rented by a private, for-profit organization, generating additional money to help us run our school system.
Q: How does lottery money help our budget?
A: It doesn’t. While it’s true that Ohio schools receive money from the state Lottery, the exact amount that we receive through this program is then subtracted from the amount we receive from the state. In this way, schools do not receive any additional money through the program.
Q: How does Strickland’s proposal help us?
A: We don’t know yet. Please keep in mind that Gov Strickland’s proposal is just that … a proposal. The plan must first pass the House (majority Democrats), then move to the Ohio Senate (majority Republicans) and then move through a Conference Committee IF it passes both Houses in some form or other. So while it’s interesting to talk about restructuring the educational system in Ohio, much of this will be just that, “talk”.
Q: I would really like to no how and why we build new schools and leave old ones empty and waist the money we waist
and now we want more or we take busing lay teacher off I as a parent would rather see a investigation on were this money has been lost over the years and get ride of the person responsible for the lack of business knowledge I as a parent will now and forever vote no on all levys in this town and will do everything I can to make sure they do not pass.
A: Thank you for contacting us. We always appreciate the opportunity to answer questions directly, to help tame some of the many rumors that are created in times like these.
1. Why are we discussing building a new middle school?
Midview recently hosted several community meetings to help explain this complex issue-this situation represents the complexity of school finance. Residents across the state of Ohio have "credits" with the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission (OSFC) to build new school facilities-money which the state wants to now put into circulation to help put people to work. Midview is now being offered our "credits". We have $22 million of our own money waiting for us, but it can only be used to build a new facility. By taking advantage of this offer from the state, we will be able to begin building a new middle school this year--for FREE--while putting many of our local construction workers back to work.
2. Are we leaving our old elementary buildings empty?
The answer is no. Grafton Elementary was sold to an independent developer and East Carlisle Elementary was sold to CarlisleTownship--bringing valuable income into the district--all the while helping our budget by taking those buildings' expensive maintenance costs out of our operating fund. Brush Elementary is now being rented by a private, for-profit organization, generating additional money to help us run our school system.
3. Why are we getting rid of teachers and HS busing?
We worked day and night to pass a 2.5 mill Permanent Improvement levy last year. We were on the ballot in March and again in November. Midview had already made more than a million dollars in cuts from our budget--in fact, Midview spends the least per student on instruction in the county. When the levy did not pass in November, Midview was forced to make an additional $1.2 million in cuts from an already bare bones budget. The Board is trying very had to make those cuts as far away from the educational core as possible--that is one of the reasons why HS busing was cut—but the fact is, these cuts are going to significantly impact education. However, the issue at hand is high school busing, and cutting this service will save the district more than $250,000 by the end of next year--a significant amount. However, some of the cuts that will be made will eventually hurt the education of our students--there's no other way. To read the superintendent's full recommendations for cuts that he delivered in a speech to the Board of Education in December, click here.
Remember:
Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) funding and the money that would have been generated by Issue 39 are two separate funding areas with two separate "pots" of money which can only be used for specific items:
* OSFC funding can only be used for new construction of school buildings. It can NOT be used for educational necessities such as those that would have been generated by passing levy Issue 39.
* Issue 39 funding, by law, could only have been used to purchase items with a lifespan of 5 years or more: items such as textbooks, classroom technology, and safe transportation. Since this Issue did not pass, Midview is now in the process of making $1.2 million in cuts-including busing and teachers.
I hope that this answers your questions. We will continue to do everything that we can to ensure your child (or children) receives a quality education--but this becomes more and more difficult with limited support.
Q: I heard that Midview is proposing to take our high school busing away and now they want to build a new school. Can you explain?
A: Midview is hosting several community meetings to help explain this complex issue—we hope you will come. This situation represents the complexity of school finance—now that Issue 39 has been voted down by district residents, the Midview Board of Education is in the process of making $1.2 million in cuts from an already bare bones budget. The first cuts will be affect as of January 20th, and were made to areas which would not affect the education of students: HS busing and the closing of East and North Elementary Schools at 4:00 p.m.
At the same time, residents across the state of Ohio have “credits” with the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission (OSFC) to build new school facilities—money which the state wants to now put into circulation to help put people to work. Midview is now being offered our “credits”. We have $22 million of our own money waiting for us, but it can only be used to build a new facility.
