Gadfly Bites 5/31/24—Maybe it IS a culture thing

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1. The elected board of Columbus City Schools voted unanimously Wednesday night to censure board member Brandon Simmons for his part in creating a “strategy” memo that used bombastic, divisive, ridiculous, and childish (my words) language in discussing ways the board should/could/would respond to critics of the district’s Facilities Task Force. And by “unanimous”, I mean that Mr. Simmons voted to censure himself, as did everyone else. Now I’m no expert on Robert’s Rules, but surely the possible censuree should have been recused from both discussion and vote on this, shouldn’t he? And taken his punishment on the other side of his colleagues’ vote, rather than being involved in both of them and inflicting the penalty on himself as some sort of self-flagellation? It feels like theater on top of theater to me, especially when we learn that the dude later disputed the substance of the censure he voted for in a public email! (Columbus Dispatch, 5/30/24)
   
   

2. In light of the sideshow, as fully illuminated in the previous clip, the last thing we probably need here in Columbus is outside analysis of the district’s infrastructure situation. But here it is, anyway, courtesy of The 74. On the upside, the author does not mention the memo, the ongoing aftershocks thereof, or the possibility that it could derail the task force’s work. On the downside, the author conflates charter schools and voucher expansion and has too generous a take on the term “crumbling” for my liking. (The 74, 5/30/24)
   
   

3. So far, the work of Columbus City Schools’ facilities task force has not been derailed by the board-centric sideshow, only slowed to a crawl. Public meetings are still on hold for now, but it is interesting to learn that some student input on task force proposals was gathered this week. Elected school board president Christina Vera met with 25 students at Marion-Franklin High School on Tuesday. The building is on the list for potential closure due to underenrollment, its students, staff, and programs to be consolidated at the similarly-undersubscribed South High School less than four miles away. Not surprisingly, none of the kids who showed up for the convo wanted to see their school closed, mostly for personal reasons. But rather than being a stopper, their comments actually feel to me like a roadmap to show district officials how they can ease the impending transitions—and even make them positive, exciting, and educational—if they indeed go on to occur. (10 TV News, Columbus, 5/28/24)
   
   

4. Traditionally, 98 percent of students graduating from Dayton’s Archbishop Alter High School go on to college after graduation, which is awesome. (Why yes, they do accept EdChoice vouchers. How astute of you to ask! And no, I don’t mind checking any time the news outlets forget to mention it.) While school officials don’t say how many members of the Class of 2024 will do so, they are celebrating the fact that around 90 percent of this year’s seniors used a newly-available free service to help them get ready to apply. Class 101 is a nationwide company that provides support for high schoolers and their families as they navigate the college admissions process from testing to essays to transcripts to submitting paperwork, and beyond. This year, for the first time, Class 101 was available to Alter students for free, thanks to a generous donation by school alums. Definitely worth celebrating, if you ask me. (Dayton Daily News, 5/30/24)
   
   

5. We’ll stay on the topic of the Class of 2024 for our final clip this week, saluting the highly-accomplished valedictorian and salutatorian for Ohio Connections Academy. They are twin siblings—David and Delicia Pellot, respectively—from Cleveland. In this profile, the graduates have high praise for OCA and all that it has helped them accomplish. Delicia has earned her associate’s degree already; David has a summer practicum to complete for his. Their family chose the online school in the wake of pandemic school closures, looking for more regularity and predictability of instruction and finding academic acceleration and access to College Credit Plus courses into the bargain. Fantastic! (The Patch, 5/29/24)

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