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- Let’s start with the fun stuff today! There has been a trio of entirely positive charter school related stories published in the Toledo Blade over the last two days—by three different reporters, I note. Probably unprecedented; definitely tremendous. First up, 300 students from Ohio Virtual Academy—along with their parents, grandparents, and teachers—had a meet up recently at the Toledo Zoo. Everyone had great things to say about their school as well as all of the in-person events scheduled for students throughout the year. (Toledo Blade, 5/12/25) The Toledo Zoo was also the site of a recent student-centric symposium on prairie habitats. Young students from nine area elementary schools—including Hawkins STEMM Academy charter school—presented the findings of their yearlong citizen science projects (insect populations, bird migration, soil analysis, etc.)—and learned even more from real scientists. Love it all! (Toledo Blade, 5/13/25) Finally, here’s a great look at an urban agriculture program available to students of Toledo Preparatory Academy, aiming to teach young people about how food gets “from seed to table” and to potentially interest them in agriculture-related careers. Delicious. (Toledo Blade, 5/13/25)
- Senate Bill 158 passed out of the Senate Education Committee on Monday. That’s the one proposing an even-more-stringent ban on cellphones in schools than is already in law. Even with all the “thou shalt nots” it prescribes, the president of an organization called Screen Education (which “researches, provides training and consulting services on the impact of technology on human wellness”) says the bill probably won’t do what policymakers think it will because it includes no sanctions for non-compliance. “If you don’t have any mechanism to hold them responsible,” he told legislators at the hearing, “it’s sort of a toothless bill.” 158 next heads to the Senate floor—potentially as soon as this afternoon. (Cleveland.com, 5/13/25) Casey Wright, superintendent of Nordonia Hills City Schools is also skeptical, but without stating specific concerns. “I think anytime you force legislation and move it through quickly, there are things you don't consider,” supe said in a TV interview Monday. “I think what they’ll find out a year, two years, three years later (is) an all-out ban probably wouldn’t be their best course of action.” Whatever his unstated concerns are, Wright says he’ll do whatever he’s told. “The state chooses its own path, and if this is a path that they choose, we will certainly abide by it.” Stay tuned for a few years, I guess. (WKYC-TV, Cleveland, 5/13/25)
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