WestChesterBuzz.com

To let West Chester and Liberty Township residents catch up with the news that they need to know, WestChesterBuzz.com will list and link to all of last week’s top local stories every Monday.

Lakota West senior Zak Farmer pitches during a 9-2 loss against Mason Monday, March 26, 2012. Photo by Adam Kiefaber.

High school baseball begins – Last Monday, both Lakota West and Lakota East began the 2012 baseball season with a loss during the inaugural Reds Future High School Showcase at Prasco Park Legacy Field in Mason. Lakota West lost by the score of 9-2 against rival Mason, while Lakota East lost to Hamilton 4-2.

Scholarship created to honor student involved in fatal wreck – The Community Foundation of West Chester/Liberty announced last Monday that it has established a scholarship fund to honor a Lakota West student, who died after being involved in a fatal car wreck March 16. The Ezekiel “Zeke” Stepaniak Memorial Scholarship will be awarded annually to a student at Lakota West High School that exhibits Stepaniak’s qualities.

Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia. Photo taken by Tony Jones.

Lakota seeks students’ input on cuts – Cincinnati Enquirer Michael D. Clark reported that Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia is reaching out to some of those hardest hit by Lakota’s recent $10.5 million in budget cuts – students. Mantia said during Monday evening’s Lakota school board meeting that she will invite students in May to discuss in person the sweeping changes.

Jack in the Box could open in mid-July – A spokesperson with Jack in the Box said last week that it is “only a matter of days” before the company breaks ground on its first restaurant in Ohio. The location, off Tylersville Road near I-75 in West Chester, is expected to be open by mid-July. The target date of the opening could be changed to due weather.

Rogers declared winner after recount – Last week’s recount in the Butler County commission race confirmed that T.C. Rogers of West Chester Township won the Republican primary for Butler County commissioner. Rogers finished 13 votes ahead of former commissioner and State Rep. Courtney Combs. Rogers will face Democratic candidate Jodi Billerman of Liberty Township and Libertarian Daryl Olthaus of Somerville in the November election.

Lakota West pitcher Ashley Sharp pitches in a 6-2 win against Lakota East Friday, March 30, 2012. Photo by Joseph Fuqua II.

Amylin shares soar on takeover bid – Cincinnati Enquirer’s Mike Boyer reported that shares of drug-maker Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. in West Chester Township soared 54 percent Wednesday after a report that the company rejected a $3.5 billion unsolicited takeover bid from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. Shares of the San Diego-based company closed at $23.77 – up $8.38 in more than 10 times normal trading – after Bloomberg News reported the company had rejected the $22-a-share offer.

Lakota West defeated Lakota East in softball – On Friday, Lakota West won its fourth straight against its school district rival. The latest coming by way of a 6-2 victory over the Thunderhawks. Last season, Lakota East was ranked No. 1 in the state for most of the spring and lost only three of its 31 games. All three losses came at the hand of the Firebirds, including one that eliminated Lakota East in the state quarterfinals.

Posted in: Board of Education, Business, Election, Government, Levy news, News, Schools, Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: Amylin, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc., Butler County Board of Elections, Butler County commission race, Butler County Election 2012, Chuck Furmon, Community Foundation, Community Foundation WCL, Community Foundation West Chester/Liberty, Courtney Combs, Ezekieal Stephaniak, Ezekieal Zeke Stepaniak, jack in the box, Jack in the Box Cincinnati, Jack in the Box midwest, Jack in the Box Ohio, Jack in the Box West Chester, Karen Manita, Karen Mantia, Lakota, Lakota cuts, Lakota East, Lakota East baseball, Lakota East softball, Lakota East Sports, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota Superintendent Dr. Karen Mantia, Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia, Lakota West, Lakota West High School, Lakota West softball, Lakota West sports, Lakota West student death, Liberty Township election, Ohio election 2012, reductions, school levy, Superintendent Dr. Karen Mantia, superintendent Karen Mantia, T.C. Rogers, WCL Community Foundation, West Chester election, West Chester McDonalds, West Chester restaurant opening, West Chester restaurants, Zeke Stepaniak

Michael D. Clark reports

School Superintendent Karen Mantia is reaching out to some of those hardest hit by Lakota’s recent $10.5 million in budget cuts – students.

Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia. Photo taken by Tony Jones.

Mantia said during Monday evening’s Lakota school board meeting that she will invite students in May to discuss in person the sweeping changes.

“We really feel like we owe it to our students to ask them what they think their future will be,” said Mantia.

