- Giant geekout at the Ohio Statehouse yesterday – better known as Straight-A Innovation Day, where schools, consortia, and projects funded by the previous two rounds of state innovation grants were showcased. The AP story is a little dry, so if you’re looking for more juice, check out Twitter and search #StraightADay. My favorite was from a young lady who Tweeted: “You know it’s a good day when the governor compliments your robot.” Indeed. (Dayton Daily News)
- Speaking of technological geekouts, this story is about a student in Pennsylvania who is attending school from home via robot while his broken leg heals. It is clipped in an Ohio paper, however, and one local supe sounds pretty stoked by the idea. There IS another round of Straight A Funds called for in Governor Kasich’s new budget. Just sayin’. (Ashtabula Star Beacon)
- Speaking of the governor’s budget, that squawking he predicted over school district funding changes is continuing. Here are two pieces from Ohio’s largest cities. First up, a look at proposed changes for rural districts in greater central Ohio from the Columbus Dispatch. Some special attention is paid to Walnut Township Schools, whose dire fiscal situation has been building up over five years and which we’ve been following here for the last month. Also, a look at some inner-ring suburban districts in Cuyahoga County from the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The focus here, as in a lot of other places, is on “winners” and “losers”. None of the projected “winners” is counting their money just yet (“This isn't real money until it's actually real," said CMSD’s Eric Gordon) but the projected “losers” are being less circumspect ("You're giving me six months and we're losing $2 million?" said Hudson Schools’ treasurer Kathryn Sines). More to come.
- Ohio Auditor Dave Yost announced yesterday that the financial records of Gateway Academy, a charter school in Franklin County, are “incomplete, unauditable and inexcusable.” Despite the fact that a state audit caught this situation, despite the fact that the school’s sponsor is already barred from opening new schools due to other issues, and despite multiple pieces of high-priority legislation in the General Assembly to further tighten the screws on just such problems in the charter school realm, do expect the usual histrionic response from the usual suspects over this story. Personally, I prefer to take Yost’s word on the matter: “Just as expected from their students, the school must follow the rules or face expulsion.” Yup. (Columbus Dispatch)
- So, after a year of interim superintendency for Norwalk schools it’s getting down to the wire in hiring a permanent supe for next year. This week, the short list of interviewees was announced, and at least one prominent internal candidate wasn’t on it. What’s the issue? Interestingly, the board says it’s not interested in anyone too close to retirement because they don’t want to have a retire/rehire “double dip” conversation in a few years. Fascinating. (Norwalk Reflector)
