The future direction of Newbury Schools, faced with dwindling enrollment, will depend on who sits on the board of education after the Nov. 7 election.
The future direction of Newbury Schools, faced with dwindling enrollment, will depend on who sits on the board of education after the Nov. 7 election.
Six candidates, including two incumbents, are running for three seats. Half of them — Kimya Matthews, Terry Sedivy and Maggie Zock — are running as a slate with the backing of “It’s Time,” a citizens’ committee advocating consolidation with another district.
The other three candidates are incumbents Susan Arnold and Anne Kolenic, and newcomer Dean Mansfield. Both groups have issued campaign signs with three names.
The school district had a total enrollment of 379 students for the 2016-2017 school year, according to Ohio Department of Education records.
Susan G. Arnold
Arnold, 45, lives on King Arthur Court and works as a self-employed business owner.
She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication and marketing from the University of Pittsburgh. She currently serves as chairwoman of the Newbury Schools Board of Education.
Arnold seeks re-election because she believes there is more work to be done with the positive momentum already in place and moving forward. She wants to continue advancing and enhancing curriculum, determine the best use for the smaller building and make much-needed repairs to the main building using wise financial planning and prioritizing of local funds.
Her priorities include maintaining the spending level by using shared services and applying for grants for staff development curriculum and cafeteria changes, implementing a community service requirement for graduation, improving classroom projectors, improving iSTEM program development and software, and establishing student internships and College Credit Plus.
Arnold listed her skills as her passion and commitment to education, four years’ experience dealing with levies, consolidation and curriculum, and her emphasis on saving costs by using shared services and grants.
“After decades of letting grant opportunities go by, the school leadership has taken initiative and received thousands of dollars in the last four years to creatively advance staff development, curriculum and even cafeteria changes,” Arnold said.
She would like to improve community relations and change the school perception in the community, as well as continue the momentum in student classroom modifications, which would include investing more in staff and curriculum development.
Arnold would like to see a closer relationship with the business community and older township population, with the use of programs, community service requirements, business roundtables and newsletters.
She said she is not opposed to merger/consolidation and has investigated the idea for several years, but she recognizes that at this point, moving the students will not save the taxpayers in the long term.
The planning process takes several steps and a great deal of time and discussion among the two districts’ board members, superintendents and treasurers.
Anne Kolenic
Kolenic, 47, of Sperry Road, is a clinical nurse specialist at the University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center. She has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Toledo Medical College of Ohio (1992), a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology degree from the University of Toledo (1992), a Master’s of Science in Nursing degree from Case Western Reserve University (2014) and is currently completing a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at CWRU, with anticipated graduation in spring of 2018.
Kolenic is running for election after being appointed to an unexpired school board term a year ago.
She said she is running for the position because she has gained invaluable experience in how school districts operate, the impact of legislation on education and the limitations state law can have on the advancement and future of a school district.
Her goals include building repairs such as windows, brick work, heating and cooling items and working with staff and administration to make the needed upgrades in the most cost-effective way.
In addition, the elementary building has space that can be re-purposed and updated to allow for future tenants, who can be a source of revenue to the district, she said.
Kolenic listed her skills as collaboration, strong communication and organization skills, passion for education, experience on the board as well as a professional nursing board, experience in education, commitment to quality education and the drive to develop new initiatives to keep the district moving forward.
She is in favor of using grants, partnerships and shared services to help decrease the tax burden, expand online learning opportunities to provide courses not offered in the classroom setting, and real-life learning such as senior projects and service requirements for graduation.
She is proud of the district’s ability to provide individualized attention, its academic excellence and its fiscal responsibility in the form of STEM grants and college Credit Plus. She would like to improve the community’s image of the school, communication with the public, and engagement between local businesses and the district.
“I also believe that the long standing mis-perception of what the school used to be and the reality of what it is today has led to a divide in our local community, which is a huge challenge for any district,” Kolenic said.
She is not opposed to consolidation/merger if it is in the best interest of the students and the community, but is opposed to territory transfer because the local community would have no say in the merger, in a decision between two boards of education.
“Our district has investigated merger/consolidation options in detail for years and I know that the processes have been different with each type looked into,” Kolenic said. “But they all involve cohesive teams to come together collectively to look at all options and how they impact students, staff and the taxpayer.”
Dean Mansfield
Mansfield did not return a candidate questionnaire.
