TALO Talk!
MADISON-PLAINS LOCAL SCHOOLS	N ISSUE NO. 8/Spring 2017-18

MPHS seeks extra credential

Madison-Plains High School awaits a final report to determine if the school meets the policies and procedures of an independent national accreditation organization — a voluntaryrequestthatunderscoresthe school’s commitment to work above and beyond Ohio’s requirements of all schools in the state to demonstrate school improvement initiatives.

The visiting AdvancED teamvisited classrooms; interviewed students, parents, teachers, and administrators; closely examined MPHS’programs; and reviewed the of the building’s leadership, learning and resource capacities.

Areas for improvement will be outlined when the final report is released, helping to
identify strategic plans to put in place.

Math camps sums it all up!

Almost 150 students from grades spent the afternoon deciphering

3-6 participated in the district’s	angles, playingGeometry

Highlights from the feedback showed:	first-ever“GeometryQuest”	Twister,contributingtothe

·	The facility provides a safe and clean environment for learning.
·	The school offers multiple extra-curricular and co-curricular activities.
·	The facility has a range of technology availabletostudents.
·	The students respect their teachers.

after-school math camp. Interactive stations set up throughout the gymnasium allowed groups of “Explorers” to discover geometry concepts in a
fast-pacedenvironment.They

GeoCity Tangram Mural and creating art with the Geometric Mandala Spinner, while “playing” a number of other fun (and educational) games. See more on
our Facebook page.

Tolearnmore,gotowww.advanc-ed.org.

Income tax would create diverse base

May 8 is set to be a big day for Madison-Plains Schools.

Voters will head to the polls to determine the fate of a 1.25 percent earned income
tax, and the ﬁnancial future of the district.

Community forum praised by local safety ofﬁcials

Local law enforcement, health and safety official applauded Madison-Plains for its first-ever community meeting about student safety and wellness.

Madison County Sheriff Jim Sabin, one of the featured speakers during
the open session, said parents and

The tax would generate roughly $1.98 million annually and keep the district financially sound for at least five years. M-P has operated with the same local income since May 2005 — 13 years — while state contributions have declined.

The Board placed the tax on the ballot based on feedback from residents. It will diversify local funding and help alleviate the burden on property owners. Collection would begin in January 2019.

The district has consistently reduced spending in the past decade, and in is the midst of considering a plan that would further reduce annual spending for the 2018-19 school year. Proposals have included pay freezes, eliminating staff positions and implementing a pay-to-participate program. See story to the
right for more details.

guardians are rightfully curious about safety in schools.

“This is an ever-changing world and country. County meetings like this are extremely important,” he said. “Madison-Plains is the only [district] that I know of [in this area] that has had this type of forum. We all need to work together to make sure our schools are safe for everyone.”

Others who participated were: County Fire Chief Brian Bennington, Dr. Greta Mayer, CEO of the Mental Health & Recovery Board of Clark, Greene and Madison counties, Kathy Limes from Madison County Family and Children First Council and Katie
Consolo from Mental Health

Services for Clark and Madison Counties, Inc.

Each participant shared details about crisis response and resources available to families and children.While all agreed it is hard to predict when and why an emergency will occur, they all pledged support to the district.

“No one agency or jurisdiction is in charge of solving the problem,” Mayer said.

“We are right down the road and we are going to be here rapidly,”
Bennington said.

An earned income tax does not impact:

·	Retirement income

Cuts in motion for 2018-19

·	Social Security

·	Unemployment benefits

·	Disability and survivor benefits ·	Welfare benefits
·	Child support

·	Interest, dividends and capital gains

The Madison-Plains Board of Education is reviewing plans to reduce its annual spending plan. The cost-savings measures could be a combination of eliminated positions and a decrease in funding of a number of programs.

A chart detailing the changes for the 2018-19 school year is available on the

district’s website, both on the home and Treasurer’s pages. The Board has

Further cuts will be implemented in the 2018-19 school year if the May initiative doesn’t pass. State of Ohio law prohibits a school district from operating in a deficit.

The district will have a negative general fund balance -- even with the recent $951,147 in cuts -- beginning in 2020 if the ballot issue in May is not approved.

Madison-Plains is the only school district in the county without an income tax. It has, and will continue to have with the passage of the ballot issue, the lowest
effective tax rate in Madison County.

been deliberating in open sessions for the past few months.

Proposals have included cutting staff positions, eliminating of step and base increases, decreasing in Board contribution toward student fees, loss of tuition reimbursement for staff, and reducing professional services and curriculum resources.

The Board has also considered implementing participation fees for athletics and marching band that would require families to pay $100 per sport/ activity per child, per season. That proposal includes a $200 cap per season, so a family with children involved in a number of activities would pay a maximum of $600 per year. Members have also proposed a decrease in the Board’s contribution for student fees by $25 per student, forcing a change from an annual charge of $45 to $70 per child.

Stay tuned to www.mplsd.org and our Facebook page for the latest updates.

