Here is the opening report from the current district newsletter of the Bluffton Exempted Village Schools. A copy of the entire newsletter is an attachment at the bottom of this story. This column is by Greg Denecker, Bluffton superintendent.
We welcomed over 1,160 students to our school system this past Monday and had an excellent first day of school. The new year also brings new staff members to our district; you can read about each of the individuals in the newsletter. We welcome each of these new staff members and look forward to working with them for many years to come.
The 2013 School District Report Card was officially released last week, and once again, our district performed very well.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE OFFICIAL BLUFFTON SCHOOL REPORT CARD.
A new ranking system has been applied in which schools and districts are rated with a letter grade of A-F. Under the system from last year, our district would have been considered “Excellent with Distinction” because of our performance index and “value added” requirements.
The performance index ranks how well each of our students performed on the Ohio Achievement Tests and the Ohio Graduation Tests. Our district’s 107.3 performance index ranks in the top 6% of all districts statewide.
Even though this index is extremely high, the state has set the mark of 108 as the cutoff to earn an “A” in performance on the state report card. As a result, our last year’s performance index is viewed as a “B” from the state.
With that said, we still believe that being ranked in the top 6% of the state is a very proud accomplishment. We will continue to strive to hit the 108 performance index as a district. It should be noted that both the elementary school and the high school achieved over a 108 on their respective performance indexes, which means those buildings each received an “A” ranking.
Even more exciting is the fact that the elementary school ranks in the top 5% of all elementary schools in the state, and the middle school as well as the high school rank in the top 10% of all middle schools and high schools in Ohio. In addition, our district met 100% of the state achievement indicators for the eighth consecutive year, which earns our district an “A” in that area on the state report card.
Our district also received an “A” for value-added, which shows that we are giving students an appropriate year of growth for each area that is tested for this category. Enclosed is a one page document with all the achievement results for the district. You may also look at the results of the district report card online at http://reportcard.education.ohio.gov We will continue to work diligently to give our students an excellent education and to prepare them for their future.
Finances
The financial report on this page shows our general fund carry-over balance of almost $2.3 million for the ending of fiscal year 2013. We finished our general fund in the black on June 30th by $35,257. This marks the fourth year out of five that we have ended in the black as a district for the fiscal year.
As most people know, the state has cut over $1.2 million dollars in funds that we were due to receive over the past four years. We have absorbed many positions through retirements in the last five years, but we are now at a point that absorbing any more positions would be extremely difficult. We will continue to look for ways to be fiscally responsible to you, our community, while still providing our students with an excellent education.
In fiscal year 2007, we spent $8,307 per pupil to educate our students. In fiscal year 2012, which is the most recent date that statewide comparison expenditure statistics are available, we spent $8,308.19 per student to educate each child. This is $2,000+ less than the state average of $10,597.21 per student statewide.
For example, Liberty- Benton is one of the 20 most similar districts to us in the state; their expenditures per pupil in 2012 were $9,017.78 and their performance index was 102.8, compared to our district’s performance index of 107.4. As noted above, our district performs within the highest level in the state for much less money on average.
Professional development
Our professional development this year with our staff will focus on Formative Instructional Practices (FIP), which is a continuation of last year’s staff development. This year our staff will be implementing the Instructional Improvement System, which will help to form formative assessments to make sure our students are on the right track in each of their classes.
This professional development will be important as we move toward new state assessments for our students starting in 2014-2015. FIP will be used to aid teachers in challenging students to think more critically about subject matter as well as gain deeper knowledge of course concepts.
On the back of this newsletter is a list of the Senior Citizen Breakfast performances each month. We look forward to seeing those of you who have patronized these performances in the past as well as any newcomers who may join us in this monthly entertainment and fellowship.
In closing, please know how excited we are to educate the students in our district this year. This is a wonderful privilege and opportunity. The results of the report card are a tribute to the students, parents, staff, and community; together we are able to provide our students meaningful, challenging, and engaging educational experiences.
Thank you for your continued support of Bluffton Exempted Village Schools and the students we serve. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to stop in or call me at 419-358-5901.
Greg Denecker, Superintendent
