Talk with Tom on Thursday
For The Madison Press
The next “Talk with Tom” is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 21, at the Choctaw Lake Lodge, 2875 Oneida Drive.
The event is an opportunity to speak with London City Schools Superintendent Tom Ben.
It is open to the public. The superintendent invites anyone in the community to attend this monthly event to ask questions or to learn more about the district.
The only issue with reinstating bus service is the number of students using the bus. Before service was stopped for the high school students, the bus would be almost empty. If very few students are riding the bus, is it cost effective to bus the high school students? If bus service is reinstated, I think they should make route adjustments based on ridership.
how can London reinstate busing when they were soo broke? Were they hiding something or was it just scare tactics like the local government uses too?
Scare tactics of course. They will use them again when they put another levy on the ballot. Be prepared and do not listen to their empty threats. It is a horrible thing how they use these scare tactics with the students. NO on the levy!! It is obvious they have enough money now but didn’t then…. how odd.
First, there is no upcoming levy planned. And yes, the district was “so broke.” There were no scare tactics, just honest communication about the bad financial shape our district was in. How can they reinstate busing you ask? Through the very strict cuts enacted the past 2.5 years, in order to keep the school from financial ruin. The school district and former Superintendent cut high school busing along withover 30 teachers and aides, athletic coaching positions, several high school programs, the gifted program and many other items in order to get their finances in place. Another little known fact is that the teachers took a 3% pay cut in order to help our district financially. To my knowledge, they are the ONLY group of teachers in the state of Ohio that have done so. The new Treasurer has worked painstakingly to get the district back on track. The new Superintendent, Mr. Ben, has said that he feels very strongly that providing transportation to students is a basic necessity. It costs $55,000 to reinstate busing- so it seems a reasonable cost to pay to get students to school and relieve parents of that additional worry. Why are school districts struggling across the state? Governor Kasich has cut funding to schools drastically, believing that the local communities should shoulder more of the cost of running schools – which works fine when you live in a wealthier area such as Dublin or Upper Arlington. But when you live in an area such as London, it puts a burden on the local schools, and taxpayers, that is very difficult to bear. I have delved into the district finances and learned as much as possible about how our district is run. I am a parent, a volunteer and a taxpayer. When I go into the schools I see hard working, caring teachers and staff and a new Superintendent who cares deeply about kids and giving them the best possible learning environment. Under his guidance our schools are now rated Effective for 2011-2012, and the high school is rated Excellent for 2011-2012. And these ratings were attained with all these drastic cuts in place. I give great credit to our district staff and students for struggling through tough times, and for keeping focus on academics and not paying attention to negativity in our community. If you personally have ANY district financial questions, contact our treasurer, Kristin Blind, at 852-5700. She is very open and willing to talk to individuals. Before we criticize our district, we should take a moment to volunteer in the library, or as a crossing guard or simply read to the kids at the elementary. I volunteer. Do you? The London community can always support our schools with volunteerism if not with money. Thanks.
wonder what kind of lies he is going to tell this time or what topics he will refuse to address
I see that the information has been corrected now. Thanks!
Could someone please clarify when this event is actually taking place? The title of the article is “Talk with Tom on TUESDAY”. However, the content of the article states that the event will be on Thursday evening. Just checking.