2009-2010 School Report Card

Every October the Ohio Graduation Test is given and soon we will see the results of that test.  In the meantime, here is the 2009-2010  report card for the entire district.  While we have an Effective District, we are still below the average in most areas.  To see the results of the entire district's report card, go HERE  Here is a quick look at the results. Keep in mind that the state requirement is 75%.   Cells in RED are below the state requirements. Numbers in the right column in red are below similiar district average.

Taming the elephant

The installation of Joe Payne as the new GSD board member brings some interesting questions.  First will he be able to tame the pink elephant that is still in the middle of the room.  Second, the board, which is aware of the elephant in the middle of the room, once again shot themselves in the foot by not appointing an applicant from the Gettysburg area who applied for the position.  The board seems to be hesitant to involve themselves with anyone who doesn't fit a particular mold that they have unofficially established.
In the meantime, the Ohio Graduation Test scores loom large over our heads with this years results soon to be published.  Will we once again finish last against all schools in a 25 mile radius?  And what about passing a bond levy?  Maybe a board member from the Gettysburg area would have done just a little to bring those folks on board.  Guess we'll never know about that, will we.
Bottom line is something has to happen.  Hopefully Joe Payne is a sleeper.  Hopefully Joe Payne will be able to ask the hard questions and not let up until he gets an answer. Hopefully Joe Payne has a little hell's fire and brimstone he can throw out during a meeting to get us off of dead center.
Congratulations Joe Payne, you certainly have your work cut out for you.  Let's hope that the Big Pink Elephant in the middle of the room doesn't get any bigger.

The Big Pink Elephant

It appears that there is a big pink elephant in the middle of the room and no one wants to talk about it. Before the last election a lot of people did a lot of campaigning for and against a levy for a new school. I don't know if any of them looked at the real facts.  This blog has unearthed a lot of cold, hard facts.  Numbers usually don't lie, especially when they can be backed up with facts.  In this case the research that I did came from the Board of
Elections and the Ohio Department of Education.
These facts show very plainly that people within the city limits of Greenville pretty much support the schools and with only a couple of exceptions, everyone else whom we've invited into the system in years past doesn't support the schools at all.  It's right there in black and white.  No one has said a word about it.
A comparison of Greenville Schools Sophomore classes taking the Ohio Graduation Test with schools within 25 miles of Greenville shows that we consistently come in behind everyone else.  Those figures weren't made up, they're the State of Ohio figures, not just last year but for the last 4 years.
Well as this elephant gets bigger, you got to wonder if all those people outside Greenville knew this and not voting was there way of complaining about low test scores and the people in the city just didn't care or what.  More than likely nobody ever looked at the stats before.  The counter on this blog was reset at 500 hits and it now has over 700 so it's pretty obvious that at least 700 people know what the statistics are now and yet the elephant still stands there. No one has said a word
It's sort of embarrassing that the levy went down as many times as it has.  It's even more embarrassing that our kids are graduating and the figures show that they only comprehend about 75% of what they were taught.  Why is that? In 20 years those same kids will be wondering where all the elephants came from!

Four year comparison of the State Proficiency test

This chart is a comparison of four years of Proficiency test results.  Please note in each area of study what the state average is.

In Math the state average is 81%, in Greenville it is 77%, 16 points below average.

In Writing the state average is 90%, in Greenville it is 83%, 7% below average.

In Science the state average is 76%, in Greenville it is 68%, 8% below average.

In Social Studies the state average is 82%, in Greenville it is 74%, 8% below average.

In Reading  the state average is 85%, in Greenville it is 72%,13% below average.

These figures tell us that our kids can't read, although they can write which is sort of odd%.  While 76% of the kids statewide understand science and what makes the world go around, our kids haven't a clue at 68% and so on. Wonder if a new school would fix this?

The Carnegie Library and Henry St. Clair Memorial Hall

Recently someone asked the question " who actually owns Memorial Hall"?  A little searching yielded a lot of information.  The best information was found on Wikipedia.  I've edited it here and added a couple of bits of information.  Hope this answers the question.

