Members of Revere board wary of Ohio Senate bill

by Sheldon Ocker

March 21 school board meeting

The Revere Board of Education appoints one member to track the activities of the Ohio legislature. In that regard, board member Diana Sabitsch expressed trepidation about Ohio Senate Bill 1, which seeks to diminish the authority of the Ohio Department of Education and place control over public schools in the hands of the governor.

“This is really concerning,” Sabitsch said. “If you don’t know what SB1 is, it removes the state board and heads that department up with appointments of the governor. It’s not going to be an elected official, which means we will no longer have the option of appointing a member of the state board from our area.’’

The bill has passed the Senate and sits in a committee of the Ohio House, which has its own version of the legislation.

“This is going to go on for a little while, but this is very important for public schools in Ohio, our educational system,’’ Sabitsch said.

Board member Claudia Hower raised another issue about the bill.

“One of the components of the bill is funding,’’ she said. “Schools and townships could lose.’’

Treasurer Rick Berdine tried to lower the sense of alarm expressed by Sabitsch and Hower, even though he described the bill as “half-baked.’’

“I think it’s one of those pieces of legislation we should sit and watch for a bit,’’ he said. “… -here are some pieces that were missed, and I think some sponsors of it have acknowledged that. … They talked about replacement revenue but didn’t necessarily find a source for that.’’

Berdine said a final vote on the bill is not imminent.

“I’ve read a lot of districts’ articles, and I have software simulations that tell you the sky is falling, but I’m not there yet,’’ he said. “It’s only March, and they have until June.’’

Stadium, playground construction near

Berdine reported that two construction projects that have been in the planning stages should begin shortly.

“Two projects are ready to roll,’’ he said, adding that there was a construction meeting March 19 on the high school stadium entry project, and that contractors doing site work and equipment installers on the Richfield playground project also met.

“There’s going to be some stress around July, because we’re committed to getting these done by Aug.  15,’’ he said.

The two projects come with a cost of about $1 million.

Donations

Roland Bertolini gave $200 in memory of Mark Totten to be used at the treasurer’s discretion.

“I actually researched Mr. Totten to find out some of his areas of interest,’’ Berdine said. “He had a particular interest in athletics. I identified two sports that will be receiving these funds.’’

The William R. Pomeroy Memorial Fund contributed $2,000 split between the Revere High library and English department.

The Revere Middle School PTA donated $1,000 to the middle school Legacy Project. The middle school PTA also gave $2,100 for the middle-schoolers’ trip to Washington D.C. ∞