We’ve reached the end of the third quarter of the 23-24 school year in Worthington. Spring sports are in full swing, and we’re looking forward to graduation day for the class of 2024 on May 26th at the Columbus Convention Center. As a reminder, there’s no school in Worthington this Friday, March 8th, 2024. This post is designed as a broad update to what’s happening in Worthington Schools. There’s a lot of information in this post, so here’s what you can expect if you want to jump down only to an area of interest:
- Guaranteed Maximum Price Approved for Worthington Kilbourne and the Natatorium
- Ohio Facilities Construction Commission Approval for High School Projects
- Purchase of Amazon/Sanese Building for Operations Consolidation
- Offer on Boundless Property for a New Colonial Hills Not Selected
- All Day Kindergarten Lottery
- Board of Education High School Student Feedback Sessions
- Solar Eclipse on April 8th
- 2025 School Year Calendar
- Principals Needed for Wilson Hill Elementary and Worthingway Middle
- English Learners Testing
- Summer School Registration is Live
- School Staff Participating in Cyber Security Training
- School Finance Tidbit
- Recognition of School Staff
- Quality Profile and State of the Schools (March 13th)
Guaranteed Maximum Price Approval
At our last Board of Education meeting, the Board was asked to approve the Guaranteed Maximum Price for Worthington Kilbourne High School and the Natatorium projects. These approvals were necessary so that work could begin on both projects in March.
For TWHS, WKHS, and the Natatorium, we allocated $217 million dollars. The projects that the Board approved are on budget at this point, with almost 7 million of that money held back as a contingency for unknown issues during construction. If things go well, we’ll have a portion of this contingency left at the end of the projects to fund alternates that we’d like to do, such as turfing the baseball and softball infields at both schools, similar to what the city is currently doing at McCord Park.
WKHS will be less expensive than was projected, but the Natatorium will be more (10 lanes of water v. 8 lanes). But overall, the projected budget for the three facilities is on track, and we feel good about the scope of each project. TWHS $131 Million, WKHS $69.5 Million, Natatorium $15.7 Million.
OFCC ELPP Program
The Board also approved a resolution for us to continue in the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) Expedited Local Partnership Program (ELPP) As we build our schools, we’re building to the OFCC manual so that we can earn credit towards a future building project. Our share in the future will be 15% of eligible projects. Potentially $30 million or more for future projects by intentionally building to the OFCC specifications.
Amazon / Sanese Building
The Board approved the purchase of the Amazon building on Busch Blvd as a space to consolidate operations (transportation, landscape, facilities, food service, and warehouse). The building was appraised at 9.5 million, and our purchase price is 9.35 million. There is a 75 day due diligence period before closing. For 15 years or more, the district has been looking for space suitable for our landscape maintenance team. We have looked at purchasing an ODOT facility on Wilson Bridge, looked at design build options, etc. Nothing previously has made sense, and the current facility behind Evening Street Elementary School is inadequate in a major way. At the same time, our transportation team of over 100 staff members is in a facility with only two toilets. The space is inadequate, and transportation is a critical team that needs to be invested in so that we can continue to attract drivers in an ultra-competitive market and keep our students getting to and from school each day. This new building will consolidate landscape and facilities maintenance. It will serve as a new headquarters for transportation, providing a much-improved work environment, adequate restrooms, and it will allow the district to move currently rented warehouse spaces to this location, thus reducing ongoing rental costs. The District is purchasing the building using unreserved general fund cash balance rather than issuing debt, avoiding future interest expense, much like how the State of Ohio funded its capital budget this biennium. This is possible through careful budget planning, higher than expected investment returns, and the continued phase in of the Fair School Funding Plan. We planned for this expense in our long term projections and expect to maintain our levy commitment of not returning to voters until at least 2026.
