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. (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

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)

Rick Santorum wins local Tea Party straw poll: With many of the same participants in last Monday’s poll as the first Liberty Township Tea Party straw poll Feb. 6, Santorum finished with 42 percent of the vote. Overall, there wasn’t much change at the top spot since Santorum netted 41 percent of the vote in February. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, gained significant ground jumping up to 31 percent of the vote last Monday from only 19 percent of the vote in February.

Lakota presents late budget proposal: Lakota officials presented its fifth and final budget reduction proposal last Monday. The proposal, which focused administration, district-wide personnel and supplementals, could eliminate 50 jobs and save the district $3.5 million. The cuts include an assistant superintendent position, two school building administrator positions, deans of students at both high schools, as well as the elimination of 11 licensed school nurses and 13 clinic aides.

West Chester and Liberty Township residents talk Super Tuesday: It turned out to be a late night, as Ohioans chose Mitt Romney over Rick Santorum by one percentage point. Earlier in the day, while the polls were open, many voters in West Chester and Liberty Township shared the reasons why they voted in the Republican presidential primary.

Republicans select Swain for county clerk: For the second time in just over a year, Mary Swain defeated former deputy clerk Jeff Wyrick in a vote to represent the Republican Party as the Butler County Clerk of Courts. Swain received almost 61 percent of the vote, while Wyrick finished with 39 percent on Super Tuesday. In January 2011, after Cindy Carpenter left the clerks position, Swain also narrowly defeated Wyrick in a vote administered by the Butler County Republican Party.

Butler County commission race too close to call: West Chester resident and political newcomer T.C. Rogers has a 24-vote lead over long-time politician Courtney Combs in Super Tuesday’s Republican primary for Butler County commissioner. Official results aren’t expected until March 20 when all provisional and mailed absentee ballots will be counted. There is no question that incumbent Chuck Furman, who has held his seat since 1996, won’t be back next year.

Anti-tax group offers cash to needy Lakota athletes: The Enquirer reported last Tuesday, that a group of anti-school tax activists who campaign against school tax hikes now plan to raise money for needy students. The group has privately funded $10,000 to help students pay for sports fees, which were raised in the spring of 2011. This announcement has caused a stir among residents of the Lakota school district.

Lakota West grad excels at U-of-L Pro Day: University of Louisville tight end Josh Chichester made great strides of accomplishing his “ultimate goal” of playing professional football during the school’s pro day last Wednesday. According to his former high school coach, Lakota West’s Larry Cox, Chichester measured out at 6-foot-6 235 pounds, had a vertical jump that cleared 37 inches and turned in a 40-yard dash time of 4.58 seconds in front of representatives of 20 NFL teams.

Former West Chester cop sent to jail for tipping off dealer: A former West Chester police officer, who pleaded guilty to two felony charges in a case where he was accused of alerting a drug dealer to an undercover bust, was sentenced to six months in jail last Thursday. In two prior court appearances, Busemeyer, who claimed to be addicted to steroids and painkillers, requested to complete a court-ordered drug treatment program in exchange of a felony conviction and jail time. Both times, those requests were denied.

Shamrock Shuffle draws thousands of participants: This past Saturday’s Shamrock Shuffle was expected to draw more than 4,000 people and raise more than $10,000 for approximately 50 local charities or causes. Tony O’Connor, 18, of West Chester won the 5K portion of the Shuffle with a time of 16:36. Brady Holmer won the 10K portion with a time of 34:26. O’Connor (Lakota East) and Holmer (Lakota West) are both seniors in the Lakota school district and plan on running at Northern Kentucky University.

Posted in: Events, News, Schools, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Brady Holmer, Butler County Board of Elections, Butler County commission race, Butler County Election 2012, Chuck Furmon, Courtney Combs, Jeff Wyrick, Josh Chichester, Josh Chichester football, Josh Chichester Louisville, Josh Chichester NFL Combine, Josh Chichester NFL Draft, Lakota cuts, Lakota East, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota reductions, Lakota school levy, Lakota West, Liberty Township election, Mary Swain, No Lakota, No Lakota levy, NoLakota, NoLakota Levy, Northern Kentucky University track, Northern Kentucky Uuniversity cross country, Ohio election 2012, Rich Hoffman, Shamrock Shuffle, Shamrock Shuffle West Chester, T.C. Rogers, Tony O'Connor, West Chester election

Lakota West senior Josh Kinney runs with the football during a game against Winton Woods at Nippert Stadium Aug. 27, 2011. High school athletes pay $550 per sport, up from $300 a year ago. Junior high athletes are paying $350 per sport, compared to $200 a year ago. Fees were raised due to cuts before the 2011-2012 school year. Photo taken by Adam Kiefaber.

