The name of the game was “progress” for Berkshire Schools as Superintendent John Stoddard rolled out the district's achievements during his “State of the School” address Oct. 14.
The name of the game was “progress” for Berkshire Schools as Superintendent John Stoddard rolled out the district’s achievements during his “State of the School” address Oct. 14.
During the Berkshire Schools Board of Education meeting in the high school auditorium at 14155 Claridon Troy Road, Stoddard began his presentation by celebrating all the district achieved during the 2023-2024 school year.
Specifically, he highlighted student achievement, a financial overview of the district, enrollment trends, programs and initiatives, and missions and future goals.
Under student achievement, the district achieved a four- out of five-star rating on its state report card, compared to its 3.5 rating from the previous year, Stoddard said, adding the district also saw improvements in the “progress” and “graduation rate” categories compared to the previous year.
Stoddard also pointed out the district’s “performance index” trends, from “advanced plus” to “limited.” This year’s score, which measures student’s academic achievement using each level of performance of Ohio’s state tests, was 85.9.
“The performance index accounts for the performance of every student,” Stoddard said. “Not just whether they scored ‘proficient,’ but from everyone who takes a test. Each test is assigned an achievement level. Based on the test scores, the higher the test score, the higher the achievement level.”
The index showed that, since 2020, the performance of students has increased from 67.1% to 85.9%.
“We have increasing achievement levels each year,” Stoddard said. “That’s always been our goal — to increase.”
Stoddard said he hopes to see a continual decrease in the “limited” scores and more students advance and score higher.
“We want to climb as high as we can climb,” Stoddard said. “But, we are apt to celebrate the accomplishments that we have achieved and the fact that, each year, we are increasing that progress a little at a time.”
Financial Snapshot
The district’s financial overview compared estimated numbers from May to the year-end actual numbers, showing the district’s beginning balance at $4,416,373.
Revenue went up slightly compared to the May estimate, showing $21,272,060 versus the May estimate of $21,210,166, according to Stoddard’s presentation.
Expenditures decreased, totaling $21,628,298. Annual surplus totaled $354,238. The total cash balance remaining for the district following the end of the year is $4,062,135, according to the presentation.
“The district financial overview was $87,199 less than anticipated because the carryovers were larger than expected,” Stoddard said. “There is a reason we get the Auditor of State Award every year. It’s because Beth (McCaffery), our treasurer, is in the top tier of all treasurers in the state of Ohio. She does a great job with this type of financial forecasting. What we do is sit down and find ways to reduce deficit spending as much as we can every year, whether that be cutting back on supplies or whatever we have to do to get there.”
Meanwhile, enrollment numbers have remained consistent with previous years, totaling 1,378 for the 2024-2025 school year. The district saw enrollment trends circling 1,329, 1,359, 1,397 and 1,362 for the previous four school years.
“When looking at our open enrollment numbers, we’ve been accepting fewer students over the last several years,” Stoddard said. “This year, the number has increased to 213. The reason being is, once we’re at capacity, we are going to accept fewer. Our enrollment is strong and we are the only district in the county with a positive trend line.”
Current Initiatives & Future Planning
Highlighting the clubs and initiatives the district has undergone, Stoddard talked about the Berkshire Early Childhood Center, which currently houses 32 students and consists of various programs, starting with “Cubs,” which focuses on the students who are “at the most risk.”
Those students will be served in-house, he said, adding the second program, “Explorers,” sees a mixture of students with special needs and regular education, where peers will serve as role models for those with special needs.
The final one, “Buddies,” is a regular preschool program, Stoddard said.
The center offers students additional programming, including “The Creative Curriculum for Preschool,” which aims to prepare students for success in school and life.
Additional programming is using “Footsteps 2 Brilliance,” which is a preschool-through-third-grade literacy course that utilizes mobile technology for academic success, the superintendent said.
To house these programs, Berkshire will soon begin construction on completing a pre-K building, which is scheduled to finish by early December.
“Our plan is to move the programs there during the Christmas break,” Stoddard said. “Eight classrooms, a reception area and two offices — it will house all our early childhood programming.”
Berkshire Elementary School was also recently honored with the PBIS Gold School from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, which recognizes tier systems of support, family and community engagement and a positive school climate, Stoddard said.
Berkshire Middle School and Berkshire High School also garnered the Ohio PBIS Bronze Award, he said.
When touching on stakeholder engagement, Stoddard referenced the district’s 2024-2027 strategic plan.
“We just finished it,” Stoddard said. “We want to give a big thank you to the people involved in the planning process. We had over 35 committee members, consisting of teachers, administrators, parents, community members, representatives from all five townships.”
With this new plan, Stoddard hopes for the district to honor its core values of “Character and Integrity,” “Community Relationships,” “Career Readiness,” “Trust,” “Excellence,” “Respect” and “Accountability.”
“These are the guiding principles that shape our behavior, decisions, actions,” Stoddard said. “They serve as a compass to help us determine right and wrong. Guiding us how to interact with others.”
