BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
MIDDLETOWN -- A four-page brochure outlining what a Monroe School District would look like if the Middletown-Monroe Schools were split has drawn the ire of one board member.
The Fact Sheet brochure, released this week, was put together by a committee that included school-board members, administrators and members of the Committee on Reviewing Education (CORE), a Monroe group that wants Monroe to have its own school district. It will be delivered to Monroe residents next week, said Suzi Rubin, CORE spokeswoman.
|
What Monroe district would mean
|
|
If the Middletown-Monroe Schools split and Monroe forms its own district:
It would include the city of Monroe, with the exception of a small area in Liberty Township that is part of the Lakota Schools, and those portions of Lemon Township which are south of the northern boundary of Monroe.
It would have an enrollment of 1,082 students, ranking the proposed district 446th in size out of 611 Ohio school districts. Projections call for the district to grow by 50 children each year over the next five years.
About 670 children who live in Middletown but within the attendance boundaries of Monroe Elementary School and Lemon-Monroe High School would not be included in the new district but could apply to attend classes there if the new school board adopted an open enrollment policy, and if there was space.
The new district would have a first-year budget of $6.4 million with an ending balance of about $270,226.
It would have to spend $18.3 million to upgrade the two buildings. To do that, a 6.95-mill bond issue would be necessary. The cost: $219 a year for the owner of a house with a market value of $100,000.
Source: Fact Sheet & Middletown-Monroe Schools
|
Monroe residents will be asked Nov. 3 whether city council should adopt a resolution supporting a separate school district for the children of Monroe. The vote is advisory and non-binding because the final decision rests with the Ohio Board of Education.
CORE members requested Monroe council members put the issue on the ballot to give the group direction on whether to pursue its deconsolidation efforts. Last December, the state board rejected CORE's request to separate the Middletown - Monroe Schools and form a separate district.
In March, a Franklin County judge dismissed CORE's appeal of the state board's decision, and earlier this year the Butler County Board of Elections refused to put the matter on the May ballot after the prosecutor's office said there was no basis in law for CORE's initiative.
"In my mind, this is not a joint paper," said Middletown - Monroe board member Katie McNeil. "There are glaring holes . . . I think it's (brochure) the position of CORE . . . not the board of education."
Board President Tom Brickey and vice president Mark Frazer, both members of the joint committee, disagreed. They said the paper contained a front page statement reaffirming that the Middletown - Monroe Board of Education supports a unified district, not the deconsolidation efforts.
"This is not an endorsement. There are a lot of issues not spoken to here," Mr. Frazer said. "Our goal was to provide information, a snapshot for the voters. As people review this, they will come to their own conclusion."
One such issue was brought up by Middletown resident Linda Wilson, who said no provisions are being made for the children who live in Middletown but are assigned to the Monroe buildings.
"Has it been mentioned that 670 kids would be moved to Middletown schools? They're (CORE) willing to send my kid to Middletown. I don't want my kid at Middletown High School," said Mrs. Wilson, a Middletown High graduate. "This has to be a fact brought out. It just really disturbs me."
The paper presents facts both sides agreed on with regard to funding, enrollment, finances, course offerings, extracurricular activities and facilities if Monroe should separate, committee members said. Members of the committee assumed the same programs and after-school offerings as are available now when putting together the numbers.
"It's what we both want. We want the facts, the truth," said Jon Nerenberg, a CORE member who sat on the committee. "This lays it out and tells it the best we can. We feel very certain we've done the best we could."
