Bluffton school board will act on a resolution stating its opposition to Ohio House Bill 59 on Monday evening.

The resolution opposes the expansion of school voucher programs in Ohio, which the bill proposes to do.

The wording of the resolution follows:

WHEREAS Governor Kasich’s  biennial budget (HB 59) proposes two expansions to the Educational Choice Scholarship Program that significantly expand  the number of publicly-funded vouchers for students to attend private or parochial schools; and

WHEREAS one of the programs provides a private or parochial school tuition voucher in an amount up to $4250 to any entering kindergarten student of  a family with a household income less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level, to be used at the parent’s choice of participating private schools; and

WHEREAS the following year, such vouchers would be expanded to include students in both kindergarten and first grade totaling $25 million over the biennium; and

WHEREAS such vouchers would be granted without regard to the academic performance or quality of the public school that the student is assigned to attend; and

WHEREAS the second voucher expansion proposed by the Governor offers EdChoice vouchers to students enrolled in schools that fail to make adequate progress on the Third Grade Reading Guarantee for two successive years; and

WHEREAS funds for this Third Grade Reading Guarantee scholarship would be deducted from the resident district in the amount of $4,250 per student for grades K-8 and $5,000 for 9-12; and

WHEREAS the operation of the proposed programs would effectively take dollars from the already financially beleaguered local public school districts, resulting in fewer resources for the education of remaining students;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT, AND IT IS HEREBY, RESOLVED, that the Bluffton Exempted Village School Board of Education does hereby express its opposition to these provisions in HB 59; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Bluffton Exempted Village Board of Education expresses its opposition to any legislation that seeks to transfer public dollars to support private education; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Treasurer be directed to spread this resolution upon the minutes of the Board of Education and that copies of the resolution be forwarded to the Governor and members of the Ohio General Assembly.

A copy of Monday's agenda is in an attachment at the bottom of this story.