Page 2

HEADLINE

AUCTION SETS RECORD The 71st Madison-Plains Scholastic

Booster Auction raised an all-time high with more than $20,000 to fund scholarships for the Class
of 2018 who will continue their schooling. The event, always held the ﬁrst weekend in March, featured live auctioneers, a silent
auction and retired teacher Linville Herald’s famous chili. Students donned black and white attire (another tradition) and served a lunch that was made with donated items. The auctioning of a cake from alumnae Victoria Vallery’s Farmhouse Bakery in memory of alumnae Brandy (Ernst) Keller was an exciting new feature of the annual event. Special thanks to teachers Tobi Briggs, Michelle Sulfridge, David Emmons, Carter Wroda and Ashley Woodard for their efforts.

FEEDING THOSE IN NEED Special thanks to Sufﬁcient Grace, a non-for-proﬁt that assembles after-school food bags for children in Madison, Union and Clark

counties, for helping feed students in our district. The organization will have served nearly 120,000 meals by the end of this school year; 139 of the 496 recipients are from Madison-Plains Schools. Each school year,
5,500 volunteer hours and support are needed to ensure food is stocked, packaged and delivered each week for distribution at the end of the school day for a snack and dinner. Tonya Coburn, Marcy Hawkins and Jennifer English have been instrumental in supporting the initiative. To volunteer or make a donation, go to www.sufﬁcientgrace2012.org.

KUDOS AT M-P ELEMENTARY

ALUM EARN TOP DEGREES Colleen Finney and Dillan Rice, 2017 graduates, received their FFA American Degrees. Colleen is

the daughter of Mitch and Christina Finney and attends Kent State University as a broadcast journalism major. Dillan is the son of Scott Rice and Stacie Stone. He graduated from
Ohio Fire Academy and will attend EMT/ paramedic school in May. The American FFA Degree is the highest degree the National FFA Organization can bestow upon an FFA member. It is awarded to members who have demonstrated the highest level of commitment to FFA and made significant accomplishments in their supervised agricultural experiences (SAEs). Less than
1 percent of FFA members earn the American FFA Degree.

STUDENTS 🖤 MPHS

Students Ashley Grifﬁth. Martina Miller and Rachel Weis wrote newsletter articles about their thoughts, perceptions and what Madison-
Plains has meant to them during their journeys through school, sharing their love for MPHS. “With our school being as small as it is, it helps increase the one-on-one learning between the students and
teachers,” Grifﬁth said. “The teachers at Madison Plains care about each student and develop a stronger idea about whom they are working with and how to speciﬁcally help individual students.” Jump over to our website to read the pieces in full. They are posted
at www.mplsd.org/MyMP.

·	Carmelina Larke was named teacher of the month by Sunny 95 and treated her class to a pizza party sponsored by JETs.
·	The 5th grade students graduated from DARE with fourTOPGUNwinners:AvaGladney,LexiDoughty, Colton Willing and Kylie Puckett. The overall TOP GUN winner for DARE was: Abi Lindsey.
·	“Destination Imagination” was the theme of Right to Read Week featuring a writing contest and an art project for which each homeroom was given a letter to spell out the quote “Everything You Can Imagine Is Real.” The work in on display in the school. Columbus Children's Theater gave two performances at the end of the week for the elementary and intermediate.

GRADE 8 CHECKMATES

Twoeighth-gradestudentstook firstplaceandrunner-upinthe combined Junior High and High School Chess Club tournament this spring. Returning Champion Andrew Geyer (right), took the runner-up position and Logan Johnson placed first.

Page 3

End of year brings my ﬁnal goodbye

Tim Dettwiller Superintendent
It’s hard to say goodbye when you have
spent nearly a third of your career in one place, but it is time.
I’ve twice served Madison-Plains Local Schools for a combined period of almost 10 years.
I’m leaving the superintendency in July, a position I have held since August 2014. I was the treasurer and CFO from 2010-14 and once before from 2000-01.
The district has made significant strides during my tenure and I thank my colleagues for that, but it is time for a change: for me and the district.
While I officially retired in 2016 and was rehired to continue the
work, I look forward to retirement

in its truest sense now. Robin, my wife who is also departing Madison-Plains, and I look forward to spending time with our growing family. We have three adult children and just added our seventh grandchild this month to the brood.
I am eager to watch M-P continue to grow. We have worked hard to set rigorous goals for the district and staff and students have stepped up to meet this challenges.
Community support has been critical each step of the way, and I have forged strong relationships while here. The district’s next superintendent is fortunate to have involved parents and residents to continue the momentum.
The income tax on next month’s ballot will be critical to the district’s
continued success. We’ve curtailed

expenses in each of the past 10 years, this year not withstanding.
Just this week, the Board of Education voted to reduce annual spending by nearly $1 million. Yet, the district has not operated with new income in 13 years and has to identify a new source without further, more drastic cuts.
The 1.25 percent earned income tax will generate $1.98 million per year and keep the district stable for five years. The income tax also alleviates the sole burden on property owners and provides a more diverse source of income for the district.
Great things are on the horizon for M-P with your continued support. As I depart, I looked forward to watching you keep
things strong!