MAY BOND & LEVY

If you did not read the opinion article in the Journal concerning the school district and their choice for constructing the new junior high on Verity School property, you should read it. It was written by Joe Mulligan and makes very, very good points. The project housing on Breiel has had more problems than any properties in the Vail school area. Another project the school district hasn't thought through....maybe they were in such a hurry to push that levy through they weren't thinking straight but now that they have time to pursue other places they can make a much better decision.

Also, just when you think the school district has hired all the administrators possible, I understand they are creating a new position and hiring a new administrator to create yet another "department" for the next school year.

spiderjohn wrote: I believe that the name and logo will be moved to the new gym location no conflict--no worries enjoy the moment

Spider, you know me and my thoughts about salvaging some of this town. However, I will reluctantly stand and watch them tear down old Middletown High.....but I can't for the life of me, understand the reasoning behind tearing down the Miller Gym. Certainly holds enough people for a high school game. Got alot of tradition. Is a fine old court in decent shape and there will certainly be enough parking for attendance when the old high school is torn down. What else would be of consideration with the gym? As to addressing the location and the thinking that it may be in an isolated, poor location.....how about where Barnitz Stadium is located. It is also isolated and certainly not in the best of locations, yet they are not touching that facility.......if those are the issues here. JMO

Today's Journal...

Lucas ‘grateful’ to have court named in his honor

MIDDLETOWN —
For three glorious years, Jerry Lucas put Middletown on the map.

For two nights, the city will shine its light on Lucas.

The floor at Wade E. Miller Gym — where Lucas led the boys basketball team at Middletown High School to 76 consecutive wins and back-to-back state championships — will be named the Jerry Lucas Court

Two 5-foot-by 2-foot vinyl decals will be unveiled near midcourt. The Jerry Lucas portion of the decal will resemble his autograph, which Lucas says is unique because it’s legible.

Lucas, 72, called having the court named after him “a tremendous honor” considering all the great Middies who played there.

..........AND NOW, THE PLANS ARE TO TEAR THE WADE E. MILLER GYM DOWN ALONG WITH OLD MIDDLETOWN HIGH SCHOOL.........HMM, SOME IRONY HERE I THINK.    WHY BOTHER WITH THE HONOR IF THE COURT WON'T BE HERE MUCH LONGER? PLEASE EXPLAIN THE CONFLICT IN VENUES HERE, SCHOOL BOARD PEOPLE?

Enough is Enough,

Mr. Fiora states.......

"Vet,
The potential for increased operating/general fund money from the state had ZERO impact on deciding not to do the bond issue. The bond issue was for money to build/refurbish school buildings. Legally the two sources of money can NOT be intermingled. The bond fund was ONLY for building. Any increase in operating/general fund money will NOT be used for building purposes"

Yes Mr. Fiora, I realize that a bond issue is not connected with an operating levy. I understand that the bond levies are for building new schools and operating levies are for maintaining current operations. You really don't have to educate me in that capacity. I'm not exactly a newcomer to the different levies and have been participating in them since returning to Middletown in 1985 as a property owner. Not a novice here Mr. Fiora. You may not realize it Mr. Fiora, but the way to win friends and influence people is not to talk down to them. Just might anger a few people doing that. Believe it or not, there are still some people with some intelligence in this community that aren't on your school board.

I was merely suggesting that when the pro-levy people realized that when the voters heard about the money infusion into the schools from the state, that it might produce more "no" voters and potentially cause a levy defeat. Better to wait a while longer so that the voters will forget about this state money resulting in a more favorable and less risky levy proposal in the future. A sly, but effective way to get your levies passed. This method has been used effectively before by previous school boards. The voters seem to have amnesia as to money given, if you wait long enough.

As to reducing costs, your explanation doesn't cover the unannounced positions created that suddenly pop up on our screens as we view the school district hierarchy, and, we get the added thrill of seeing those high salaries connected with these multi-layer job positions. When we see these things, Mr. Fiora, we are not enamored with your visions for our school district as to manpower. At times, it appears a tad bit top heavy with high paid paper-shufflers. It is hard to look at the list of positions and the salaries and conclude that you are reducing costs.

they will be back as soon as they come up with a way to suck more funds from the taxpayers, raises for everyone and you know they will still be wanting that WWE wrestling ring. the smack down of the taxpayers will keep coming from this school and city, they both have way to many top pay paper pushers sucking up the funds, gotta keep that buddy plan going and going and going, and not a damn thing will change, other than maybe get a future WWE super star..

The most glaring need is a Director of Discipline!  If they could just play a little more hardball with some of the problem kids, maybe remove them from the building into a separate place, that should accomplish more than all the Masters Degree folks they have making $90k plus.  But the reality is that because of the home life issues for these kids, and because of not wanting to offend segments of the community, the tough love approach will not be embraced in MCSD.

I believe that the supertindent receives a $750 a month car allowance along with his $128,000 salary. This pushes his salary to $137,000 a year and I would assume that he also has some type of cell phone paid for by the district. His salary also does not include the money that the district puts into the teachers state retirement fund as well as his health insurance. This information was in the Journal last year.Now I realize that in today's world there are jobs that come with some perks. When you take a job in a district that is strapped for cash such as Middletown you would think that with a salary at $100,000 plus you could afford to pay for your own gas and cell phone.

Not only do I believe that the taxpayers should undoubtly take into the consideration the lack of performance in the school district I believe taxpayers should take issue with the number of administrators that continue to crowd the administration building and schools year after year and the amount of those salaries. How can it be justified with a district that has such low ratings? It can't be justified just like giving more money for new schools can't be justified. Add in the part where not much has changed in the ratings department in the past 10 or so years and it makes you wonder why they even have the guts to ask for more money from any of us.