“This will be the first round of a series of engagement meetings. We will be recruiting a cross-section of about 180 students. Then we will go out to talk to the public,” she said.

Due to cuts in recent years totaling more than $25 million, thousands of Lakota students lost busing this school year and learned in more crowded classes.

The slicing of another $10.5 million next school year, including 141 teaching, classroom aides and school staffer positions – and loss of some elective classes – will mean even more changes next school year.

Lakota voters have rejected three school tax hikes in the last two years and Moody’s Investors Service might lower the district’s bond rating, school officials said.

Mantia said Lakota is one of 10 districts among Ohio’s 613 public school systems to have a top, AAA bond rating.

But Moody’s recently contacted Lakota officials after its levy losses, she said. “They particularly hone in on districts that are losing levies,” Mantia said.

“What communities do makes an impact on what interest rate we pay,” said Mantia referring to the higher interest rates the district must pay for bonds if Lakota’s rating is lowered.

Treasurer Jenni Logan said she and Mantia made a vigorous defense of the district’s financial viability with Moody’s.“We are fighting to keep that good rating and hopefully we will get some good news.”

Posted in: Board of Education, Levy news, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Karen Manita, Karen Mantia, Lakota, Lakota cuts, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota preschool, Lakota preschool program, Lakota reductions, Lakota school levy, Lakota Superintendent Dr. Karen Mantia, Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia, Lakota West, reductions, Rich Hoffman, school levy, Superintendent Dr. Karen Mantia, superintendent Karen Mantia

Lakota officials are expected to provide more details on what programs and what positions will be eliminated by next school year during the public portion of the Lakota Board of Education meeting at 7 p.m. Monday.

Earlier this month, the school board approved approximately $10.5 million in budget cuts to take place before the 2012-2013 school year.

According Michael D. Clark of The Cincinnati Enquirer, cuts include 141 teaching, classroom specialist, school nurse and school staff positions, and nine school and central office administrators.

Overall, the school board approved $3.5 million in cuts to its administration, $390,000 to athletics, $2.7 million to high schools, $1.6 million to junior highs, $1.5 million to K-6 and $1.2 million in cost savings to its preschool program. Only $73,000 of the athletic cuts will be saved from the school’s general fund. Most of the athletic cuts are being done to combat a shortfall experienced this year due to lower participation rates caused by last year’s hike in athletic participation fees.

The cost savings of $1.2 million to the district’s preschool program involves a merger that allows Lakota to purchase its preschool services from Butler County Educational Services. The merger will affect an estimated 288 preschool students in Lakota’s three early childhood schools and is expected to eliminate around 17 classroom jobs by the start of next school year.

• With millions in cuts, parents worry about Lakota’s future

The $1.5 million in cuts to K-6 includes the restructuring of the delivery of art, music and physical education at the elementary level (grades 1-6). Instead of students receiving instruction in each special subject (art, music and P.E.) one time each week, students will receive only one of the special subjects one time each week for 45 minutes a day.

The $1.6 million in cuts to junior highs includes the change in school day from six and a half hours to six hours and the change to six bells.

The $2.7 million cut from the high schools also includes a shorter day – moving back the current start time from 7:30 a.m. to 8:05 a.m. Dismissal will move back one minute from 2:39 p.m. to 2:40 p.m. It also lowered the number of credits needed to graduate, from 21 to 20.

The administration cuts include the elimination of about 50 jobs. Under the approved proposal, Lakota will cut one of its two assistant superintendents, two school building administrators and the dean of students at both Lakota East and Lakota West high schools.

Additional information on all budget reduction proposals can be seen at www.lakotaonline.com/budget.

Posted in: Board of Education, Levy news, News, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Karen Manita, Karen Mantia, Lakota, Lakota cuts, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota preschool, Lakota preschool program, Lakota reductions, Lakota school levy, Lakota Superintendent Dr. Karen Mantia, Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia, Lakota West, reductions, Rich Hoffman, school levy, Superintendent Dr. Karen Mantia, superintendent Karen Mantia

Sue Kiesewetter reports

A large donation of office supplies valued at nearly $97,000 will help keep costs down for the Lakota schools in coming months.The Business Solutions Division of Office Depot last week delivered 13 pallets of materials weighing more than 10,000 pounds to the district’s service center – one of the largest donations in recent memory.

School officials are dividing the more than 79,000 items – including highlighters toilet paper, pens, trash bags, paper towels, batteries, glue sticks, and binders – into bins for distribution to the schools in the 18,000-pupil district.