Michael D. Clark reports (more information from story reported earlier)

Officials from the financially struggling Lakota schools were no-shows Tuesday at an event where an anti-tax group pledged to give needy students $10,000 to help them pay for sports fees.

Leaders of NoLakota announced a donation fund they plan to distribute to the families of student athletes unable to pay participation fees and then criticized Lakota officials for not attending their press conference.

The school system is facing a nearly $11 million projected budget shortfall and considering sweeping cuts in student services and personnel for next school year.

Lakota officials said they had no knowledge of the NoLakota news conference.

“The Lakota district always appreciates support for children in our community. A week ago, a district representative asked this group to submit a proposal for its idea. We’re still waiting for it,” said Elliot Grossman, spokesman for Lakota Schools. “We learned about the news conference 24 minutes before it was to start.”

Rich Hoffman, spokesman for NoLakota, which was instrumental in helping defeat three school tax hikes in the last two years, attributed the absence of district officials to “a lack of communication on their end.”

He said his group had communications with Lakota about the formation of “Yes To Lakota Kids” program, which unveiled a website Tuesday for Lakota parents interested in applying for money to pay sports fees. Information can be found at yes-to-lakota-kids.org .

NoLakota is the first anti-school-tax group in Southwest Ohio to raise money from imembers to offset fee costs in a public school district. Lakota high school athletes pay $550 per sport, up from $300 a year ago. Those in grades seven and eight pay $350 per sport, compared to $200 a year ago.

Posted in: Fall sports, Levy news, News, Schools, Sports, Spring sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Lakota, 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, No Lakota, No Lakota levy, NoLakota, NoLakota Levy, Rich Hoffman

Lakota West players celebrate after beating Mason in penalty kicks in a district final match Oct. 29, 2011. High school athletes pay $550 per sport, up from $300 a year ago. Junior high athletes are paying $350 per sport, compared to $200 a year ago. Fees were raised due to cuts before the 2011-2012 school year. Photo taken by Adam Kiefaber.

Michael D. Clark reports

For the first time in Greater Cincinnati, anti-school tax activists who campaign against school tax hikes now plan to raise money for needy students.

The Enquirer has learned that the anti-school tax group NoLakota has approached Lakota school officials about creating a fund to help student athletes and their families pay for the high participation fees of recent years.

The tax opposition group has been instrumental in defeats of Lakota’s last three school tax hike issues in the last two years.

But unlike similar anti-school tax groups in some other area suburban districts, NoLakota is now in a privately funded $10,000 partnership to help students pay for higher school sports fees, says the group’s founder Rich Hoffman.

Hoffman and other tax opponents have long contended that Lakota’s teachers and their union should be taking the brunt of recent budget cuts through pay cuts rather than eliminating student services and upping sports fees.

“It’s obvious that the greatest casualty in these three levy fights has been the kids, and that’s really unfortunate,” says Hoffman of the “Yes to Lakota Kids” program to be publicly unveiled later Tuesday. (more…)

Posted in: Fall sports, News, Schools, Sports, Spring sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Lakota, 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, No Lakota, No Lakota levy, NoLakota, NoLakota Levy, Rich Hoffman

Lakota levy fails for the third time in 18 months

WestChesterBuzz.com will count down the area’s top 11 stories of 2011 this month, concluding with West Chester’s most discussed topic of the year Dec. 30.

For the third time in the past 18 months, Lakota officials and supporters had a proposed school levy fail at the polls. Due to the failure, the school district is looking to slash $9 million from its operating budget for the 2012-2013 school year.

Lakota, which hasn’t passed a levy since 2005, had levies fail in May 2010, November 2010 and, now, in November 2011.

After the failure in 2010, the Lakota Board of Education approved a new teacher contract (three years and includes a freeze on step/longevity increases as well as health care concessions) and trimmed $10.2 million off its annual budget in 2011-2012.

In 2012, a decision on the $9 million in reductions has to be made by the spring.

The $9 million in cuts will allow Lakota to avoid its spending deficit in 2013, but does not take away the need for additional revenue, Lakota Treasurer Jenni Logan said.

Regarding those potential cuts, Logan and Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia have recently told the community that the school district is currently in the analysis phase.

“We have to cut $9 million. That is not a great position to be in,” Mantia told the school board Nov. 28.

“These will be the conversations we have down the road … I don’t feel like speeding it up because someone wants an answer.”

In 2012, due to Ohio’s presidential primary, there will only be three election dates compared to the usual four. The school board was not interested in the March primary election date since the filing date (Dec. 7) was so close to November’s Election Day (Nov. 8).

The other election dates in Ohio in 2012 are scheduled for June and November.

It is not currently known if the school district will propose another tax levy in 2012. However, school officials have let it been known that Lakota is in dire need of additional revenue.