More often than not, I hear the employees in the schools question why they continue to hire administrators with huge salaries and continue to add "departments". Obviously, it hasn't changed anything except that there are probably 75% more admninistrators in the Middletown School District than there were 10 years ago. And for the first time ever, I have heard many school employees say they are voting no on more money. They took a paycut to relieve the pressure of budget contraints that the district was under but since then the school district has continued to spend money in other areas.

I agree the high school in Middletown is terrible, rundown and out of date. Go to another district, Mason, Kings, any of them and there is quite a difference in their high school and junior high than ours but they also have students who are willing to learn and not running rampant in the halls like at MHS. They have parents who are willing to be a part of their childs education. They aren't just living in that town because they can get Section 8 housing. They have people who appreciate what they have and take care of it. The mentality in Middletown is that everything is owed to them and they should be able to do whatever they want...thank Dr. Price for that because it is not going away.

Last year due to budget constraints Lakota cut admin positions, Cincinnati Public Schools cut admin positions and so did almost every other school district around us. Middletown cut custodians and bus drivers but hired more administrators.

When taxpayers complained about an Asst Superintendent, the position was cut but returned several years later with the title of Senior Director of Learning. When taxpayers balked about Asst Principals, Middletown cut the positions only to add them back the next few school years and change the title to Dean of Students and hire more than in previous years. Then they proceed to say that those "new" positions are staffed by employees who make less than those before them. What sense does that make?

Middletown is full of taxpayers and citizens who just don't care and that's what the school district relys on...those people don't care enough to vote. The levy passes because those who have the money are the ones who pass the levy.

Middletown Schools are going to be in a world of hurt when the new testing and ratings come out. Why don't they wait until after that to ask for more money? Because after that, it's never going to happen. They keep mentioning getting money from the state but every time they mention it the word "expect" is always in the sentence. They "except" to get funds, which means to me it can or cannot happen.

It would help the taxpayers make a decision on passing the levy if a reporter from the journal would research and publish a simple graph comparing Middletown to surrounding districts and show school ratings, number of positions added in the last 10 years with titles and salaries in our administration of the schools. With those salaries they should also add who has a vehicle in this school district that the taxpayers pay for, how much the district pays for Iphone and Ipads for the administrators, how they justify all the added perks and then ask for more money from taxpayers who can't afford the same.

Pacman wrote: VietVet wrote: What is the purpose of spending the money on improving the performance if the district is going to be mired for another decade in the continuous improvement mud pit?. Vet, You have this supposed Steve price mantra stuck in your head. We are not paying for performance. We are building new schools and updating old ones, to maintain a level playing field and bring our city into the 21st century. Pacman

WHAT???? WE ARE NOT PAYING FOR PERFORMANCE??? YOU'RE KIDDING RIGHT? HOW ELSE ARE WE GOING TO JUDGE WHETHER OUR CURRENT SCHOOL DISTRICT IS WORTH THE MONEY OR NOT? GOTTA BE PERFORMANCE BASED. WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU GIVE THIS DISTRICT MORE MONEY TO WASTE IF THEY ARE SHOWING NO EYE-OPENING RESULTS WITH THE MONEY ALREADY GIVEN TO THEM, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING ALL THE TIME THAT HAS PASSED TO GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER. THEY HAVE HAD MORE THAN AMPLE TIME TO IMPROVE. OTHER DISTRICTS HAVE THAT ARE SIMILAR IN NATURE.

PAC, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, YOU WOULD BE THE FIRST TO TELL YOUR STOCKBROKER TO SELL A POOR PERFORMING STOCK IN YOUR PORTFOLIO, WOULDN'T YOU? ANYONE WOULD IF THEY KEPT PLOWING MONEY INTO A LOSER OF A STOCK AND TAKING A FINANCIAL HIT MONTH AFTER MONTH. SAME GOES FOR THE SCHOOLS. IF THEY DON'T PERFORM, THEY GET NO REWARD. THIS GOES BEYOND WHAT PRICE SAID WHEN HE TRIED TO SELL US THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BOND LEVY. THIS IS JUST COMMON SENSE.

YOU HAVE A HIGH DEF TV AT HOME, RIGHT? IF IT DIDN'T LAST AND GAVE YOU POOR PERFORMANCE, WOULD YOU BUY ANOTHER OF THE SAME BRAND? OF COURSE NOT. WHY WOULD YOU KEEP TRYING TO HELP A COMPANY THAT PUT OUT A CRAPPY PRODUCT? SAME GOES FOR THE SCHOOLS. CRAPPY PRODUCT= NO SUPPORT.

jsmith2011 wrote: Don't you think one of the reasons the school board is pushing this levy through is because of the Common Curriculum changes that are taking place? We already know the school district under achieves and the board knows the taxpayers feel the schools should do better. The school district is going to do a lot worse in the ratings...the material is going to be harder, the tests will be harder, the students will be expected to actually write a paragraph instead of multiple choice. They need to get this levy through and passed before all of that information comes out because Middletown City Schools ratings are going to go down....way down not up. They are making changes, adding what they can (wrestling etc.) because there will be no chance in hell anyone will ever vote for a school levy after the new ratings are available.

Then, if no chance in the future of attaining "SATISFACTORY" from years of "CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT", then, hopefully, no chance of a levy passing. What is the purpose of spending the money on improving the performance if the district is going to be mired for another decade in the continuous improvement mud pit? It has already been proven, with money spent from the last levies approved, that this district can't pull itself up to satisfactory. Levy approvals aren't the answer to correcting this district's inefficiencies. Why give them more money to remain the same? Let the state take over and make the necessary changes.

According to the states latest records Middletown has only 75 student out of 1800 +or- taking advantage of the pseo program. Is this information correct?

If this is true, it seems to be a minor reason for leaving the HS at it's current location.