The merchandise is a combination of current inventory and surplus ‘fashion’ supplies that change from season to season, said Owen Torres, spokesman for Office Depot’s Florida headquarters.

Anything the district can’t use will be given to Reach Out Lakota or other charities that benefit the Lakota community, said Chris Passarge, the district’s executive director of business.

“It helps put a dent into what we’d purchase in the future,’’ Passarge said. “We can use a large portion to help offset future costs.”

The last time the district received such a large donation was about eight years when Tom and Jennifer Sharkey agreed to pay for and oversee construction of a 1,000 square-foot band room at Liberty Junior School, said Ron Spurlock, assistant superintendent, who was principal at Liberty Junior School when the Sharkey’s made the donation.

That donation, if the district would have hired contractors to build it, would have cost between $80,000 and $100,000.

“We’ve had people who have been very generous to the Lakota Schools. We’ve had some big donations,” Spurlock said.

“This donation from Office Depot is certainly one of the largest ones and we can certainly use it and are very grateful.”

It couldn’t come at a better time for the district as officials are struggling to reduce expenses after three levy defeats in the past two years.

Earlier this month the school board approved cuts totaling $10.5 million in personnel and programs for the 2012-13 school year. The cuts include the elimination of 141 school jobs – mostly teachers – along with dozens of classroom assistants, school nurses, and central office personnel.

“A lot of school districts are having financial problems like Lakota,’’ said Owen Torres, spokesman for Office Depot’s Florida headquarters. “We were very pleased to be able to do this and so were our representatives. They love doing this.”

Posted in: Board of Education, Business, Levy news, News, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Lakota, Lakota athletic cuts, Lakota cuts, Lakota East, Lakota elementary cuts, Lakota high school cuts, Lakota junior high cuts, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota preschool, Lakota West, Liberty Township business news, Office Depot, Office Depot donates to schools, West Chester business, West Chester business news

To let West Chester and Liberty Township residents catch up with the news that they need to know, WestChesterBuzz.com will list and link to all of last week’s top local stories every Monday. (Stories are listed in order of date)

Lakota schools’ budget ax falls – The Lakota school board approved just more than $10.5 million in budget cuts for next school year at its meeting last Monday. Overall the school district will cut 141 teaching, classroom specialist, school nurse and school staff positions, in addition to nine school and central office administrators, according to The Enquirer.

Kay Rogers pleads to keep her savings – Former Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers’s attorney asked a federal judge to intervene last Monday to stop federal prosecutors from following through with the garnishment of about $250,000 in retirement savings, according to The Enquirer. According to her attorney, without her savings she will be “unable to support her family” upon her release.

Parents worry about Lakota’s future – The Enquirer’s education reporter Michael D. Clark wrote a story about the parents and their concerns after the Lakota school board made roughly $10.5 in cuts last Monday.

Lakota freshman visits spring training as MLB.com writer – An exceptionally gifted writer from Lakota West Freshman School in West Chester visited spring training sites last week and interviewed dozens of baseball players for MLB.com.

Lakota East students make video to stop cyber bullying – Lakota East and Butler Tech digital media arts students are participating in The Great American NO BULL Challenge in order to fight and bring awareness to cyber bullying. The NO BULL Challenge is a video contest where teens create a two-to-five minute video on how to combat cyber bullying. The local students’ solution is simple – “Post Positive.”

Lakota West grad Matt Klinker retires from pro baseball – After bouncing between the Cincinnati Reds’ AAA and AA minor league teams for the past three seasons, West Chester native Matt Klinker has decided to retire from the game of baseball and is currently training to become a salesman for Pipe Products.

NoLakota spokesman booted after controversial blog post – A blog posted by Rich Hoffman, who up until last week was the spokesman for the anti-school tax levy group NoLakota, went viral and offended many community members. In the post, Hoffman was very descriptive on his opinion of Lakota mothers, who he referred to as “prostitutes.” After The Enquirer featured the post’s content in a separate article, Hoffman was banned from further association with NoLakota. Hoffman has since responded to The Enquirer article on his blog Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom.

Local businesswoman Liz Rogers in the news again – Liberty Township resident Liz Rogers was in and out of the news this past week after she surrendered to authorities on a warrant related to a debt. Later in the week, she would pay off the debt and criticized the media. Rogers’ financial situation has become newsworthy after the city of Cincinnati decided to give her and her husband nearly $1 million in funds to open a soul food restaurant at The Banks.

