Important meetings rescheduled

by Superintendent Geoff Andrews and school board members Barry Richard and Ian Yarber

We feel it is important to reinforce to the community that our number one priority at the Oberlin school district is finding a way to balance our budget. Our eye is firmly fixed on this issue.

Readers may recall that in November the board directed the superintendent and treasurer to spend some time negotiating with our two unions, to see what measures they might be able to work out. Our teachers, our administrative staff, and all other employees are working together to find the best solutions possible. The board felt that it was appropriate to give these groups a few months to work on this.

The board also asked the superintendent and treasurer to present additional options for budget balancing in March and April. We will take any necessary steps at that time to balance the budget for next year. Those steps will not include placing an operating levy before the voters.

In addition to budget balancing, there are other considerations before the board. Last week the board had a meeting scheduled to solicit public input on two ideas under consideration.

The first of those is a 1-mill, five-year levy that would repair the track and tennis courts that were constructed at Oberlin High School in 1980. This issue was brought to the board by citizens who had contributed money to rehabilitating these facilities during a fundraising campaign in 2003 and 2004.

The second idea is a much larger one -- the idea of building a single campus of new school building(s) for all grades in Oberlin. There is also the possibility of combining that campus with other entities that serve the community. This might include facilities for recreation, higher education, library or technology facilities, fitness or rehab or wellness space, or some other as-of-yet unnamed options.

Achieving this long term goal will take massive community input in terms of site selection, building concepts and most importantly the financial impact on the residents of Oberlin.

Given the weather that arrived last Tuesday, preventing the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission from joining the meeting (and perhaps preventing residents from getting to the meeting, too), the board elected to reschedule the campus discussion to February 23 and the track and tennis court decision to tomorrow, Wednesday, February 17, at 7:30 p.m., in the city council chambers (due to Presidents' Day, city council meets there tonight). So please come out tomorrow night to share your perspective on the prospect of fixing the tennis courts and track through a 1-mill, five-year levy.

As recent events in our nation have clearly demonstrated, nothing is static in this world. Change is inevitable. We must be prepared for the challenges ahead.

Honest, civil and vigorous debate is essential to keep our district moving forward. Therefore, we strongly encourage community members to join us in these discussions.