Chardon Schools Assistant Superintendent Ed Klein recapped the district’s 2024 state report card Oct. 21 and highlighted district-wide increases in early literacy, future readiness and student achievement over the past year.
Chardon Schools Assistant Superintendent Ed Klein recapped the district’s 2024 state report card Oct. 21 and highlighted district-wide increases in early literacy, future readiness and student achievement over the past year.
While 80% of Ohio districts’ performance indexes decreased since 2018/2019, Chardon’s increased, making them among the top 8% of schools in Ohio, Klein said during the Chardon Schools Board of Education’s regular meeting.
“We’ve returned to what we expected pre-COVID,” Klein said.
On last year’s report card, the literacy component received three stars, which is “meeting expectations.” This year’s five stars are “exceeding expectations,” he said.
Klein said the increases could be due to the $1.4 million grant the city received in 2023 dedicated to the science of reading and literacy. The district has also continued to utilize the Local Literacy Plan committee to help continue growth in literacy.
The Ohio Department of Education is showing these same trends in school districts across the state.
While these increases are happening, the ODE said improvements still need to be made and Klein agreed.
Superintendent Michael Hanlon noted another district trend — enrollment rates have been going down among all grades and will continue to decrease.
When board members asked for more information, Hanlon said this is not a new issue nor an issue unique to Chardon, but rather a state-wide trend due to a number of factors.
He said new schools and facilities could be a factor in attracting more families to the community.
Park Elementary School Principal Jill Makee also gave an update on the results of a schedule change involving the school sending students to recess prior to lunch.
“We are seeing our students eat more of their lunches, we are seeing improved behavior and increased focus and a lot less visits to the nurse, believe it or not,” Makee said.
Board member Karen Blankenship asked Makee who came up with the idea. Makee said they used a similar model when she worked in Wickliffe where she was a teacher and assistant principal.
Board member James Midyette, student and staff liaison, said four teachers from Chardon Middle School earned the Thomas Edison Award from the Ohio Academy of Science. Only 40 Ohio Schools received the award.
In other school business, the board approved the 2024-2025 school calendar, a fifth-grade overnight field trip to Camp Whitewood and an agreement to accept Mastercard, Visa and Discover payments at schools.
The board also approved selling properties owned by the district that are no longer needed.
“We need the properties that we have,” Hanlon said.
