Nine students have been named National Merit semifinalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation...
National Merit Recognition
Nine students have been named National Merit semifinalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The students are Robert (Trey) Brosnan; Matthew Daniels, who also scored a perfect score on the ACT; Rose Hoelzel; Alexandra Holtz; Anne Mills; Azzurra (Wren) Opperman; Josh Rooney; Hansen Song and Jude Zimmerman.
There are approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically-talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $30 million that will be offered next spring.
To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.
Treasurer’s Department Recognized
Chagrin Falls Schools Treasurer’s Department received the “Highest Achievement in Open and Transparent Government Award” from Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber. The district is in the top 14 percent of all governmental entities they audited for transparency.
In March of 2019, Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber announced his plan to create a program that would encourage public entities to be more open and transparent. Previously, while serving as Ohio Senate president, Auditor Faber worked with the Court of Claims to establish an independent and affordable process for citizens to have their public records complaints heard and determined. To build upon the success achieved with the public record mediation program and further promote more open and transparent government operations, the “StaRS” public records system was launched in November of 2019. The stars ratings were created to acknowledge the accomplishments of those that were meeting Ohio’s public record and open meetings laws, and also to recognize those public bodies that were exceeding those legal standards by implementing a number of identified best practices.
Since initiation, 4,181 entities have been audited for public records compliance. More than 59 percent have achieved compliance meaning they have received, at minimum, a single star rating for meeting Ohio’s public record laws. This includes 559 local governments, schools, first-responder agencies, and other public bodies that have achieved a four star rating – the highest honor.