Here is the straight scoop on Memorial Hall and the Library

 Soon after F. Gillum Cromer became the superintendent of the Greenville City Schools in 1888, he began to plan for the creation of a library for the city's students. Financing for the library was largely dependent on the children of the city, who performed entertainments on Washington's Birthday; the monies earned were used to pay for the books and for the upkeep of the library system. As the library increased in size, it was decided to expand it and to open it to members of the public. From 1892 to 1901, the library was housed in the basement of a store on Fifth Street.^{[2]:373, 374}

Construction In the spring of 1901, the city's board of education petitioned Andrew Carnegie to donate money for the expansion of the library. In response, Carnegie offered $15,000 on the condition that the city pledge $1,500 annually for its support. After examining the library system in Pittsburgh and consulting its head librarian, the board requested $25,000 and pledged $2,500 annually; Carnegie accepted this offer   After the board accepted bids on plans, the members discovered that the desired structure would cost nearly $30,000 and ordered a revision of the plans; however, when this news reached prominent local businessman Henry St. Clair, he requested that the revision be cancelled and pledged sufficient funds for the building as originally planned.^[2]:375 St. Clair's wish having been granted, the library's cornerstone was laid on October 30, 1901, and construction was completed on March 19, 1903;^[the structure had cost $31,177.50.

Memorial Hall Following Henry's St. Clair's death on October 7, 1908, the city benefited greatly from his will — $100,000 was to be given to the city's board of education for the erection and maintenance of an assembly hall for the use of the city schools. Board members soon voted to build this hall adjacent to the Carnegie library; as the 1868 high school already occupied this location, the entire building was moved a short distance to the south in the summer of 1909. Excavation for the new assembly hall commenced in the spring of 1910, and the cornerstone was laid on June 30. Large crowds attended the laying ceremony; and members of the leading families of Darke County provided patriotic music.After a long period of construction, the building was dedicated on May 3, 1912 and given the name of "Henry St. Clair Memorial Hall." While the construction of the hall and the removal of the high school had cost $135,000, the board of education was not left impoverished; St. Clair's widow compensated the board for the extra expenses. The finished structure, built of brick and stone in a manner similar to the library, featured a large auditorium and a range of classrooms for the city's students

Thanks to Wikipedia for the information.

From the Columbus Dispatch...........

The Ohio Education Association (OEA) which represents about 80% of Ohio's teachers has a labor problem of it's own. The negotiators who work for the association are on strike.  The 110 striking workers are members of the OEA's Professional Staff Union.  Their average salary was average salary of $111,350 in 2009.  This is about $10,000 more than the average school superintendent in Ohio.  You can read the whole story by going HERE

A comparison of schools within 25 miles of Greenville - The Ohio Graduation Test

The Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) is a test mandated by the state of Ohio and given to all sophomores each school year.  The chart below shows all schools within a 25 mile radius of Greenville.  It does not include private or parochial schools as they are not mandated to report.  This particular version was sorted by the Science Scores.  Click on the chart to enlarge for better reading.

Some Statistics About GCSD

Here are some different statistics about the Greenville City School District and the people living here. Click on the link for more HERE.  Click on any chart to enlarge for better reading.

This is a comparison of high schools in Darke County in the Great Schools Ratings. In calculating these ratings, GreatSchools analyzed the 2008-2009 Ohio Achievement Test (OAT) and the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) reading, writing, math, science and social studies results for the school and compared them to the test results for all Ohio schools with the same grade levels.

If there are no GreatSchools Ratings for a school, the school's test results were either not reported or incomplete. The different student groups are identified by the Ohio Department of Education; if there are fewer than 10 students in a particular group in a school, data is not reported for that group.

Keep in mind that when comparing schools using GreatSchools Ratings, it's important to factor in other information, including the quality of each school's teachers, the school culture, special programs, etc.

GreatSchools Ratings cannot be compared across states, because of differences in the states' standardized testing programs.

The chart above shows the standings of all county schools in the Great Schools.org standings.

