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Greenville City Schools Superintendent Update
Doug Fries, Superintendent
Summer 2020
With the close of the 2019-2020 school year being under an unusual Stay
at Home Order it is still time to congratulate another group of
outstanding graduates. The Class of 2020 formerly became graduates on
May 30, 2020. Two hundred and three graduates received their diploma
representing the Class of 2020 during a virtual ceremony as a result of
the COVID-19 pandemic condition. The class had many academic and
extracurricular accomplishments while at Greenville High School and we
commend each and every graduate. We wish all graduates much success and
happiness in their future endeavors. Graduates are now welcomed into
our Greenville High School Alumni.
I again want to thank all the students, teachers, staff, parents,
grandparents, and community members for making our end of year virtual
learning a success while the entire nation was working through the
COVID-19 situation. Thank you all for your hard work with remote
learning. All of your hard work was greatly appreciated.
Our district is now turning its attention to opening school again for
the 20-21 school year at the end of August. We have a core group of
administrators, principals, curriculum personnel, nurses, and teachers
looking at different building and transportation scenarios as well as
curriculum learning management systems to determine the best way to
open school for 20-21. Our core group is also monitoring input and
guidance being discussed by the governor, Ohio Health Department, Darke
County Health Department, Ohio Department of Education, Buckeye
Association of School Administrators, Ohio School Boards Association,
and various other curriculum committees. We are gathering and reviewing
best practices for whether school resumes in person, remotely online,
or in some form of blended learning. As more definite guidance becomes
available from the governor, Ohio Department of Education, and
state/local health departments our best option for educational planning
for opening will be rolled out. Again, we are planning for all
scenarios of education as needed. The most important thing to remember
is we want to retain all our students in the safest environment as
possible and provide quality instruction to every student. We are
hopeful that as much as possible this will be an in-person education.
The district has been discussing and preparing to order the necessary
personal protective equipment (PPE) for next year to allow us to keep
all students and staff safe. Furthermore, we have been looking at
ordering appropriate cleaning supplies and equipment as well as hand
sanitizer to maintain a clean learning environment in both our
buildings and on the buses. We also plan to work with the requirements
and recommendations of the Ohio Department of Education and the
state/local health departments for appropriate school symptom
monitoring, use of facial masks by staff and students, social
distancing, and hand washing.
With the end of the 19-20 school year being from remote learning it
became evident that it would be helpful to have a districtwide Learning
Management System (LMS). An LMS is a software application for the
administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, delivery of
educational courses, training programs, and is a concept that emerged
from e-Learning. If you have taken any course online, it was most
likely through an LMS, such as Canvas, Blackboard, or Schoology where
you communicate in an online environment.
Over the last several weeks, we have consulted with teachers and shared
demonstrations of a variety of LMS providers, researched districts, and
recommended the purchase and training to use Canvas. Canvas was most of
our teacher’s first choice and comes with strong recommendations from
Hilliard and Delaware City Schools, as well as the Ohio State
University, Miami University, Bowling Green State University, and the
University of Cincinnati. This will be a useful tool if we continue
with eLearning at any time and also in the classroom. The Board
approved this purchase from grant funds and also included up to 6 hours
of training for each teacher in the district.
As we transition and train staff, students, and parents to the Canvas
Learning Management System this should make remote learning more
consistent moving forward. We also plan to have students and staff
practice using this LMS even in their in-person instruction so it
becomes a seamless transition if remote learning becomes a necessity at
any time.
At the elementary K-4 level we continue to provide the summer Kids Read
Now program. I encourage our students to utilize this summer academic
reading program to stay sharp with their academic skills. I also
encourage parents to utilize the comprehension questions located in
each book to discuss the book and improve reading skills.
At the high school next year, we continue to implement the College
Credit Plus courses for the seventh year. We now offer CCP from several
colleges and universities including Edison State, Sinclair, and Wright
State. Many of our student continue to take advantage of the CCP
program. In fact, last year again we had three of our high school
graduates receive associate’s degrees at the same time as a high school
diploma.
