VIEWPOINT / Jessica Alldredge / Newbury Township
Beware of Deception
Newbury and West Geauga residents beware, we have all been deceived.
I believe we all have the right to know how the West Geauga school district has been misleading. Back in March and April there was a lot of discussion at the board meetings and in the papers regarding open enrollment. Someone said at a board meeting that the district receives approximately $800 from the state per child to educate. After this board meeting, the paper spoke to Ms. Karen Penlar, West Geauga treasurer. Ms. Penlar stated that she was unaware where the speaker got that information as the Newbury school district gets $5,840 from the state and spends $6,020 if a child open enrolls to another district, making it seem that the Newbury would only be losing $180 for the child to open enroll.
After seeing this article, I sent Ms. Penlar and email asking her to break down the $5,840 figure, as it was far different than what our school treasurer tells us. Her response to me was that she has no idea where the paper got that number and that I should believe our treasurer. I then public requested her email to the paper. Guess what? The paper got that information from Ms. Penlar.
This has been the case all along; if they can push the buck on someone else, they will. The rolls these people play in educating our children and community is huge. It is sad that they don’t exhibit the honesty and integrity themselves that they claim to teach our children
After further investigation on my end, I have found that the state gives Newbury somewhere between $2,338 and $2,986 (according to the Newbury treasurer — two different people asked and they each got a different answer). They then pay out $6,020 to the open enrolled district, meaning Newbury is spending between $3,682 and $3,034 of taxpayer money to the open enrolled district.
All who were at the Jan. 14, 2019, Newbury board of education meeting, should remember our board president, Maggie Zock, letting the Newbury community know that NOW was the open enrollment time. She was encouraging people to open enroll and spend YOUR taxpayer dollars for THEIR children to be open enrolled.
At the West Geauga five-year forecast, it was talked about how they were going to be in the red after next school year. But because they passed their renewal AND will be receiving over $400,000 in open enrollment payments, much in part due to the Newbury Territory Transfer, they will be good. Over $300,000 of that figure is coming from Newbury. Because your board president, who took an oath to do what is right by the Newbury community, encouraged families to open enroll out of the district.
And if that wasn’t enough, she has chosen to open enroll her own two kids to West Geauga next year, taking $12,040 of your tax paying dollars to pay for it.
See anything wrong yet? I would be willing to bet she doesn’t pay $12,040 a year in taxes to the school per year.
Our same board president then chose to vote of the RIF-ing our teachers and staff because our enrollment has dropped. Well, that is because she has encouraged folks to open enroll out of our district. She has helped Newbury Local School District lose students (effect enrollment) and take Newbury taxpayers dollars to other districts (effecting our budget – and unlawful money grabbing for the West G district). Yet, she still sits as the Newbury board president.
If West Geauga and the Geauga County Educational Service Center vote ‘yes’ for this territory transfer, the referendum period will start soon. Please know that the referendum will allow this decision to go to the voters. This is not based on saving Newbury Schools as it stands today. This is to allow the voters voice to be heard. This decision will affect Newbury Township for the rest of our lives. What once held the first kindergarten class in all of Ohio. What is home to our Friday night lights, the spotlight of the community is the school and the students inside of it.
Without the support of the referendum, we risk losing all of this because a few people in each community voted for it. That doesn’t seem American to me. Does it to you?
Those of us who have decided to keep our children at Newbury next year, expect and will not tolerate having a district that is run half hazard because our board president doesn’t care about the children inside of it. Afterall, three of the five of them either never had children in the district or have removed them for either private schooling, or are using your taxpayer dollars to educate them elsewhere.
All of these prove to me and maybe some of you that there was and always has been another agenda for these folks. Educating our children wasn’t one of them; that’s what they took an oath to do.