OSFC funding and the money that would have been generated by Issue 39 are two separate funding areas with two separate “pots” of money which can only be used for specific items:
OSFC funding can only be used for new construction of school buildings. It can NOT be used for educational necessities such as those provided through Issue 39.
Issue 39 funding, by law, could only have been used to purchase items with a lifespan of 5 years or more: items such as textbooks, classroom technology, and safe transportation. Since this Issue did not pass, Midview is now in the process of making $1.2 million in cuts—including busing and limits to building use.
The first community meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 10th at MHS at 7:00 p.m. The second community meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 14th at MHS at 7:00 p.m.
Q: With the current budget crunches and the elimination of HS busing, why are we busing middle school students?
A: State law requires that all schools in Ohio provide transportation for children in grades Kindergarten through 8th grade who live beyond two miles of their assigned school building. This includes children attending parochial and For Profit Schools. The law does not require that any school bus high school students. School districts that currently do not bus high school students include Keystone, North Ridgeville, Elyria, Buckeye, Amherst, North Olmsted, Avon Lake and Lorain.
In each of the districts mentioned above, a school bus comes down the street and picks up Junior High students and NOT High School students. Beginning January 20th high school students will begin their school day at 7:15 A.M. Buses filled with 5th thru 8th grade students will be arriving at 7:25 A.M. after the traffic from the high school has hopefully cleared. Note: We will bus JVS students to the Joint Vocational School as required by law, however those students must get to Midview High School in order to catch the bus.
Q: The cuts to HS busing are going to put our youngest drivers on the roads in winter—don’t you think that’s dangerous?
A: School officials do not give students permission to drive. We give students permission to park on school property. It is parents who determine whether students can drive to school or not. We too would prefer that younger students not drive however under the current circumstances we are trying to work with parents who have asked us for permission for their child to park on school property.
Q: How are we saving money by cutting HS busing when we are still running two runs in the morning and two in the afternoon?
A: There will be four or five fewer buses on the road each day because we are transporting fewer students. We will save the cost of the bus driver, insurance, retirement, repairs to the buses and more. We will save approximately $250,000 in transportation costs if we stop high school busing in January and continue it through the next school year. Keep in mind that a school bus burns diesel fuel (not gasoline) and gets approximately 6 ½ miles per gallon.
Q: I heard that the HS held a meeting with students telling them that as of January 20th, students traveling north on 57 must use Capel and those traveling south must use Durkee. How do you expect to enforce this?
A: We have suggested this to our students who drive for the past four years. It is a suggestion and we have no intention of “enforcing” it. It’s simply a suggestion in hopes of making life easier.
Q: How will the cuts affect Special Education busing?
A: Special education students must be bussed, by Federal law, to the school where they can receive an “appropriate education”. While the great majority of children with handicaps are educated at Midview, we do not have the expertise to deal with certain kinds of learning disabilities. Some of our students attend Murray Ridge School; some attend special programs in Elyria. Frankly, we have no control over this and must follow the requirements of the law.
Q: What about busing Parochial & For Profit School students?
A: We are not required to bus high school students to Elyria Catholic, Open Door or other private high schools – and we will discontinue doing so after January 20th. We are required to bus students’ kindergarten through 8th grade to parochial and For Profit Schools. It’s an Ohio law.
Q: I heard that now that Issue 39 has not passed, the pay-to-play fee will be increasing. Is this true?
A: Yes, there will be a higher fee to participate in after-school activities next year. The board, athletic director, school treasurer and superintendent have been working on the Student Activity Fee for several weeks and we will be notifying everyone of the recommendation before the holiday break. There will be no increased charge this school year.
Q: How are the decisions regarding busing cuts being made?
A: We began planning for the discontinuing of high school busing plus many, many other reductions in services to the community after the levy failed in May. Sue Anielski, our Supervisor of Transportation has rerouted buses, computed savings and done a super job preparing for this change. In addition all building principals have been asked for input on how we can make this work so that we get the maximum amount of savings and still maintain the integrity of the educational program. Many, many hours of meetings have been held to flesh out the best way to make this change and still keep the educational program in tact. The board has directed me to protect the “core” subjects of Reading, Writing, Science, Math and Social Studies. Everything else is to be considered for reductions.
Q: Do you know when all the Board's cuts that they intend to put in place are supposed to be finalized? Also, are there any intentions of putting the issue back on the ballot in the spring or fall?
