The London City School District met in a regular session on Tuesday, September 12th, 2023. The meeting was called to order by Board President, Mr. Donovan Cooper, with all members present. Early in the meeting, the Board recognized London High School Freshman Julia Mullins and LHS science teacher Heather Golde, who were selected as the district’s JASON Argonauts for the 2022-2023 school year. Both Mullins and Golde provided a short presentation to the Board on their experiences on a science expedition to Maine’s Arcadia National Park over the summer. You can learn more about their trip here.
During her Treasurer’s report, Ms. Blind indicated that the district’s finances would not see large variances this early in the fiscal year. The Board also approved several routine recommendations including increasing the Board's annual contribution to employee HSA accounts by $500 for single plans and $1,000 for family plans.
During Dr. Kramer’s Superintendent Report, updates were given for the district’s priority areas, which include raising student achievement, promoting a positive school climate, safety and security, and planning for growth. He shared that the district’s state report card will be released later this week. The report card continues to demonstrate overall improvement with areas that remain a concern. Of particular note, the district has improved its graduation rate by 2% over the last two years and its performance index, which measures the achievement of every student on every state test, by over 12% during the same time frame. While the district needs to improve early literacy and other areas of the report card, the largest challenge for LCS is attendance. Since COVID, the number of students classified as “chronically absent” has risen over 10%. For London, this means over 29% of our students miss no less than 18 days of school per year. Kramer shared that leadership is in the process of updating the district’s Strategic Plan with this information and will provide an update to the Board in October. In regards to safety, Kramer noted that a safety meeting was held on August 21st, threat assessments were conducted in each building at the start of the year, and the district’s new security system is up and running. From a facilities standpoint, the field turf project is expected to be completed by next month, and the Facilities and Finance Committee is currently discussing other projects. Finally, Kramer shared that he has received a positive response from staff to be a part of our collective, Shared Solutions Committees.
During the governance and business portion of the Superintendent’s report, the Board approved a number of revised policies from the spring update. Routine business recommendations included approving annual trips for London Middle School students to Camp Nuhop (April 3rd - 5th) and Washington D.C. (May 14th - May 17th). In addition, the Board approved with thanks several District Support Organizations (i.e. Booster Clubs and PTOs). The Board also approved two Memorandums of Understanding with the classified association regarding working conditions. Finally, the Board approved a partnership agreement with Chrysalis Health Ohio to provide mental health services to students at no cost to the district. You can learn more about that partnership here. During the personnel portion of the Superintendent’s report, the Board acted to employ 1 classified employee, while accepting a resignation from 1 classified employee. Other routine personnel matters were also approved.
The next meeting of the Board of Education is scheduled for Tuesday, October 10, 2023. The meeting will be held in the College and Career Readiness Center of London High School and begin at 6:30 pm. The minutes of each meeting are approved the following month and then posted here.