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The Milford Exempted Village School of Education board met Feb. 17 to discuss the latest bond bond, a book issue, and to recognize high school band members.
Brian Rabe, Treasurer, presented the link. Earlier, voters approved a bond measure in the November 2021 general election to build a new middle school for grades six through eight.
The bond was estimated to last 30 years at an interest rate of 3.5%. However, Rabe said lower-than-expected interest rates meant they could issue the bond at a cost of 3.08%, a cost savings of $5 million for residents, as the bonds actual issued amounted to $50.9 million instead of the original $55.9 million. .
These savings for taxpayers typically occur at the end of the life of the bonds, Rabe said.
“It was a real ‘win-win’ scenario for us,” Rabe said in a press release. “At the time of the sale, our bonds were very attractive to investors. This is partly due to our high bond rating (Aa2) and our financial stability as a district. This is great news, to be able to save our taxpayers money while generating the revenue needed to complete the project. »
After voters approve the bond sale to raise the $55.9 million needed for the new school, a financial institute, such as RBC Capital Markets in Cincinnati, sells the bonds and donates the money to the district. explained Rabe.
The tax money is then used to repay the deposit and interest over the years.
The Ohio Facilities Construction Commission is contributing $11,559,512 in total, for the construction fund, which is $23,315,136 in total.
The local share of Milford Schools without state co-funding falls under the Classroom Facilities Fund, totaling $32,584,864.
All in all, this amounts to a figure of $54.9 million.
During the appropriations resolution discussion, Rabe explained that the district is actually returning the money it received as part of the state’s COVID-19 relief funding, to help students access High-speed Internet.
Rabe said they provided internet for students, but since it was a limited number of students, they had money left to send back afterwards.
The district received $42,410 through the BroadbandOhio Connectivity Grant. Appropriation spending shows they spent $20,980, and another $1,799 was spent in the prior fiscal year. The rest will be returned.
Board member Jerry Combs said he would vote no on the appropriations resolution because of the included COVID-19 relief funds.
“I just want to make sure we dig in and understand that there are no strings attached to the COVID-19 relief fund,” he said.
In other words, Combs said it was a large amount of funds coming into the district and he wanted to understand there were no strings attached, and make sure the public had contributed to the allocation of money.
Board member Melissa Nolan agreed with Combs’ reasoning and also voted no.
Rabe explained that the initial $2.5 million the district received has already been approved for allocation for this year. But there are still additional unallocated COVID-19 funds.
The funds in question relate to the state’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Grant, part of the federal CARES Act money. A total of $489.2 million was given to Ohio schools; the first of these is intended to be awarded by September 30, and two more in the following two years, also in September. This first allocation already approved was the figure of 2.5 million dollars.
Funds can be used for a wide range of issues to meet “needs arising from the coronavirus pandemic,” including training and professional development on disinfection and reducing the spread of infectious disease; improve indoor air quality; providing meals and technology to students in need; provide mental health services; addressing “learning loss”; and more.
Council members Dave Meranda, Emily Chestnut and Emily Mason voted yes, so the resolution passed.
At the end of the meeting, Nolan offered to form a parent community advisory committee to review “appropriate” textbooks and reading materials for high school students.
She said it’s based on a number of “concerns” or “complaints” she’s received.
“We are not in a situation where we are going to censor books; we’re in a position where we’re going to be connected to the community,” said Paul Daniels, secondary program director.
He added that it was a question of finding common ground, allowing both to choose in the program, that is to say to watch books of great interest, but that the books also respect family values representative of a diverse community.
Where it gets “fuzzy” is when it gets to AP classes because there’s less wiggle room there, Daniels added.
In the summer of 2021, students in grades ninth through twelfth were tasked with reading the 2012 novel, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour bookstore by Robin Sloan. The book is set during the Great Recession and follows Clay Jannon, who leaves behind his job as a technician in San Francisco to work at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour bookstore, where secrets lurk behind the dusty dust jackets.
Generally, the district notes on the Summer Reading Materials website: “If a parent requests that their own child not read a given book, the teacher and/or school administrator should resolve the problem, perhaps by arranging for the use of alternative materials serving essentially the same educational purpose.
Books in the ElA program for 10th graders, for example, range from magical realism and graphic novels to classic literature and poetry (Yeats, Shakespeare, Chekhov) and modern memoirs, like the ability to read memoirs. by Malala Yousafazi, I am Malalaher story of supporting girls’ education in Pakistan, despite the threat (they were to bring against her) from the Taliban.
On the curriculum front, the District is making public book lists for each course, broken down by grade level, and for more than ELA, including math, science, social studies, world languages, and fine arts. -arts.
Those interested in viewing the curriculum online can visit https://sites.google.com/milfordschools.org/secondarycurriculum/home.
Daniels said summer reading for all schools hasn’t been chosen for summer 2022, as of this writing, and revisions to the ELA curriculum are also underway for kindergarten students. in 12th grade.
“Currently, our staff is reviewing documents from various vendors to determine our process for adopting new resources; it is possible that this process will extend into the next school year for some grades,” Daniels said in a follow-up with The sun. “New resources purchased for the school district will be approved by the board.”
Past practice for summer reading was to present this information to the curriculum and instruction committee and share it as a piece of information, he said.
“We are proud of our reading list and, as always, there may be some unease among students and families. Our staff have responded to requests for alternative books for many years and it is a policy we have referenced on the Summer Reading website,” Daniels noted.
He added: “We listen to all feedback and it helps inform our decision-making process.”
In group news, Josh Kauffman, director of fine arts and after-school programs, said Ellen Long, a senior on clarinet, and Sarah Morgan, a junior on euphonium, were two of 74 high school musicians across state who auditioned and were chosen to play in the Ohio All-State Band at the Ohio Music Education Association conference in Cleveland.
Long was placed in first chair at clarinet, which means she is the top high school clarinet player in Ohio, Kauffman said. Morgan got the second euphonium chair.
In the Council’s monthly magazine, student artwork was recognized. The artwork will be displayed at all council administrative offices, located at 1099 State Route 131, until the next council meeting.
This month, students from Seipelt Elementary School were recognized: Cruz Davis, first grade; Isabelle Dedden, third year; Alaina Nickley, third year; Keilah Loranzan, fourth year; Luke Schwerzler, fourth year; Zoey Myers, sixth grade; Zoe Gallagher, sixth grade; and Kendall Vaught, sixth grade.
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