Superintendent's Message:
Winter is most certainly upon us. Thank you for your patience during our two-hour delay yesterday. While our goal is to have kids in school learning, our foremost priority is student safety. In looking at the weather forecast, I think it is safe to say this will not be the only time we are faced with this situation.
The picture above represents our Students and Staff of the Quarter who were recognized by our Valley View Board of Education last night. Congratulations to all of our winners!
At the board meeting last night, a number of resolutions were passed to change how we operate in our district. By clicking
HERE
, you can see a new organizational chart on how we will structure our district moving forward. A letter detailing some of the administrative changes can be found by clicking
HERE
. While these represent some significant changes to our district, I strongly believe that these changes will allow us to provide a stronger service to our students while representing a savings of over $100,000 in administrative salary.
Additionally, our board of education passed the first resolution to place a 6.49 mill operating levy on the ballot in May. The justification and explanation of the need for this can be found by reading my presentation to the board in December by clicking
HERE
.
A levy for all new money would be unreasonable and inappropriate, and taking care of our budget entirely through cuts would leave us with an education not befitting of our district. Therefore, the approach is to have this be a combination of new money coupled with budget reductions. I think the significant point of the presentation is that, even if the levy passes, we will cut 1.5 to 2 million dollars from the operating budget over the next 3-4 years while decreasing staff AND with an expectation that we will improve our overall educational product.
If you have driven by the Primary and Intermediate buildings recently, you will have hopefully noticed that all of the entrance ramps have been completed. This is a significant step forward in trying to make our buildings more accessible for all individuals. Due to this project, the entrances to each of our buildings is now completely accessible to all individuals. This does not mean that each building is fully accessible, but it is a significant start in a positive direction.
We have been a member of the Ohio Open Checkbook since the end of November. You can go online (click
HERE
) and see all of the checks we issue. This is just another tool we are using to help increase the transparency of our district to our community members. As you look at the checkbook, it is important to note that it includes every fund of our district. While we typically only report out our general fund reports as it represents our local tax dollars, the Open Checkbook includes federal Title money, grant funds, etc. If you have any questions about the Checkbook, please contact our treasurer, Ms. Laura Sauber, at
laura.sauber@valleyview.k12.oh.us
so that she can give you the needed information.
As the weather keeps changing, please make sure you work to ensure kids are dressed appropriately for the elements. Parents of high school students: Please take a few extra moments to discuss with student drivers the importance of safety when driving in adverse driving conditions and the importance of leaving earlier to allow for extra driving time. You can click
HERE
to read how we make the decision on whether we should cancel or delay school. Just know that student safety is always our foremost priority.
Tomorrow we will still have our monthly Coffee Talk at 9:30 a.m. at the Center Street Cafe in Farmersville for anyone who would like to come and ask questions/provide feedback, but we will not have the 6:00 meeting at the Germantown Public Library. Both meetings will resume their normal schedule in February.
As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Proud to be your Superintendent,
Ben Richards
