By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com
Bucyrus’ August school board meeting occurred late enough in the month to be held after the start of the new school year. August meetings are typically about the final preparations for the new year. The Bucyrus administration instead had the happy task of reporting on the successful launch of a new campaign.
Superintendent Kevin Kimmel, and principals Roll, Burke, and Chevalier, all commented about how well the year has got up and running. Kimmel called it a “smooth” beginning and thanked the hard work of everyone in the district for making this possible.
Along with commendations to the staff, there were some good things to report. Roll informed everyone that over 130 students are enrolled in kindergarten, and over 100 have applied to the pre-school ranks. There are only 96 spaces available at this level but the signs are positive about people wanting to send their children to Bucyrus.
Also, in the span of a week, from last Wednesday to the previous Wednesday, over 30 students open enrolled into the district at all grade levels. This uptick in children enrolling in is a hugely positive sign. Open enrollment out has been a major financial Achilles’ heel for Bucyrus in recent years, so any movement on this front in the other direction must surely be met with excitement.
Also on this subject, the district has completed 185 surveys with residents of the district about such topics as open enrollment. There will be more opportunity for community input at the football game Friday night, and Kimmel expects that to take the number of surveys to over 200. The district is very serious about finding out everything it can to ensure that students want to attend Bucyrus City Schools.
There has been a great deal of flux lately with what sort of government assessments will be in place. The common core is being challenged in the Ohio House, and the OGT’s have already fallen by the wayside. So trying to predict what the future standardized assessments will be is proving tricky. However, Bucyrus has found a vendor that it believes will help prepare its students for state assessment. Pro-Core is an instructional tool for teacher that will allow them to gauge their students’ progress on standardized tests. The package would include a pre-test, intermediate testing, and a final assessment. It is set up very nicely to assist teachers in preparing their students for state testing.
This testing format could also be applied to grades 3-12, and therefore make a district-wide impact. It is not being mandated by the administration, each teacher is allowed to decide whether it would be helpful in his or her classroom. But this program’s track history of aligning very well with standardized testing is already making it a popular choice. The board will entertain a formal recommendation next month.
Fall sports are underway in the new Northern 10 Athletic League. Most teams have begun competitive games, with the volleyball and girls cross country teams off to 2-0 starts. There will also be, for the first time in a long time, an all-girls golf team at Bucyrus. The football team kicks off its season Friday at Galion and the administration wished all fall athletes successful and healthy campaigns.
September’s board meeting was moved to 7 p.m. on Sept. 29.