Lakota West community mourns the loss of a student -A Lakota West junior died and four other students were injured in an automobile crash Friday night. Ezekiel “Zeke” Stepaniak of Liberty Township was the junior who died. Lakota West sophomore Ashley Stacy, 16, was treated for serious injuries at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton. According to the school district, her condition has improved. The school district is making counselors available this week at both Lakota West High School and Lakota West Freshman School.

Posted in: Board of Education, Crime, Levy news, News, Schools, Sports, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: Ashley Stacy, Butler County Auditor, Butler County crime, Butler Tech, Cameron Winters, Cincinnati Reds, Cincinnati Reds baseball, Cincinnati Reds spring training, crime, Cyber Bullying, cyber bullying Butler Tech, cyber bullying Lakota East, Dynus, Jim Smith, Kay Rogers, Lakota, Lakota athletic cuts, Lakota cuts, Lakota East, Lakota elementary cuts, Lakota high school cuts, Lakota junior high cuts, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota preschool, Lakota preschool cuts, Lakota preschool program, Lakota reductions, Lakota school levy, Lakota West, Lakota West baseball, Lakota West sports, Lakota West student death, Liberty Township business news, Liberty Township crime, liz rogers, Liz Rogers Liberty Township, mahogany's bar and grill, mahogany's bar and grill banks, Matt Klinker, Matt Klinker Cincinnati Reds, Matt Klinker retires, Meggie Zahneis, Nathan Phu, NO BULL Challenge video contest, No Lakota, No Lakota levy, NoLakota, NoLakota Levy, Rich Hoffman, Sandra Beckwith, the banks, the banks Cincinnati, The Great American NO BULL Challenge, u.s. district judge sandra beckwith, West Chester crime, Zeke Stepaniak

Michael D. Clark reports

Rich Hoffman, the controversial spokesman for NoLakota, is no longer part of the anti-school tax group after his derogatory comments on a blog about Lakota mothers were revealed by The Enquirer.

Rich Hoffman of Liberty Township is a public critic of previous proposed Lakota tax levies and is a master bullwihip handler. Photo by Jeff Swinger.

Dan Varney, treasurer of the group that has helped defeat three recent Lakota tax levies, said Thursday that Hoffman has been banned from further association with NoLakota, which claims about 550 members in the Butler County school system.

Varney stated in an email sent to the Enquirer Thursday that “NoLakota does not in anyway condone the items in Rich Hoffman’s Overman Warrior blogs.”

“This is not just in response to the newspaper article, this was started as soon as the blog was brought to our attention,” Varney said.

Varney said Hoffman created the NoLakota web site years ago but “as of Tuesday, Rich no longer has control of the web site and all links to his Overman warrior have been removed. The newly formed “Yes To Lakota Kids” also has a web site, separate from NoLakota that also contained a link to his site that was removed.”

Hoffman last week publicly spearheaded the unveiling of “Yes To Lakota Kids” private fund of $10,000 set up to help needy families cover the higher costs of sports participation fees in the financially troubled district.

The remaining leaders of NoLakota, said Varney, “had a meeting set up to formally address these (blog) issues with Rich last night (Wednesday evening) and explain why we were no longer going to be affiliated with him, but he was unable to attend due to work obligations.” (more…)

Posted in: Board of Education, News, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Lakota, Lakota cuts, Lakota elementary cuts, Lakota high school cuts, Lakota junior high cuts, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota preschool, Lakota preschool cuts, Lakota preschool program, Lakota reductions, Lakota school levy, No Lakota, No Lakota levy, NoLakota, NoLakota Levy, Rich Hoffman

Rich Hoffman of Liberty Township is a public critic of previous proposed Lakota tax levies and is a master bullwihip handler. Photo by Jeff Swinger.

Michael D. Clark reports

Anti-school tax activist Rich Hoffman, who has led vigorous campaigns in defeating three Lakota school tax hikes, finds him self at the center of a firestorm for recent online comments derogatory toward women in the school district.

The head of the anti-school tax group NoLakota wrote on his internet blog site that Lakota school mothers are “just prostitutes to their husbands who do everything they can to be away from them aside from the occasional sex.

“Their husband’s roll them over at night and insert their manhood into these women of the bedroom and hundred-dollar bills find their way into their purses. The women don’t know what the man does to earn the money, nor do they care. They are busy saving the world one child at a time with howls of safety and more regulations as they rush to the polling places at election time,” wrote Hoffman, who is also a bullwhip performer and periodic guest on local radio talk shows regarding Lakota funding issues.

