Panorama Survey – You can OPT OUT

The District is administering the Panorama Survey starting this Wednesday May 3rd to grades 3-12.

You can Opt out your child for  the Social Emotional Learning survey.  Panorama is a company that sells surveys to schools.  Here is what the District says:

“Survey content

The survey asks your child to reflect on their own mindsets and approaches to learning by answering questions in the areas of self-management, social awareness, emotion regulation, supportive relationships, sense of belonging, and diversity and inclusion (grades 6-12 only). If a student doesn’t feel like they have enough information to answer a question, or doesn’t feel comfortable answering a question, they can skip the item altogether. You can preview the questions here.”

Please take time to preview the questions.

To OPT  Out your child, please contact your teacher in grades 3-5 and your child’s counselor in grades 6-12.

Here is information about Panorama:  Panorama Ed

Listen Learn Lead 2023

The School Board has announced two dates for Listen Learn Lead.  The format was successful last year, so the Board wants to again hear from the Community.  There are multiple opportunities on May 3rd and May 4th.  Check out the website for more details:  Listen Learn Lead

Wednesday, May 3
  • 10 a.m. at Mountview Church
  • 3:30 p.m. at Upper Arlington High School
  • 5:30 p.m. at Upper Arlington High School

Thursday, May 4

  • 10 a.m. at Mountview Church
  • 5 p.m. at Upper Arlington High School

New Administrative Hires

The new Superintendent, Dr. Robert Hunt, has hired two new individuals for UA.  Since Associate Superintendent Kathy Jenney is retiring and Associate Superintendent Andy Hatton is leaving to be Superintendent of Findlay Schools, Dr. Hunt has restructured the Administrative team.  There is now a Deputy Superintendent, a Director of Secondary Education and a Director of Primary Education.

The new Deputy Superintendent is Stephanie Siddens, PhD.  The Director of Secondary Education is Kristin Robbins, EdD.  The Director of Primary Education is Michelle Banks, currently the Interim Principal at Tremont.  For more information, click here:  New Administrators

 

March School Board Meeting

The March School Board meeting continued with questions about the Executive Director of DEI.  The School Board did not comment on his employment status.

Here is the link to the Board meeting itself.  March School Board Meeting

The speakers asking for Accountability and Trust as well as Truth can be found at these minutes:

1:02:46, 1:08:30, 1:13:18, 1:29:43, 1:36:38, 2:48:39

Speakers attacking other residents can be found at these minutes:

1:42:55, 1:48:03, 2:44:36

 

February School Board Meeting

The February School Board meeting had close to 200 people attend, and there were about 40 people who spoke.  The main topic was the DEI Executive Director’s video. It is great to see the passion of the UA community when it comes to our schools.  Thanks for coming if you were able to attend!

Below is the link to the video of the meeting if you would like to watch it.  One segment of the Community chose to wear red.  Their directed attacks of the evening were on long-time Community residents and school board members.  Unfortunately, many of these speakers, including a current UA city council member,  repeated the same lies in an apparent coordinated effort to deceive the public.  Public Participation starts at 41:13.

February 2023 School Board Meeting

If you want to listen to  those speaking to the Board about restoring Accountability, Trust and Respect for parents, here are the minutes of the meeting. Listen to them at:  41:13, 43:48, 1:06:43, 1:21:34, 1:33:54, 1:39:16, 1:48:43, 1:53:52, 1:58:56, 2:11:44, 2:49:35, 3:01:01, 3:06:24, 3:09:23

A few of the coordinated attacks and anti-Christian sentiment towards UA residents can be heard at these minutes:  49:21, 1:18:01, 2:20:34, 2:26:05, 2:36:55, 3:12:17

Meet the New Superintendent – Dr. Robert Hunt

Exciting news!  The UA School Board has announced the new Superintendent.

Dr. Robert Hunt, PhD has been named the Superintendent of UA Schools.  Dr. Hunt is coming from Illinois, but he is originally from Ohio.  He was the Superintendent of Chagrin Falls for nine years.

For more details please click here:   Superintendent Hunt

The District approved his contract at aSpecial Board Meeting on Monday January 30th.

Watch it here:  Board Meeting

CRT Video

An undercover video from Accuracy in Media (AIM) shows Matt Boaz, the Executive Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Upper Arlington Schools discussing how CRT is in the curriculum without parent knowledge.

