Gadfly Bites 10/6/25—Going soft

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1. Our Chad Aldis is among the folks talking about the state of chronic student absenteeism in this piece. Ohio’s numbers are high, the damage is obvious, and the solutions deployed so far don’t seem to be too helpful. Chad at least has some ideas about sticks to go with the carrots in use(less) right now. (Cleveland.com, 10/5/25)
   
   

2. Back in July, we learned that Lorain City Schools would be extending the school days for their elementary schools—not for academics but for “soft openings” and “soft closings” of the day. The idea for the morning was the kids come in stressed or anxious or finishing breakfast or otherwise not ready to go right into “hard learning”. Thus the idea of a half hour of unstructured fun-time in the mornings was born. (Not sure what exactly the “soft closings” are for, but those are happening too, as well as a variation of the theme at middle and high school grades.) Here’s a look at how it’s going so far in the new school year. Everyone who implemented it is happy with it, but I honestly don’t see it. And, as we noted back in July, those same adults have not exactly been excelling at the “hard learning” part of the equation in recent years (check out their latest dismal report card data here) so it is likely the kids are still not getting what they need even with more time in their buildings. (Chronicle-Telegram, 10/6/25)
   
   

3. Meanwhile, here is more evidence that private school options are expanding across the state. Two new classical-education private schools—St. Thomas Aquinas Classical Academy and St. Michael the Archangel Chesterton Academy—will be opening in Toledo next fall. And both will be accepting students using EdChoice Scholarships. Very exciting…even for the general public it seems, as the piece has generated a lot more comments than the typical Blade education piece. (Toledo Blade, 10/5/25) Holy Name Catholic High School in Parma Heights has launched a billboard campaign around town, featuring inspirational messages like “Breathe. You Got This,” “Be Strong And Take Heart”, and “Faith Steadies Every Shaky Heart.” The district’s communication and marketing guru says, “We’re just trying to make people aware that we’re here.” But that mission already may be accomplished since the school has managed to reverse a previous enrollment slump and has welcomed its two largest freshman classes in over a decade in the last two years. But hey. Why not go harder if you can? (Cleveland.com, 10/6/25)
   
   

4. Late on Friday, Gov. Mike DeWine announced the creation of the Ohio School Bus Safety Grant Program, a $10 million initiative to improve the safety of school transportation across the state. Grants are available for district, charter, and private schools (and STEM schools too, I reckon, although the media coverage does not state that) and are intended to cover repair, replacement, or addition of authorized school bus safety features on buses currently in service, or for safety enhancements when purchasing a new school bus. Awesome! Says Ohio Department of Education and Workforce director Steve Dackin: “These funds are an important reflection of Ohio’s priorities of student safety and well-being.” Yep. All students. In all types of schools. Like it ought to be. (Cleveland.com, 10/3/25)

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