School Board Alters Calendar In Response To March Primary
BY KAREN BERGER — MIRROR REPORTER
Because Ohio moved its primary election date from May 8 to March 6, the Anthony Wayne board of education voted during its January 9 meeting to adjust the district calendar.
District personnel were to have used May 8 as a professional development day – working on department goals – while students had the day off. That professional development day is now moved to Tuesday, March 6.
Voting takes place in Monclova and Waterville primary schools and Anthony Wayne High School. Superintendent Dr. Jim Fritz said having the students off on the day buildings are used for voting reduces safety issues.
During the meeting, the board also:
• Recognized the varsity football team for being selected as Academic All-Ohio, an award given to the state’s top academic high school football programs by the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association.
The grade point averages of 22 players were averaged and put AWHS in sixth place out of more than 700 high schools.
The OHSFCA also individually recognizes the highest achieving student athletes, considering GPA, class rank and post-season honors.
Logan Rulton, who has a 3.63 GPA and was named to the all-NLL and all-district first teams, was recognized individually as Academic All-Ohio.
• Approved calendars for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years.
• Welcomed back board members Gary Roser and Pam Gerhardinger, who were re-elected in November, along with new member Barry Cousino,
• Voted Gerhardinger as president and Doug Zimmerman as vice president of the board.
• Set board meetings and committee assignments.

The next regularly scheduled meeting is Monday, February 13 at 6:00 p.m.

Anthony Wayne Superintendent Outlines State Of The District
BY KAREN BERGER — MIRROR REPORTER
Ohio is now in the top 10 of Education Week magazine’s annual national report card, Anthony Wayne Schools superintendent Dr. Jim Fritz told staff during his state of the district address on January 13.
The magazine’s annual report card, released on January 12, showed that Ohio moved up one spot from 11th to 10th in the nation.
Overall, Ohio’s grade is now a C+ instead of a B-. Nationwide, education averaged a C. Ohio earned an A for its tough academic standards, student testing and accountability system.
The Ohio Department of Education issued its grade cards last fall, and Anthony Wayne earned an excellent rating for the ninth year. Fritz presented banners to staff members from each building.
During his presentation, Fritz outlined the district’s current status and factors that will impact growth, such as the completion of the US 24 bypass in the fall and signs that the economy is improving. Those two factors alone could signal an increase in enrollment, which was 4,379 students in 2011.
Enrollment was at an all-time high in 2009 with 4,480. Both Monclova and Whitehouse primaries saw a drop in enrollment in the past two years. Still, the district has grown by nearly 1,000 students since 2000, when enrollment was 3,440.
In 2011, the district had $35 million in revenue and $33 million in expenditures, leaving a carryover of $8 million.
Revenue is comprised of $21.5 million in local tax money, $6 million in state funding, $500,000 in federal funds and $7 million in other funding.
Projections for 2012 show revenue and expenditures even at $33.1 million each.
Even with the $8 million in carryover, expenditures will need to be monitored closely, as the district will be losing federal stimulus and state funding this year, Fritz said. When the state legislature approves its two-year budget in July, he’ll have a better idea of how funding will be affected.
That $8 million carryover funds 88 days of school, as it costs about $90,000 per day to operate the district. The state recommends having a carryover to fund 60 days of operation.
With fiscal year 2013 expenditures estimated at $34.1 million and revenues decreasing, Fritz said a committee would be researching when to place a replacement levy on the ballot. The replacement levy approved in 2003 was 4.85 mills to collect $3 million. It was again approved in 2008 for 3.3 mills to collect $3 million. That collection ends in December 2013. The soonest it can be placed on the ballot is November 2012.
Student demographics are also changing, Fritz said. The students are 91.9 percent white, 3.2 percent Hispanic, 1.8 percent multi-racial, 1.7 percent Asian, 1.4 percent African-American, 12.9 percent economically disadvantaged and 9.6 percent identified as students with disabilities.
Those students will be facing changing expectations from the ODE, which will roll out new standards and accountability systems in the next few years, Fritz said.
New standards in language arts, math, science and social studies are in the works, and the goal by 2014-15 is to prepare students better for college and career.
“We want our graduates to be competitive in the job market and be ready for college,” Fritz said.
Some changes won’t take as long to implement, however. Last week, the district rolled out its revamped web site at www.anthonywayneschools.org. And at the January 13 meeting, staff took a survey as a first step in a new General Wellness program.