Video

If you have a concern or questions, contact the Interim Superintendent, Kathy Jenney kjenney@uaschools.org and the School Board at boe@uaschools.org  Lori Trent, Nancy Drees, Lou Sauter, Jenny McKenna, and Nidhi Satiani

The Upper Arlington Education Coalition President was on Fox and Friends First and One America News to discuss the video and the broken trust between the District and the Community:  Fox News

OANN

 

The District Statement can be read here:  District Statement

 

Bathroom Updates – Board of Building Appeals Chastises the School District

BATHROOM UPDATE:   The UA School District won their case on Appeal.  The Appeals Court found that the Windermere family did not have standing, so the case was sent back to the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas and Judge Sheryl Munson.  Instead of ruling on the variance, Judge Munson remanded the case back to the Ohio Board of Building Appeals (OBBA) to vote for the Variance.  (The Ohio Board of Building of Appeals originally rejected the Variance requested by the UA schools back in June 2020.)

There was an OBBA hearing on April 26, 2022, and one of the Board members read a scathing statement about the UA School District and the City of UA Building Department.  You can watch the hearing at this link:

April 26th Hearing – Upper Arlington Bathroom Case

Paul Beegan, the Registered Architect on the OBBA Board, describes many points where he feels the Board and the Courts were misled by the UA School District.  In addition, he states that he will resign before he votes yes on the Variance.  After discussion, the OBBA Board continues the motion and tells the UA School District attorney to go back to Judge Munson and ask her to grant the variance.  Beegan is filing a complaint with  the Ohio School Board Association against the UA Board of Education, and he is filing a complaint against the UA City Building Department with the Ohio Board of Building Standards.  According to Beegan, the City of Upper Arlington did not have the power to use the court ruling on Windermere and apply it to the other elementary schools.

Click here to view some of the quotes from the Hearing:  OBBA Quotes

School Board Meetings

The  next few School Board meetings in 2023:

February 7th at 6 pm

March 7th at 6 pm

April 11th at 6 pm

Meetings are held at the Municipal Center in City Council Chambers.

For a list of all the dates click here:  School Board Meetings 2023

Why were Brave UAHS Students Scrubbed by 10tv?

In the last post, a link was inserted so you could hear their stories.  They told the truth about what they were encountering in the new high school.  10tv chose to remove the story completely from their website.  Why?

Who in the District has the power to remove a news story?  That is a question that needs to be asked of Channel 10 as well as the School district.

UAEC does have a print of the interview and you can read it here:

10tv Story

If you have a high school student, ask them what is happening.  Ask the District leaders and School Board why they are hiding information.

 

UAHS Students Speak Out

A Senior at UA attended the October School Board meeting to share details about what is happening at the new high school.  It took courage because this student is being disparaged on social media.  You can hear her comments at minute   1:52:36.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4fmPXQk7CY&t=6731s

ABC 6 did a story about it, and the School District stated only one student had complained about the bathroom situation.

https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/upper-arlington-senior-speaks-out-about-high-schools-gender-neutral-bathrooms

Channel 10TV reached out to the student and other UA high school students agreed to be interviewed to tell their experiences with the bathrooms.  These students were brave.  They were allowed to give their stories anonymously.  After the piece aired, it was only on the 10TV website for less than 24 hours. Channel 10 removed the story even though included both sides of the story.  The District was quoted extensively.  Fortunately, another website has the piece and you can view it here.  This link is now not working.  Hopefully we can get access to it soon.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/upper-arlington-students-say-new-gender-neutral-bathrooms-are-a-major-concern/ar-AAPOuTR

Administration Costs Soar

From 2014-2021, while the UA Schools Administrative Team expanded and overhead soared, the learning of UA students decreased dramatically. Our Superintendent and School Board put the emphasis on administrators.

In 2013, Upper Arlington had one Associate Superintendent.  Now there are 3 positions at that level.  The DEI Executive Director reports directly to the Superintendent and is on the same level as the Assoc. Superintendents on the Organizational Chart.  In addition, Administrative Assistants have been hired for each of those positions. At the same time, rankings have plummeted.

Click here or on the  “Fiscal Responsibility” Tab above for more information.

Upper Arlington City Schools 2014 2019 Increase/Decrease
Number of Students 5540 5889 6%
Number of Administrators 26 39 50%
Associate Superintendents/Exec Director 1 3  (2020) 200%↑
Total Admin Salaries 2,630,265 3,904,114 48%↑
Ohio Dept Education
Performance Ranking #26 #67 41↓

Mask Exemptions

Masks are required from in all grades.

