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- In this piece, we learn—briefly—that Trimble Local Schools in Athens County asked the state in December to be placed into fiscal emergency status, bypassing all the other typical pre-emergency steps. The rush is because a $1.6 million deficit for this year came to light in a single dreadful realization and there is no real help from the state until emergency status has been declared. (WOUB-FM, Athens, 1/10/25) This print piece tells the deeper story of Trimble’s woes: A now-former district treasurer somehow “misstated” the amount of money left on some grants awarded to the district and so the folks in charge spent them down a second time before realizing (just after the former treasurer hit the door for another job) that they were on the hook for $1.6 million they didn’t have. The rush to get to fiscal emergency status (again; they’ve been here before) is because they apparently have zero savings and will likely miss payroll and their next electricity bill. The state did at least skip over the first stage of the process (“fiscal caution”) and go to “fiscal watch”, but district leaders say it’s still not enough help quick enough to avoid those defaults. It seems likely that “fiscal emergency” status will be declared very soon, but it sounds like nothing short of a no-strings-attached cash infusion will solve their problems. Awful. (Athens Independent, 1/9/25)
- This national story about a Teach for America Corps member currently teaching at a Columbus charter school is absolutely everywhere in my news feed this morning. While it’s excellent fodder for an education news clipster like myself, and it showcases Teach for America very nicely, I suspect its ubiquity is due to the prodigious promotional skills of the young man himself. He’s obviously got a bright future ahead…just ask him! I feel like he'd be happy to tell you. (CNBC, 1/12/25)
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