Above is a sort of all county schools sorted by OGT reading scores.

Above is a sort of the OGT by the Math Scores.

Above compares the OGT Reading Scores.

The chart above shows the OGT stats for Science.

This is the graduation rates for the area schools listed above.

If you want to learn more about the Ohio Graduation Test Scores, Click Here.

 SOURCE: www.greatscools.org

This is a comparison of teachers in all Darke County Schools.

Are you thinking about buying your student a smart phone?

Better read this article first.  Some "buy's" aren't always as good as they look.  Check it out right HERE.

Other Pages

If you have visited here before and return to find something, make sure that you check the other pages buttons at the top of the page.  I'll be moving some things over to a new page soon to make room for other things.

What's the new message that hasn't been told?

This is the question that is posed on the Ohio Department of Education Website. Here is a quote: “It only takes one” is the kind of thought-provoking idea that telecommunications instructor Brian O’Dell uses to help juniors and seniors create messages for public service announcements and short videos at Howland High School in Warren, Ohio. I thought it would be good to see if anyone here had any ideas about the school system and the passage of a levy, just one idea. Many people have read the information on this blog.  Do you have a thought?  Does it take more than one? Only one vote at a time, only one group of citizens interested enough to get all of the facts about ALL of the issues. It has become clear on who doesn't vote for the levy, has anyone figured out why these folks continually vote against everything that involve THEIR schools.  Has the school system actively engaged ALL of it's constituents?  The questions need to have thoughtful answers, have you got one.

A Brief History of GCSD or How this has gotten out of control.

In the early 1950's the Greenville City School District (GCSD) was just that.  There were many kids from the Townships surrounding Greenville attending high school "in town", but they were paying tuition.  Somewhere along the line, someone decided that was a bad idea.  The solution was that Washington and Greenville Twp. would join the Greenville City Schools and give us the Washington Twp School and Greenville Twp would give us the Greenville Twp School.  A contest was held to rename the five year old building on SR 118 N and it became Woodland Heights.  Along the line the Neave Twp School in Ft. Jefferson had closed as well and the Richland Twp building in Beamsville.  All of this gave the GCSD more pupils.  It also gave us more people to convince every time a levy was needed.  In most cases, taxes were lowered by joining the Greenville District, but none the less over time the job became harder when it came time to put a levy on the ballot.  The last to join was Gettysburg and GCSD got another old building and people in Adams Twp. lost their identity. To add insult to injury, US Route 36 was rerouted outside of Gettysburg and the through traffic that gave merchants some business was now gone. 


The question now needing an answer is this.  Do the people in Adams, Neave, Washington, Greenville and other townships want to be in the  Greenville district and will they support the school system in the future?  In looking at the map, there seems to be no reason for some of the areas that belong to the GCSD.  Persistently 3 or 4 people from Wayne Twp. have voted in the elections.  Would those people be better served by attending Versailles?  Do the people on the east side of Gettysburg feel more of an allegiance to Bradford which is only  2 miles away?  The village of Wayne Lakes which didn't exist 40 years ago has never had a school system.  Do they want one? Just as persistently, there have always been 8 to 10 people in Liberty Twp vote on the GCSD issues and consistently voted 90 to 100% against them.  Do they want or need to be part of Tri-Village as there neighbors are?  Probably an even better question is: Has anyone asked them? Is it possible.  Has the Greenville Board of Education ever had a meeting outside of Memorial Hall? Is that possible?  It seems a good idea that when you want someone to do something for you the idea of going to talk to them face to face might be a pretty good idea.  What do you think?

Here is where people live who are voting on GCSD issues.

I found that many people don't actually know where the Greenville School District is.....Roughly it runs from the Ohio - Indiana Line in Washington Twp. to a few miles from Bradford in Adams Twp., west to east.  North and South it runs from Beamsville in Richland Twp. to south of Wayne Lakes in Neave Twp.  It may be the Greenville City School District, but that name doesn't tell the whole story.  Everything in pink is GCSD.