A: Yes, the Midview Board of Education will have to put an issue back on the ballot, but in what form, and when, has not yet been finalized. This decision will be made by February 22nd, as that is the last day to file for the May election if they wish to go on the ballot in Spring.
District cuts will continue to be recommended each month until the cuts equal $1.2 million, the amount which would have been generated by the recent levy. As the Board approves these cuts, we will communicate them through the local newspapers, online, and on GLWB's Channel 12.
Q: I am concerned that the levy didn't pass, and I think it is because people are still upset about how the schools were built. What is the Board doing to better its reputation to be able to help pass the levy needed to help better educate our children?
A: Since the new Board members came into office in 2006, they have worked very hard to meet with members of the community to hear their concerns and feedback via coffees, community forums, and other vehicles. Their primary goal as a Board is open and honest communication. They attend the meetings of community organizations such as Kiwanis and the business association, local government meetings, booster meetings, and their board meetings are not only open to the public, but available on our website and GLWB’s Channel 12. They want to be clear that they are accessible to the community to help heal perceptions of the past. If you would be willing to help with the next levy, please let us know. We could use your heart and hands!
Q: Is it possible to ask parents if they would be interested in paying for their child to ride the bus?
A: Paying for regular bus runs was made illegal by the Ohio Department of Transportation back when the JVS’s were started. The reason for this is that regular busing is partially reimbursed by the state. The exception to this is that extra runs, for things like field trips, can be paid for by families and support groups.
Q: With two of the elementary schools closing at 4pm, will there be specific closings for the high school? Specifically, I’m wondering if the drama program will be affected with any time problems. This is a concern because we paid for the drama.
A: Drama and all other Winter and Spring activities that have already been paid for are safe for the year.
Q: I am understanding about the current budget situation, but I would also like to know how the Governor’s announcement to allocate more money to school funding will affect your current situation?
A: Actually, the opposite is true: the governor has announced continued cuts to education, not more funding. At the present time we have not been notified of any such help to our current crisis. Our funding has actually decreased. We receive approximately 45% of our funding from the state, and the remaining 55% is raised locally.
Q: How will the busing cuts affect the Middle School students who were bused on the High School routes?
A: We are right now in the process of finalizing all busing specifics. However, to ease any immediate concerns, please know that the middle school start and release times will remain the same. Finalized information will be released in early January.
Q: I have a middle school student will he still be bused or will we need to provide transportation? I have heard that the start of day will be changed and students will ride with elementary students is this correct?
A: Yes, middle school students will still be bused, and the start of the day will not change for middle schoolers. Also, yes, middle school students will now ride with East Intermediate students. Only East Intermediate students will see a big change in their start time and busing.
Q: With all the cuts currently being undertaken at the schools, we haven’t heard much about the largest expense - payroll. There are cuts being made with the lowest paid workers - custodians and bus drivers. Doesn't it seem more logical to address where most of the money really goes?
A: Yes, payroll is our largest expense…we can not educate without teachers, and education is the primary purpose of our schools. However, since we are already working with a bare bones budget, and $1.2 million in cuts must be made, future cuts must be made, and they will hurt the education of our children.
Q: I heard that Midview will soon be going to a 4-day week, and that the day students will have off is a Wednesday. Is this true?
A: No, that is not true. A 4-day school week is currently not allowable by law.
Q: I have heard of a rumor that when HS busing ends on Jan. 20th the students at East Intermediate School will be then riding the bus with the middle school kids at an earlier time. Is this true?
A: Yes, this is true. All families who are to be affected by this time change were notified in writing by their child’s principal (this information is also posted online). The new bus runs will be posted in early January.
Q: I don’t understand why the schools are always crying poor when they get all that money from the Lottery!
A: Howard Dulmage, Midview Superintendent, said we could quote him on this one: “It’s a flim-flam.” While it’s true that Ohio schools receive money from the state Lottery, the exact amount that we received through this program is then subtracted from the amount we receive from the state. In this way, schools do not receive any additional money through the program—they receive just as much, or as little, as they would have without the Lottery program.
Q: I keep hearing about different professional development activities happening in the schools—how can you be paying for this in the wake of all these cuts?
A: Midview constantly seeks out grant funding to keep our educational staff effective in the classroom. We are only able to provide these opportunities because of this outside funding.
Thank you for your questions. We will continue to do our best with the funding the community gives us. Please do not hesitate to call us at 440-926-3737 or email if we can answer any other questions.