There are Mask Exemptions.  If your family wants to apply for a Mask Exemption, please click on the link for directions and the reasons for an exemption:   Mask Exemption Form

Any questions?  Read the District’s COVID-19 Information page: Covid Information

New Rankings Page

In 2019, Upper Arlington Schools were ranked 67th in the Ohio Performance Index.  UAEC has new spreadsheets comparing UA to other Districts around the State.  Click on the page Rankings by State of Ohio under the UA Rankings tab above for detailed information.

Did you know the Gifted Program in UA is ranked  156th?  Gifted Ranking

Did you know that Wickliffe is ranked 1,771 (out of 3,316) in elementary schools in the state?  Windermere is 22nd.  Building Rankings

Compare Expenditures by District as it relates to rankings.

Check out other Top District Comparisons

 

UAHS Rankings – Falling numbers

The US News and World Report  has posted their high school rankings for Ohio.  UAHS had dropped to 36th.

Previous rankings from US News and World Report:   #14 – 2019   #27 – 2020

To look at UA’s rankings from the State and other organizations, please check out the menu link above:  UA Rankings

As the rankings have plummeted, the Strategic Plan of the UA School District has moved from an Academic focus to a  Well-Being, Social and Emotional Learning and DEI.  Click here to see the 2015-2018 & 2019-2024 Strategic Plans and the UA Quality Profile Comparisons.

The State of Ohio Performance Index Ranking:  UA Schools dropped from  26 in 2015 to  65th – 2018.

PETITION for Common Sense Bathrooms

Please support a CHOICE for the bathrooms!  Sign the Petition.

Petition for Choice

735 Signatures – Thank you!

For Kids. For Inclusion. For Common Sense.

School Board Suing the City Again?

Is the School District planning to sue the City again over the Bathrooms?

The City Building Dept. sent the School District a UA City Inspection Notice with the list of items to be corrected for all the new schools.  Each school must “Install signage to approved plans.”  The approved plans include Common Sense bathrooms where all children have a choice.  (See the letter “UA City Inspection Notice to Schools”  to the left under Restroom Court Cases for the details.)

The District responded through their Architect and have updated the Plans to make bathrooms in the Academic Wings ONLY Gender Neutral.  In this letter, the District is now using Title IX, a Federal Law to defend the change.  Read the letter here:  Architect Response Letter

Is the District going to now sue the City in Federal Court?  Check out this page School Board Suing City Again on the menu above  for more details. Or click this link:  Another lawsuit against the City?

The questions are:  Did the School Board discuss this in a Public meeting?  How much more money is the District planning to spend?

Superintendent Imhoff and the AASA

Check out our new Page on the menu above: AASA

Superintendent Imhoff is the current President-Elect 2020-21 of The School Superintendents Association (AASA).

There are articles and videos of Imhoff on their website, and these links are provided on the AASA page.

Please watch Leader to Leader: Promoting Equity and Inclusion to see how Imhoff describes Upper Arlington to a national audience.   His ten minute talk starts at minute 21:00. Is this an accurate portrayal of Upper Arlington?

These articles and videos give the Community a glimpse into the current leadership of the School District.

CHOICE for Common Sense Restrooms

The UA School District decided to try and change the Ohio Building Code and install ONLY Gender Neutral Bathrooms in new and renovated schools.

In the menu above, click on the Restrooms Information tab for all the details.

As a group we advocate giving all of our children a CHOICE.  They should be able to choose a Gender Neutral Bathroom, a Boy Bathroom or a Girl Bathroom.  Adults should not be choosing where a child goes to the restroom!

We expect the School Board and the Superintendent to spend money on educating our children.  We expect transparency and integrity.

SIGN THE PETITION: Petition

For Kids. For Inclusion. For Common Sense.

Learn why the 5 Day Lawsuit still being pursued

The UAEC advocates for children to have the option to be in school 5 days a week. The District offers the Online Academy for those families needing their children to stay at home.

Did you know the UA School Board’s main argument in the Case was that the Ohio Constitution does not create a fundamental right to a basic minimum education?  A judge agreed.  The families are appealing the decision because they believe Ohio do have a fundamental right to an education.

To learn more about the Court Case, please click on this page: 5 Days a Week Court Case