Boundless Property
Worthington Schools received an appraisal of the property based on current zoning, which fits a school. We made an aggressive offer 30% above appraised value based on community feedback. Our cash offer was not contingent and could close quickly. We were informed Boundless received and likely will accept a higher offer on the property, presumably based on redevelopment of the parcel that likely will require zoning change approval. We’ll see how that progresses with the City and community over the next few months/years. We’re disappointed our offer wasn’t selected. Hopefully, what is proposed on site is a win/win for the community. If it’s not seen as such by the community, Worthington Schools remains interested in the 14.7 acres on the SE section of the site and believes it’s a good location for a future school.
Annual All Day Kindergarten Lottery
In Worthington Schools, we offer an optional tuition based All Day Kindergarten Program (ADK) for $345 per month. The State of Ohio only funds kindergarten students as half-day, and thus ADK revenue is about $1.4 million annually to fund the teachers and space necessary to offer this additional program. When needed, there is a lottery for those ADK seats. The lottery this year is set for March 7th. Kindergarten registration is ongoing. Families can find enrollment materials here.
Student Feedback Sessions
Over the last several weeks Board of Education members and WEC administrators have been meeting with students from the high schools to learn more about the student experience. We’ve discussed academic offerings, physical and mental safety, race relations, food options, construction challenges, etc. Students have been selected to participate by the building administration, but certainly, we’ve been able to learn from a nice cross-section of Worthington students. We appreciate the students who have given their time so we can learn from their experiences in school.
Solar Eclipse
Hopefully, by now, you have seen communication that we plan to be closed on the solar eclipse day, April 8th.
Ohio will experience a once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. In Worthington Schools, we have decided to CLOSE school for Monday, April 8th. Surrounding school districts, Columbus, Dublin, Olentangy, and Westerville have all previously announced that they will not have school. The concern on this day is the traffic expected in our region and the ability of that traffic to get students safely home from school.
The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce provided guidance to school districts to evaluate safety concerns. You can view that guidance here. For me, as Superintendent, my major concern is traffic and the ability to run buses. It’s an unknown, but a risk we’ve decided is too big to take.
The total solar eclipse in Worthington will begin on Monday, April 8, at 1:55 p.m. and continue through 4:27 p.m. with a duration of 2 hours and 31 minutes.
25-26 School Calendar
Staff and community members have voted in recent weeks on their preference for the 25-26 school calendar.
A few notes about our calendar process:
- We traditionally start mid-August with a three day student week like surrounding districts.
- We want the first semester of the high school calendar to finish before students leave for winter break. This necessitates the mid-August start date.
- We typically end prior to Memorial Day, although high school graduation varies by year and the availability of the venue.
- Our teachers are required to work 186 days a year. Nine days are negotiated as professional development, grading, collaboration, or parent teacher conference days, and students do not attend.
- We usually offer the equivalent of two weeks for winter break.
- We traditionally offer one week for spring break.
- We have negotiated a Professional Development Day for classified staff in October and a certified staff Professional Development Day on the November election day. Those dates are contractual.
- We have valued consistent five day weeks for our learners.
- We have advertised various holidays to our staff and now schedule important school functions to allow a diverse community to appropriately recognize/celebrate these days.
Many years ago, we replaced a very messy process involving a calendar committee made of numerous stakeholders. Over time, the calendar had also evolved, and we had very few five day weeks. This lack of consistency became difficult for working families. The calendar responsibilities were shifted to an administrative function. Currently, Randy Banks develops three or four options with input from our staff. An example of this collaboration is the new designated conference comp day in both October and February which created a four day weekend in February for both 2025 and 2026. We expect a first reading of the calendar to be held on the March 11th Board of Education meeting.
Principal Searches
Wilson Hill Elementary and Worthingway Middle are searching for new leaders. I wrote about long-time Worthingway Principal Nathan Kellenberger here.
EL
In Worthington, our diverse community of learners includes students who were born in 98 different countries. All 796 Worthington students who qualify as English Learners will participate in Ohio-required English Language Proficiency Assessments over the next 3 weeks. This test includes 3 group test sections (Read/Write/Listen) and a 1-1 Speaking test. Students who score a 4 or 5 on all sections will exit EL identification. Progress on this test is calculated into the Gap Closure measure on district/building ODE Report Cards – and more importantly, is a chance for students to show their growth.
