WESTERN RESERVE SCHOOLS State superintendent visits, touts district as 'wonderful'

The state education official urged the community to support the levy.
By JoANN JONES
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BERLIN CENTER -- Dr. Susan Tave Zelman, the state superintendent of public instruction, spent Tuesday in the Western Reserve Local School District.
And she liked what she saw.
Superintendent Charles Swindler said Zelman toured the high-school building in the morning, observing classes such as the innovative manufacturing technology class.
The class, which operates its own T-shirt business, includes instruction in writing a business plan, learning how to grant stock options, ordering supplies, creating graphic art, and conducting sales.
Later in the day, she visited the middle school.
Rating of excellent
"This is a wonderful district," Zelman said. "Let's help to keep up the excellent rating." Western Reserve received an excellent rating on the 2003 district report card.
Zelman, who took office in March 1999, is responsible for framing policy and advancing academic reform. She also works with the governor's office, legislators at the state and federal levels, and with constituent organizations, including parents and the business community.
Swindler said Zelman spent the day looking at programs, seeing what the teachers are doing, and talking to community members who belong to Western Reserve's Parent-Teacher Organization.
One point Zelman tried to get across, he said, was the reality that local taxpayers have to support the school districts because the state doesn't have extra money to increase funds for Ohio's schools.
Zelman said the state won't increase funding for education until the next biennium, which is a year and a half from now.
"Communities like ours, in this area and all over the state, have to understand they will make or break a school district," Swindler said. "That's what Dr. Zelman is trying to tell people."
Backing levy
Touting the Western Reserve district as "effective and efficient," Zelman urged community members to support a 5.5-mill operating levy, which the board of education voted to place on the March 2 ballot.
The levy, which will generate $425,000, is the second attempt for the district to raise local revenue. A 4-mill levy failed in November.
The district's five-year forecast that must be sent annually to the Ohio Department of Education shows shortfalls of $574,000 in 2005, $1.6 million in 2006, $2.99 million in 2007, and $4.8 million in 2008 if revenues remain at their current levels.
Swindler said he thought Zelman's visit was important so that taxpayers in not only the Western Reserve district but also in other school districts in financial hardship could hear what someone other than school administrators have to say about the need for local communities to financially support their schools.