The City of UA has a Diversion Program for juveniles.  If they have a traffic ticket or have a minor criminal offense, the City has a Diversion Program.  Students can attend classes and perform Community service in order to not have the ticket or offense on their records.  The students must meet with the Probation officer periodically.

UA Schools has allowed the Probation officer a room at lunch time on Fridays so the students can meet with him.  It frees up their time.  The schools have allowed this for 13 years.  Board member Satiani wrote to the City Attorney, Darren Shulman, to have the language of the Memorandum changed.

When is it appropriate for a School Board member to dictate the title of a City employee or the language of a City Program?  In addition, Satiani admits that another UA resident is guiding her through her push to change the City’s program.

Please read the attached string of emails to learn more: Board Member Satiani & City Attorney Shulman Emails

Here is the Memorandum of Understanding for Creating a Collaborative Partnership

Three City Council Members, Michaela Burriss, Ukeme Jeter, and Kathy Adams made strong accusations about School Board members after the June 13th Board meeting.

You can read their emails and the response of the Board here:

School Board emails by Burriss, Jeter & Adams

Here is the link to the June Board Meeting:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_Y-8Rez56I 

There is a brief discussion of the Bathroom history at mark 1:10:51 and then the Board discussion begins at 1:51:33.

To learn about what is expected at Board meetings, please see the expected School Board Norms and Protocols at this link:  Norms and Protocols

Welcome back to school!  Please remember to drive carefully as UA kids head back to school Wednesday August 16th.

The Board had a lengthy discussion about the Restroom Resolution during the June 9, 2023 Board Meeting.  Kathy Jenney gives a brief description/history at the 1:10:51 minute.

The Board discussion of the Bathroom Resolution begins at 1:51:33.  It is worth listening to the views of all the Board members. It was an unusual discussion as one Board member did not follow Board protocol or norms.  Board member Drees did a good job explaining Board protocol at 2:00:11, but her microphone is not working properly.  We are trying to get a written statement.

In the end, the new Resolution passed 4-1. Board Resolution

It is a win for students. All students in the elementary schools have a choice of which bathrooms to use.  The District will not make all of Windermere bathrooms Gender Neutral. The District will not be spending money or time going to court to change Ohio Building Code.  This vote allows the new Superintendent to focus on Academics.

During the June 9, 2023 Board Meeting

Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI) is discussed at minute 49:40.

The Board approved the Resignation of Matt Boaz, the Executive Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.  However, the Resignation does not occur until October.  Mr. Boaz is currently working from home.  He will be expected to work with the new DEI firm until October.

The District is in the process of hiring a DEI company to analyze Upper Arlington Schools.  The company chosen, Insight Education Group, (IEG) believes systemic racism exists, and that is their starting point. It is to be a one year contract costing about $110,000. The Board was not presented the contract at the meeting.  It has not been voted on yet.

If the contract is approved, there will be a formal “needs assessment.”  There was mention of surveys and “Community Outreach.”   One of the statements made about the data said IEG  will track students and “how their success can vary depending on a student’s race, their language, income, zoning, mobility, ability and other different areas.”  

Several questions need to be answered if the schools utilize Insight Education Group.  Is the Mission of the Schools to “educate” the community?   Where will IEG be gathering personal information on students and families?  What access will IEG have to students?  Can parents opt out?  Contact the Board of Education if you have questions:  boe@uaschools.org

During the May 11, 2021 School Board meeting, the School Board passed a Resolution explaining that they needed to follow Building Code in order to get Permanent Building Occupancy for their new Elementary Schools.   A part of the Resolution stated that the Superintendent was to immediately change Windermere to only All Gender bathrooms if they won their case on Appeal.  In addition, the Superintendent was to go to Court to sue the City of UA to apply only All Gender bathrooms in all UA elementary buildings.

The District won on Appeal.  However, the Board decided in the fall of 2022 to halt any of these changes and let the students have a year without change after the pandemic.  The District leadership is now asking to update the Resolution to keep the bathrooms as they are currently:  Gender specific and Gender Neutral.  This allows the new Superintendent and the District to focus the finances on Academics rather than legal fees.  It allows Dr. Hunt to focus his time on the schools and not the Courts.

Click here to read the full Resolution from 2021.  Item 3 is the portion to be updated: Resolution May 11, 2021

Click here to read the Resolution that will be voted on at the June 13th meeting:   Resolution June 13, 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

• 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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.