Registration is underway for 2024 Summer Programs!
The Worthington Summer Enrichment Academy will provide enrichment and extension in a four-day camp format the week of June 3rd at Worthingway MS. This program, now in its ninth year, offers ALL Worthington students, grades K-8, academic and creative challenges in a range of areas, including the arts, health/wellness, recreation, and STEM. This year we will be offering 35 programs (55 sessions) throughout the week. Enrollment into WSEA opened Friday, February 16, and is currently at 240 registrations; we are on track for a record enrollment!
Other enrichment and skill-building summer programs for PK-12 students include get-ahead courses for high school credit, camps such as Explore STEM and Gateway Academy Project Lead the Way Pre-Engineering Camp, and Speech/Language Support. We are especially excited about a two-week Camp Broadway experience that will occur at Kilbourne Middle School in June, which is still under development with WKHS theater director Daniel Robey. These programs and more are described in our elementary and ms/hs catalogs on our summer programs website.
In addition to enrichment and skill-building options, we are offering a range of academic intervention options for K-12 students beginning the week of June 3 and concluding June 27 (with an additional credit recovery window July 8-18). These programs are running at Slate Hill and Perry/Phoenix/Academy. Registration for K-5 intervention programs opened Friday, February 16, and we currently have 361 students registered. We anticipate serving about 400 K-5 students.
None of this happens without staff. We will hire over 100 teachers, as well as school secretaries for each site, bilingual assistants, nurses, and special education aides. And, of course, our bus drivers will transport students to intervention programs, and our food service staff will support in-person meals at Slate Hill and Perry/Phoenix/Academy.
Cyber Training
Worthington Schools is investing substantial efforts this school year to strengthen our cyber security. We have already made great strides on the infrastructure side, and now it’s time to tackle the people side. Our staff are going through an online awareness training, which is a series of short (10-15 minute) modules, so they gain a better understanding of the types of cyber attacks. Thus, staff will soon receive an email from “Security Education,” and we’re humbly asking that they find the time over the next several weeks to complete the short modules. We need to secure our data!
School Finance Tidbit
School finance in Ohio is a confusing subject. As a reminder: even though Ohio increased school funding in the latest state budget, Worthington is predominantly a locally funded school district, with local revenues accounting for 79% of total revenue in fiscal year 2023. Local revenue consists mainly of property taxes which totaled $159.8 million. Of that amount, 66% comes from residential property and 34% from commercial and industrial property, which is quite different than it was 15 years ago when the split was about 50% residential and 50% commercial. This is due to a reduction in taxes assessed to businesses over the past few decades by the state legislature, positively impacting the state economy, but also leading to more reliance on residential property taxes for our particular District.
Recognitions
Congratulations to Brian Geniusz for receiving the Ohio ITIP Ohio IGNITE Award! Angie Adrean said, “Throughout his career, Mr. Geniusz has consistently demonstrated a profound commitment to innovation and excellence in education. His tireless efforts have not only transformed the learning experiences for our students, but have also inspired and empowered his colleagues to embrace technology as a powerful tool for educational advancement.”
Congratulations to Thomas Worthington Athletic Director Molly Feesler on being recognized as a Certified Master Athletic Administrator by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association!
Quality Profile and State of the Schools
All Worthington School residents should receive their annual Quality Profile in their mailboxes. We’d ask residents to take a few minutes and review the mailer that highlights different aspects of what Worthington Schools provides students and families. Additionally, the mailer includes an invitation to our State of the Schools evening, Wednesday, March 13th, at Worthington Kilbourne High School beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium.
Come to a night featuring the students and staff of the Worthington School District!
It will include:
- Student entertainment
- The unveiling of Portrait of a Learner
- Construction updates for TWHS, WKHS, and the Natatorium
- Features on how Worthington is teaching reading and math
- Highlights of how our students are changing the world
Join us Wednesday, March 13, at Worthington Kilbourne High School!!!
-Trent Bowers, Superintendent
Absolute Excellence 