Thursday, February 28, 2013
The release of the state report cards was delayed for a state investigation into whether some districts manipulated attendance data.
It took a while to get the grades, but the official marks for Lakewood City Schools are in: Continuous Improvement. The news isn’t much of a surprise to school officials, after they received word in September about the district’s progress. The release of the report cards was delayed for a state investigation into whether some districts manipulated attendance data. The available information released last year included the percentage of students who scored proficient or higher on state tests and the graduation rates for the 2011-2012 school year report card. The new information shows the district's final grade at “continuous improvement" for the 2011-12 school year. In September, district officials said they expected to drop from the “…
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Lakewood School Board votes to send a 3.9-mill operating levy to the Cuyahoga County Auditor’s Office Jan. 27 deadline for the May 7 election.
The Lakewood Board of Education took its first official step toward placing a 3.9-mill operating levy before voters in May. It wasn’t much of a surprise to board members, who’ve known for a while about the district’s financial woes, stemming from cuts in state funding and dwindling property values. The board agreed to pass a measure on first reading to file paperwork with the Cuyahoga County Auditor’s Office by its Jan. 27 deadline for the May 7 election. Superintendent Jeff Patterson recently told Lakewood Patch that the levy would cost owners of a $100,000 home $10 per month. “We’re very strategic about the 3.9 mills because we want to make sure we’re financial able to do things we want to do and keep the excellent programs we have now…
Sunday, January 20, 2013
The Lakewood City Schools already have a number of the recommendations in place, but the district will continue to review its safety policy.
President Barack Obama presented a sweeping set of gun control recommendations on Wednesday, with many focused directly on increasing safety measures in schools. According to the Politics K-12 blog, the proposals signal a shift in federal priorities—the proposals ask for increases in school safety and mental health counseling funding, areas the administration has sought to cut in the budget in recent years. Check out the Politics K-12 post for a more in-depth look at the proposals, which includes creating model emergency response plans for institutions like schools and providing $50 million for training for professionals like social workers and counselors who plan to work with young adults. The full text of the plan can also be found on …
Friday, January 18, 2013
School board to review the proposal on Tuesday.
It won’t be a complete surprise to the Lakewood School Board that the administration is looking to put a 3.9-mill operating levy before voters on May 7. Board members have known for a while that some sort of financial assistance was needed to stop the bleeding from cuts in state funding and dwindling property values. The district made $4 million in cuts last year, however most of the layoffs were reversed in the fall. Superintendent Jeff Patterson is expected to formally introduce a measure to school board on Tuesday to place the operational levy on the ballot. He told Lakewood Patch on Thursday that the levy would cost owners of a $100,000 home $10 per month. “We’re very strategic about the 3.9 mills because we want to make sure we’re …
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
District officials highlight some successes and discuss some challenges at Monday’s school board meeting.
The state of Ohio’s report card is still unavailable, but the Lakewood School Board got a little more information Monday night than the preliminary data that was released last week. The final scores haven't been released yet. “There are some really good things that have come out,” said Superintendent Jeff Patterson. “Are there some concerns? Absolutely. We are going to continue to work on those things.” The district failed to meet state requirements in fifth-grade math and eighth-grade science, and saw a few other categories drop slightly. But, in most cases, student achievement was up across the board. Mark Gleichauf, the district’s director of teaching and learning, highlighted some of the successes and some of the challenges at the …
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
There are no overall ratings yet, but Lakewood parents, teachers and community members can take a look at how the district did on some of the important indicators like graduation rate and adequate yearly progress.
Traditional state report cards for local school districts have been delayed, but the Ohio Department of Education today released some preliminary data to give the public an idea of how their local school district performed last year. The information does not include an overall rating, such as “excellent” or “effective,” that the public is used to seeing. The state is investigating whether some districts manipulated attendance data and is holding off on releasing final report cards until that investigation is complete. The available information includes the percentage of students who scored proficient or higher on state tests and the graduation rates for the 2011-2012 school year report card. It also includes the value-added measure—which …
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Board of education votes to halt its earlier decision to close an elementary by the 2013-14 school year.
At the urging of Superintendent Jeff Patterson, the Lakewood School Board unanimously voted Monday to halt any school closings in the school district. The board also voted to immediately reverse the layoffs of 4.5 positions that were among the 26 slashed at the end of the last school year. In an effort to close an $8 million budget shortfall, the district had previously decided to shutter an elementary school in the city. However, new census data revealed a marked increase in the number of students entering the district. “There is every indication that trend will continue over the next several years,” Patterson said. According to the US Census, the number of children from birth to 5 years old has spiked in Lakewood. To highlight his point…
Thursday, September 13, 2012
The state Board of Education is holding off on the release of the report cards until an investigation is complete.
Looks as if we may wait a while to learn how Lakewood did on its state report card. The release of Ohio’s school report cards will continue to be delayed while the state auditor investigates whether some districts manipulated attendance data. The state Board of Education on Tuesday decided to release some of the information to the public around the end of September, Ohio Department of Education Associate Director of Communications John Charlton said in an email. The data will not include attendance rates, performance index or overall ratings, and the board has not set a date to release the full report cards at this time. That means that Lakewood parents won’t know if their local school is still rated as “Excellent,” “Effective” or the …
Monday, September 10, 2012
Use our free tools — like the calendar, announcements page and photo gallery — to interact with your school's community.
It's a new school year, and that means new class schedules, clubs and after-school sports practices. At Lakewood Patch, we know it's tough for parents to stay involved, juggling PTO news, soccer game photos and Destination Imagination awards. Let us help you. Take a tour of some of our features that can help you interact with your school community and have stress-free, happy school year. 1. Announcements | Did you know we have a free bulletin board for all your school announcements? Whether you're looking for volunteers for the latest PTO project or want to tell everyone about the debate team's latest win, we want you to post it here. Email Colin.McEwen@patch.com the link and she'll even feature it front-and-center on the Lakewood Patch …
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Check out our interactive database to see how students in Lakewood and other local districts performed on the last state report card.
As students get ready to head back to school, parents want to make sure the youngest learners are getting off to a good start. Check to see how well your child’s elementary school performed on the 2010-2011 state report card by searching the database above. All public schools in Patch districts below the middle school level have been included. For Lakewood City Schools, this includes Hayes, Harrison, Lincoln, Grant, Emerson, Roosevelt elementary schools. Parents should note that state testing begins at the 3rd grade level. For a look at the most recent literacy levels for kindergarten students in your district, check out this database. The database above includes each school’s overall ranking, the number of academic indicators—like 3rd …
The original Bill
12:40 pm on Thursday, February 28, 2013
This is not a recent development. I have lived in Lakewood for 25 years and this has been going on for as long as I have lived here. Lakewood has always been a community with affordable housing and good schools both of which are draws for immigrants. You seem to think this is a bad thing. At one time your ancestors were also immigrants. Unless you are descended from Native Americans. more ›