Kimya Matthews
Matthews, 35, lives on Pekin Road. She is a realtor for Howard Hanna and a homemaker. She has a bachelor’s degree in international studies from The Ohio State University.
“I have been helping the district and following developments for four years,” Matthews said. “When the current BOE backed out of merger viability talks with three months left in the discovery phase, I became very concerned about their lack of foresight.
“As a proud alum, I was disheartened to see Newbury struggling to survive while other surrounding districts continue to thrive. This inspired me to run for BOE, to actively find a long-term solution that will benefit our kids and the community,” she said.
Her top priority is to finish the abandoned merger viability studies, reaching out to districts, east and west, and get the community’s input on the process. She also plans to bring the current district accounting practices into state compliance.
Matthews plans to lobby at the state and federal levels to bring the most possible advantages to the students and residents.
She believes because the district has a carryover surplus for next year, there is no reason to increase spending, which she said has not helped enrollment numbers, added AP courses or athletic offerings.
She prefers using a Responsive Classroom and a Montessori individualized approach to elementary classroom instruction rather than the current color behavioral scale, which she said is outdated.
She would like to improve communication with parents and the community, have more transparent handling of financials and stop the loss of students to open enrollment.
“Turning a blind eye is causing the district to lose students when there are so many school options in the area,” she said.
The district’s biggest challenge is declining enrollment and poor ratings on the state report cards. Districts must outshine the competition by overhauling the curriculum and improving test scores.
“We are a rural county and can offer unique learning experiences if we set aside district pride and work together to be the premier educational sector of the state,” Matthews said.
Terry Sedivy
Sedivy, 67, lives on King Arthur Court and is semi-retired in protection services with the Cleveland Museum of Art.
He is a 1969 graduate of Newbury High School, has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hiram College (1974) and a master’s degree from Kaplan University (2011).
Sedivy said he is running because he believes with a school population below 400 students, it is time to make difficult decisions for the district’s future. The size of the district makes it financially and educationally untenable.
“The status quo is no longer a viable option,” Sedivy said.
He advocates re-opening consolidation talks with neighboring school districts, communicating the facts to the community through public forums and using community input to help in the decision-making process.
“When our size does not make it financially viable to offer programs, both academic and sports-related, as well as continuing to put money into a 90-year-old outdated facility, we are doing a grave disservice to the students as well as the Newbury taxpayers,” Sedivy said.
Sedivy is a lifelong resident of Newbury, alumnus of Newbury Schools and served as a Newbury board of education member and president. He is currently a board member of the Auburn Career Center and a former president of the Geauga Lyric Theater Guild. He has been a substitute teacher in the Newbury school district and a tutor for Geauga Family Services. He has served as youth group advisor for many years at Newbury United Community Church and has been a big brother for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization.
“The community has always been proud and supportive of the school to the point of paying more per student than any other district in the county,” Sedivy said.
He said he believes consolidation/merger is the only cost- effective way to continue providing educational opportunities to Newbury students.
“With a student body of approximately 300 students and well over 100 possible Newbury students attending neighboring districts, I do not think that we have a choice other than consolidation/merger,” he said.
Maggie Zock
Zock, 34, lives on Pekin Road and works for Geauga County Job and Family Services. She is a Newbury High School graduate and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in conflict management from Kent State University.
She is a sixth-generation township resident, volunteer on the school levy campaign and has a child in the school.
“I know now more than ever that our district needs a new direction and vision to protect our children from losing opportunities and provide them with a quality education while having a responsibility to all community members,” Zock said.
She wants to see an in-depth look at the financial health of the district and is concerned about what she calls an exorbitant excess of funds in a declining enrollment and a failing state report card.
She praises the district for its individualized instruction, qualified and compassionate teaching staff and school pride, but wants to see improvement in communication with the community, better management of funds and an increase in AP course offerings.
“It’s hard to digest the idea of Newbury Schools merging or consolidating with any district,” Zock said. “I am empathetic to those who are concerned or even fearful. The question is, ‘What does Newbury Schools look like if we don’t finish merger investigations and restore faith with our residents?’ My biggest concern is if we remain a single district that is not supported by the community, we put the children in peril when levies are not passed and an already-slim course offering and education are further limited.
“With low enrollment, we need to make sure we are responsible and diligent in putting the children first, not the school identity first. We should finish the viability studies. There is much work to be done,” Zock said.