Across the district, other curriculum plans included the purchase of
textbooks and supplemental material in the disciplines of foreign
language, business education, and health this summer. For the upcoming
school year, we will study and purchase math textbooks and supplemental
materials. We continue to incorporate a six-year cycle to upgrade our
curriculum material by content area. We also purchased several remote
access devices for usage with wireless access for our remote learning.
With our career tech programs, we will be adding a Project Life program
next year. This program is a career transitional program for students
with special needs. All of our career tech students are continuing to
take web exams in their fields with the opportunity to take work key
tests as well.
Summer school will again be offered at Greenville High School and the
Greenville Elementary School. The high school offers makeup courses
through the virtual academy. At the elementary, summer reading
intervention is available for students who are not reading on grade
level for the incoming 1st through 3rd grade students. Elementary
reading will be the weeks of August 3-August 26, 2020 and the
curriculum department will send letters to families to invite
identified students.
Permanent improvement and maintenance projects this summer include at
the high school LED lights energy project, cement sidewalk upgrade at
the south end of the stadium, and vaping restroom security devices
installed. At the K-8 complex we are adding our outdoor
softball/baseball fields. At Memorial Hall we have added an awning to
our outdoor handicap entrance and plan to add a security buzz in camera
at the same entrance in the future. We are also sealcoating and
striping the asphalt parking lot.
The district is also cleaning and varnishing the high school, middle
school, and elementary school gyms as well as doing various upgrading
to landscaping across the district.
A special thank you and congratulations to our five Class of 2020
Valedictorians that gave addresses at the Greenville High School’s One
Hundred and Forty Sixth Commencement. These students were Andrew
Bonfiglio, Amanda Chui, Joshua Galloway, Anthony Masso-Rivetti, and
Natalie Milligan. These student speeches were well presented at the May
30, 2020 virtual ceremony.
This fall on Election Day, our school district will have an operational
renewal levy on the ballot. This levy will have no new taxes but is
simply the renewal of an existing 5.50 mill tax levy that has been in
existence since 1996. Again, this renewal levy will appear on the
November 3, 2020 ballot as approved by the board of education and it
represents no new taxes, just a continuation for another five-year
cycle for what exists in our current operational cycle. This renewal
levy would also allow the homestead reduction factor to continue for
qualifying residents.
I am also pleased to announce that the district successfully refinanced
the bonds at the K-8 building and the high school renovation this past
year. In restructuring the financing at both buildings, the district
tax payers will save 18.35% over the life of the bonds. This is an
overall savings to the district tax payers on the K-8 building project
and high school renovation of $10,528,594.00 again over the life of the
bonds. Treasurer Jenna Jurosic and myself worked with Municipal
Advisors Bradley Payne Advisors, Bond Council Dinsmore and Shohl, and
Underwriter Stifel Nicolaus and Company on the resale of the bonds to
secure the savings on the recent building project. The district
continues to try to be ongoing fiscally responsible to the district tax
payers.
The close of the 2019-2020 school year will mark the retirement of some
of our employees. Staff members retiring at the end of the year include
Vicki Baker, Virginia Kagey, Tammie Riffle, and Mary Walling from the
K-8 building, Tanya Brand from the special services department, and
Tonya Wright from the food service manager position. We wish all our
retiring employees the very best in their future endeavors. Please join
me in thanking each of these retiring employees for their dedication to
Greenville City Schools and our students.
We wish all of our students an enjoyable and safe summer vacation full
of relaxing time with family and friends. The Superintendent and
Treasurer’s Offices are open all summer. As always, feel free to
contact me by phone at 937-548-3185 ext. 4010 or email at
dfries@gcswave.com with any questions you have about our district.
To all our students, parents, staff, and community members, stay safe
over the summer and enjoy your break. We look forward to working with
everyone again next fall. Greenville City Schools is a great place for
students to learn and teachers to teach. Go WAVE!
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