According to the Butler County Board of Elections, almost 54 percent of local residents voted down the levy, while just more than 46 percent voted in favor of the levy in 2011.

Overall, the response from voters was very similar to what it was in November of 2010 – when the levy was defeated by a 53 to 47 percent margin.

Sandy Wheatley, president of the private pro-levy group, told the Enquirer that this November’s failure had “a lot … to do with the economy.”

Rich Hoffman, president of the anti-school tax group NoLakota, told the Enquirer that sharp public clashes between some Lakota school board members also helped his group’s cause by raising questions about the district’s publicly elected leaders.

“As shown in the leadership conflicts on the school board, throwing money at poor management brings out the weaknesses reckless spending was obscuring. The much discussed rift between (board members) Joan Powell and Lynda O’Conner demonstrates that before we ever give this district more money we must have school board members who will manage the money properly,” said Hoffman.

“This levy failure is a mandate for our superintendent to now present to the teachers union the target of reducing their average wage impact on our community in such a fashion that fits with the district’s financial outlook for the next decade. That step must occur before another levy is ever attempted,” he said.

Wheatley also told the Enquirer the district’s new superintendent – Karen Mantia who began work in August – will help any future levy efforts.

She added that “Lakota is still in the recovery stage in regaining the community’s trust,” but declined to specify what caused that lack of lack of public trust in the school system.

Why did the school levy fail in 2011?

Did the school board rift, the economy or the large conservative political base influence the way the community voted?

Was the “lack of public trust” caused by the rift between school board members or was it due to the longtime complaint from community members that the board of education did a poor job of communicating (something Mantia is working to change)?

On the other hand, judging by the similar results from last November, maybe the community is just not ready to pass a school levy.

11.) Union Centre Music and Food Festival puts down fall roots
10.) ‘Extreme Makeover’ family moves out
9.) Herman Cain visits West Chester and then suspends campaign
8.) Homearama brings crowds, jobs and money to West Chester
7.) Attempted abduction in Meijer parking puts community on alert
6.) Lakota East baseball team wins school’s first state title
5.) Tornado rocks Liberty Township subdivision

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

Tags: Tags: Butler County election 2011, cuts, election 2011, Karen Manita, Lakota cuts, Lakota reductions, Lakota school levy, Lakota Superintendent Dr. Karen Mantia, Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia, NoLakota, Ohio election 2011, reductions, Rich Hoffman, school board, school levy, Superintendent Dr. Karen Mantia, West Chester top 11 stories of 2011, West Chester top stories of 2011

It was the third time in the past 18 months where school officials and many parents in the Lakota school district were discouraged to see its proposed school levy fail on Election Day.

According to unofficial vote tallies from the Butler County Board of Elections, almost 54 percent of local residents voted down the levy, while just more than 46 percent voted in favor of the levy.

Overall, the response from voters was very similar to what it was in November of 2010 – when the levy was defeated by a 53 to 47 percent margin.

>>>REACTION FROM PARENTS AND LAKOTA SUPERINTENDENT<<<

After Lakota’s levy failed last November, the Lakota Board of Education approved a new teacher contract (three years and includes a freeze on step/longevity increases as well as health care concessions) and trimmed $10.2 million off its annual budget in 2011-2012.

This time around, Sandy Wheatley, president of the private, pro-levy group, told the Enquirer that this November’s failure had “a lot … to do with the economy.”

Rich Hoffman, president of the anti-school tax group NoLakota, told the Enquirer that recent and sharp public clashes between some Lakota school board members also helped his group’s cause by raising questions about the district’s publicly elected leaders.

>>>PHOTOS FROM ELECTION DAY 2011 IN WEST CHESTER<<<

“As shown in the leadership conflicts on the school board, throwing money at poor management brings out the weaknesses reckless spending was obscuring. The much discussed rift between (board members) Joan Powell and Lynda O’Conner demonstrates that before we ever give this district more money we must have school board members who will manage the money properly,” said Hoffman.

“This levy failure is a mandate for our superintendent to now present to the teachers union the target of reducing their average wage impact on our community in such a fashion that fits with the district’s financial outlook for the next decade. That step must occur before another levy is ever attempted,” he said.

>>>RECAP OF ELECTION DAY 2011 IN WEST CHESTER<<<

Wheatley also told the Enquirer the district’s new superintendent – Karen Mantia who began work in August – will help any future levy efforts.

She added that “Lakota is still in the recovery stage in regaining the community’s trust,” but declined to specify what caused that lack of lack of public trust in the school system.

Did the school board rift, the economy or the large conservative political base influence the way the community voted?

Was the “lack of public trust” caused by the rift between school board members or was it due to the longtime complaint from community members that the board of education did a poor job of communicating (something Mantia is working to change)?

On the other hand, judging by the similar results from last November, maybe the community is just not ready to pass a school levy.