In another posting on his “Overmanwarrior” web site overmanwarrior.wordpress.com Hoffman wrote “even with the overwhelming proof I’ve provided the crazy PTA moms and their minions of latte drinking despots with diamond rings the size of car tires and asses to match, (they) plot against me with an anger only estrogen can produce.

“And they have shown no restraint in casting aspersions in my direction by calling me every name the human mind can create in human language. Did they think it wouldn’t get back to me? And being a head for an eye kind of guy I’m happy to return the favor. And yes, I meant it the way I said it. I do not think an eye for an eye taken is harsh enough. I generally leave people alone and let them make their own decisions without my interference until they attempt to impose themselves upon me. School levies are imposing themselves onto my life.

“To me feminists are not women. They have declared themselves to be something different and are therefore open for violent counterattack once they’ve fired the first shot,” Hoffman wrote in another recent posting. (more…)

Posted in: Board of Education, News, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Lakota, Lakota cuts, Lakota elementary cuts, Lakota high school cuts, Lakota junior high cuts, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota preschool, Lakota preschool cuts, Lakota preschool program, Lakota reductions, Lakota school levy, No Lakota, No Lakota levy, NoLakota, NoLakota Levy, Rich Hoffman

Audience members look over the agenda for the Lakota Board of Education meeting at Lakota East High School March 12, 2012. At that meeting, the school board approved about $10.5 million in cuts for next school year. Photo taken by Amanda Davidson.

Michael D. Clark reports

Lakota school parent Tanya Jolliffe watched with growing anxiety as the Lakota school board mulled over historically deep budget cuts in recent months.

She was there Monday evening when the latest blow was delivered to Lakota after the board approved $10.5 million in cuts for next school year.

Tanya Jolliffe’s son Aaron Jolliffee, a sophomore at Lakota East, will have to take online classes this summer to allow him to still take elective classes for the high school in the fall. After massive cuts were made to the budget March 12, the school day will be cut from 7 classes to six. Photo provided by The Enquirer.

Lakota’s 18,000 students have already seen more than $25 million in previous personnel and program cuts in recent years, including dozens of teacher layoffs and elimination of busing for thousands of students this school year.

In August, Ohio’s seventh-largest school system – and the state’s biggest academically top-rated district – will be further whittled by another 141 school jobs lost, shorter school days and less time for arts, music and physical education, among other takeaways.

Toss in three school tax levy defeats in the last two years – six of seven ballot loses since 2004 – and Jolliffe and other Lakota parents wonder if they are watching a slow-motion car wreck for a once-proud school system.

“I’m worried about Lakota’s future and our community’s future,” says Joliffe from her West Chester Township home.

“I’ve been to all five school board meetings about these cuts and my heart breaks for the kids. A strong school system is the basis for a strong community but we have a lot of lessons to learn and we’re not learning them fast enough,” she says.

Fellow Lakota school parent Lisa Babcock decided last year to send some of her children to private schools due to previous budget cuts.

Now she is pondering the future of her other two children.

“I have the private school application at home now. I know things are going to get worse,” Babcock says. “The mood in the school community is frustration.” (more…)

Posted in: Board of Education, Levy news, News, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Lakota, Lakota athletic cuts, Lakota cuts, Lakota East, Lakota elementary cuts, Lakota high school cuts, Lakota junior high cuts, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota preschool, Lakota West

Michael D. Clark reports

When Lakota students start next school year, they will see fewer teachers, staff specialists and have fewer course options, thanks to about $10.5 million in sweeping budget cuts approved Monday night by the district’s school board.

The Lakota board voted to accept some of the deepest budget reductions in the 18,000-student district’s 55-year history. The district is running out of money after voters have rejected three tax hikes in two years.

The board votes brings an end to a rare string of public discussions on hundreds of details in the five budget-cutting plans – pre-school, kindergarten and elementary, junior and senior high, athletics and district-wide operations – brought to the board in the last two months by Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia.

“It saddens all of us that we have to face these issues,” Mantia told an audience of more than 200 residents and school employees in Lakota East High School’s auditorium, “but we are not the federal government, and we can not spend more money than we bring in.” she said.

The cuts in Ohio’s seventh-largest school system will include 141 teaching, classroom specialist, school nurse and school staff positions, and nine school and central office administrators. Also downsized is the amount of time students will have for arts, music and physical education activities; class periods for high school students; and the number of graduation credits required, from 21 to 20.

