TODAY IS
FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 2019
Trump’s 889th Day In Office

Our Angry Andersonian Clough Corbly is wondering where the state is with this Forest Hills School District mess?  The state steps in when school districts are in trouble.  Well, here we have operating budgets in the red, major project overruns and busted schedules, lawsuits, employee sexting scandals involving key employees, meddling superintendents, overuse of secret executive session meetings probably violating sunshine laws on a regular basis, and who knows what else.  Doesn’t that sound like a school district in trouble?

Could it be because of school board member Randy Smith’s involvement with the state school board?  He was the Ohio School Board Association president in 2018.  Right in the middle of his own local mess.  Maybe the mess was partially because of all the time and attention he spent in Columbus diverting him from his job as “good steward of over-taxed payers’ dollars” in Forest Hills.  Rumor is he is going to run for the local school board again in November.  Really, Randy?

Could it be that OSBA is looking the other way to protect its own reputation?  To hide their own questionable choice of leadership?  To not embarrass one of their own?

Could it also be the state is letting Forest Hills suffer the agony of their own horrible judgement on the now “significantly over-budget” “mismanaged and bloated” building project?  Forest Hills had the state survey their facilities twice, showing them exactly where improvement was needed, what it would cost, and what the best course of action was.  Forest Hills ignored the experts who recommended that the best course of action was generally DON’T RENOVATE.  Forest Hills did decide to rebuild Wilson Elementary.  Duh.  Neighborhood school to most of the board.

It seems the state educational leaders may care more about satisfying the political egos of certain members than they care about educational success.  They’ll just stand by and watch their best school districts go down in flames.