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

Tags: Tags: Butler County election 2011, cuts, election 2011, Karen Manita, Lakota cuts, Lakota reductions, Lakota school levy, Lakota Superintendent Dr. Karen Mantia, Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia, NoLakota, Ohio election 2011, reductions, Rich Hoffman, school board, school levy, Superintendent Dr. Karen Mantia

Those campaigning to convince Lakota residents to hike their school taxes are confident voters will separate the recent infighting on the school board from the district’s financial needs for more tax money, according to a story from Cincinnati Enquirer education reporter Michael D. Clark.

Below is a portion of the article:

When asked about what impact the unusually public rift on the board might have on the tax levy campaign, Sandy Wheatley – a former Lakota school board member and now spokeswoman for the schools’ pro-levy group – says “none.”

“Boards of education have differences of opinion all the time,” Wheatley says.

“We have worked hard to elevate the discussion to a level that talks about the strength and reputation of both our community and school district and what would that mean to our community if we face a third levy defeat (in two years).”

The “infighting” began when a flier, written by Lakota Board of Education President Joan Powell, endorsed two other candidates running for school board rather than incumbent candidate Lynda O’Connor.

Also, in the flier, Powell wrote: “The past four years have been the toughest of my 14-year tenure on the Lakota board. You might presume that is due to the financial and other challenges before us, but it is not. Rather it is being a part of a board that does not work together and in doing so reduces its own effectiveness.”

She then continued to note that “we need a board that does not send mixed messages and that is willing to make the tough calls, regardless of their own personal consequences,” before she endorsed two candidates – former school board member Jamie Green and Julie Shaffer. (more…)

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

Tags: Tags: election 2011, Jamie Green, Joan Powell, Joan Powell flier, Julie Shaffer, Lakota school board, Lakota school board election, Lakota school board flier, Lucas Hall, Lynda O’Connor, Mark Etterling, NoLakota, Ohio election 2011, Ray Murray, Rich Hoffman, West Chester election

The infighting among Lakota school board members continued to boil Monday evening during its public meeting, according Cincinnati Enquirer education reporter Michael D. Clark.

The “infighting” began when a flier, written by Lakota Board of Education President Joan Powell, endorsed two other candidates running for school board rather than incumbent candidate Lynda O’Connor.

NoLakota spokesman Rich Hoffman posted the flier on his blog, Overmanwarrior’s Wisdom, last Monday, Oct. 17.

In the flier, Powell – who is not up for re-election to the governing board’s two open seats, wrote:

“The past four years have been the toughest of my 14-year tenure on the Lakota board. You might presume that is due to the financial and other challenges before us, but it is not. Rather it is being a part of a board that does not work together and in doing so reduces its own effectiveness.”

She then goes on to note that “we need a board that does not send mixed messages and that is willing to make the tough calls, regardless of their own personal consequences,” before she endorsed two candidates – former school board member Jamie Green and Julie Shaffer.

According to Clark, Powell singled out O’Connor in later comments to the Enquirer. When pressed to specify an example of O’Connor’s alleged actions as a board member, Powell said “I’d rather not comment on Lynda’s behavior … this is about inappropriate behavior that has gone on that makes the board ineffective.”

O’Connor fired back last week in an email to the Enquirer lashing out at both Powell and member Ray Murray, who also criticized O’Connor.

“Unfortunately, Joan has made it clear, even in her letter, that to her, open discussion and debate suggest that the board can’t work together. Only unanimous decisions are acceptable,” wrote O’Connor.

O’Connor used the board meeting’s comment portion to say “as a board member I will continue to speak up. Bullying doesn’t have any more place in the board room than it does on the school playground.”

Murray followed and declined to address O’Connor’s comments, saying “I’m not going to stoop low.”

Powell then spoke, saying “it’s not easy when you have words in put in your mouth that you never said and this has been a tough week all around.”

Among the audience of more than 60 was board candidate Mark Etterling, one of five people seeking a board seat along with candidate Luke Hall.

Etterling criticized Powell for mailing her flier and he said her words “indicates that she doesn’t like such dissension” on the board.

The flier will likely be discussed again Wednesday when the school board candidates will participate in a forum at the Lakota central office. The forum is scheduled to take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

For more on the story, visit Cincinnati.com’s posts “Rifts open on Lakota school board” and “Lakota board members spar.”

Posted in: Board of Education, Election, Events, News, School events, Schools |

Tags: Tags: election 2011, Jamie Green, Joan Powell, Joan Powell flier, Julie Shaffer, Lakota school board, Lakota school board election, Lakota school board flier, Lucas Hall, Lynda O’Connor, Mark Etterling, NoLakota, Ohio election 2011, Ray Murray, Rich Hoffman, West Chester election