Lakota officials simultaneously introduced a new core curricular program designed to help meet tougher pending state standards. Officials have contented that the reduced times in arts, music and gym classes will allow for more instruction in core subjects.

Longtime Lakota parent Lisa Babcock criticized the board for shrinking the learning options for her children. She has already taken some of her kids out of Lakota for private schools and may soon remove all her children due to this latest round of budget cuts.

“I know things are going to get worse,” said Babcock.

The board voted on each reduction proposal separately, and the closet margin was a 3-2 vote, with members Julie Shaffer and Joan Powell opposing the out-sourcing of Lakota’s pre-school program to Butler County’s Head Start program.

Details on the budget reduction plans can be found at www.lakotaonline.com/budget.

Lakota officials said the $10.5 million in reductions for 2012-13 will balloon to nearly $11 million due to increased payments for unemployment compensation and severance pay.

Lakota’s annual operating budget is $154 million. The district faces a projected budget shortfall of $14.1 million in 2015.

Posted in: Board of Education, Levy news, News, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Lakota, Lakota athletic cuts, Lakota cuts, Lakota East, Lakota elementary cuts, Lakota high school cuts, Lakota junior high cuts, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota preschool, Lakota West

9:27 p.m. - Signing off, meeting is wrapping up. Michael D. Clark of The Cincinnati Enquirer is also here. He will be posting his story later and can be seen in tomorrow’s paper. WestChesterBuzz.com will share that story once it is available.

9:25 p.m. - The cuts came in at very quick pace tonight, once the voting began. Information on all reduction proposals can be seen at www.lakotaonline.com/budget.

9:23 p.m. - Let’s add it all up – cuts of $3.5 million to administration, district-wide personnel and supplementals, $390,000 in cuts to athletics, $2.7 million in cuts to high school, $1.6 million in cuts to junior high, $1.5 million in cuts to K-6 and $1.2 in cost savings to preschool. That is a total of $10,890,000 in cost savings. However, only $73,000 of the athletic cuts will count against the general fund – so that final number is really around $10.5 million.

9:17 p.m. - The school board just approved to make $3.5 million in cuts to administration, district-wide personnel and supplementals.

9:14 p.m. - The school board approved to cut $73,000 of the $500,000 given to high school athletics from the general fund. But before doing so, the board amended the second option. It decided not to use the cuts suggested in the second option – which includes offering chess and academic as clubs and not sports, eliminating gymnastics and boys volleyball, as well as reducing the athletic maintenance budget. As of right now, it is unknown how the board will cut $73,000 from its athletics fund.

9:09 p.m. - The school board approved the first option to cuts to athletics. The costs cover the shortfall from cuts to athletics last year. It does not impact the general fund. Right now, the district gives $500,000 towards high school athletics. The second option calls for $73,000 of that amount to be cut.

9:06 p.m. - To review, part 1 was to make the school day 34 minutes shorter, part 2 was the change to a six-bell schedule, part 3 is to change graduation requirements from 21 credits to 20 credits, part 4 is to authorize the superintendent to proceed with the physical education waiver for grades 9-12 per Ohio Department of Education guidelines, part 5 is the minimum reduction of certified/licensed staff – 42.8 FTEs.

9:03 p.m. - Lakota approved the first part of the high school cuts by way of a 4-to-1 vote. O’Connor was the only member who voted against it. Parts 2, 3 and 5 were passed by the same vote. While, all members agreed with part 4.

9:00 p.m. - School board vice president Julie Shaffer is getting emotional about the high school cuts. She said that $2.1 million of the $2.7 in cuts is from the shorter schedule and change to a six-bell schedule.

8:58 p.m. - School board member Lynda O’Connor had a prepared speech and voiced her concern – saying that the high school cuts will have the most impact of all the budget cuts. O’Connor said that she doesn’t want to leave $2.7 million on the table, but cannot support this budget proposal.

8:55 p.m. - High school cuts are up. The board has a budget proposal that includes $2.7 million in cuts. Those cuts include a shorter day with starting time from 7:30 a.m. to 8:05 a.m. and ending time from 2:39 p.m. to 2:40 p.m. (more…)

Posted in: Board of Education, Levy news, News, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Lakota, Lakota athletic cuts, Lakota cuts, Lakota East, Lakota elementary cuts, Lakota high school cuts, Lakota junior high cuts, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota preschool, Lakota West