Lincoln Heights

The Atlantic published an article titled "What Happened to Lincoln Heights" that explores the loss of population, tax base, and hope of the Cincinnati suburb that I've come to know as I teach students from there.

The article is interesting enough, but there's so much more information and history along those lines in the book Fly in the Ointment: school segregation desegregation in the Ohio Valley. The book isn't perfectly written, but it was hugely informative for me in learning about the history of Lincoln Heights.

Eight months of thoughts

I've been living in the new Princeton High School (at 100 Viking Way, a far more poetic and inherently false address than the old 11080 Chester Rd), and I have a few thoughts.

The awesomeness of Kelsey Mitchell

So, just how awesome is Kelsey Mitchell?

As the Buckeyes season wrapped up with a round of 32 loss to North Carolina, Kelsey set the following records...

• With three three-point field goals, including a tying basket with 39 seconds remaining, Kelsey Mitchell set the all-time NCAA single-season record for three-point field goals made with 127. Lisa McMullen of Arkansas State (1990-91) and Sade Logan of Robert Morris (2007-08) previously held the record with 126.
• Mitchell made at least one three pointer in all 35 games this season, an NCAA record for consecutive games in a season with a three-point field goal.  
• Mitchell scored 873 points this season, which leads the country. That is also the second-most points ever scored by an NCAA Division I freshman in a season. She finished 25 points behind Tina Hutchinson of San Diego State, who scored 898 points during the 1983-84 season.
• Mitchell's 873 points scored is a Big Ten single-season record, previously set by Kelly Mazzante of Penn State (872) in 2001-02.

Memories for sale

Princeton High School (PHS) was built in the late 1950's seeing its first graduating class step from the doors in the spring of 1959.

In the fall of 2013, Princeton Community Middle School (PCMS) students walked into the newly-constructed 6-12 campus of both PCMS and PHS. The next fall, that of 2014, saw high school students start their new era in the new PHS at 100 Viking Way, across the street from the old school.

This spring will see the start of demolition of that old school. It will have survived nearly but not quite sixty years, seeing probably fifty-thousand students pass through its halls over the years.

And what's left is for sale via an online auction through the services of Penny Worley Auctioneers.

Here are some of the highlights as I skim through the pages. (All of these comments were made on a snow day last week, 2/18. Prices, at least, probably should be updated before posting.)

The two most valuable items are a pair of vending machines (178 and 179) . Currently going for $400 each. I had no idea that Princeton owned those. I assumed they were all leased or just put there for a cut of the profits.

The remaining contents of my classroom are up for purchase as lot 1855. If anybody's curious, I can sign anything in there to increase the value.

The auctioneers do have a sense of humor, or at least the person writing the descriptions does. Check out this lot (1323) of 'footballs (partially deflated-Patriots style)".

I can't remember whether I got a 'silver' Viking pin or not, but this lot of pins (1579) certainly seems like something we should have moved across the street with us.

Above the memorial pond - in a courtyard that our students weren't allowed to even see for the last five or so years of the school's existence but where thousands of students ate lunch over the decades and which had a plaque honoring our fallen Vikings like Kelly Freeman to whom the pond was once dedicated (I've no idea whether the pond was dedicated to someone who was forgotten before Kelly) - there once hung a Viking head medallion that was probably four or five feet in diameter. The medallion was taken down when the pond was being rehabbed a decade or so ago by Judy Maciolli (now Judy Kelly and teaching with us again). For a year or so the medallion sat and aged outside before I rolled it into my room where it sat for a while longer before I passed it along to our tech folks who rebuilt the sign and trimmed the head from the medallion. Lot 1153 is all that seems to have survived of that medallion. That makes me really sad, though I have to admit that I passed it along and didn't follow it enough to complain.

Lot 566 is the only one that really tempts me to dive into the bidding. That would look pretty sweet hanging in...on my...next to...

I have no idea where I would hang a four-foot Viking head that doesn't even follow the branding guidelines.

So, does anybody want to buy my memories?

Brilliant artwork from a branding rebel

I absolutely love the poster (probably just a digital poster, I guess) that somebody put together for the farewell event for Matthews Auditorium (Princeton's soon-to-be-demolished high school theater.)

Somebody really did a creative number on the Viking head that we use for our logo (and that the we pretty clearly stole from the Minnesota Vikings or a thousand other logo sources.)

With all that being said, I am a little curious as to how this fits into the Princeton branding guidelines that say "Do not distort the master brand logo" and 'Do not put the master brand logo in a box or any other shape" because this is clearly being promoted officially by the school.

Protecting the brand

   PCSD Official Branding Guidelines

So...

I remember back when I stepped into the PHS website management business a couple of years ago, I posted a couple of posts about what I saw to be the needs of PCSD in the digital realm - consistent branding, centralization of design, elimination of non- or quasi-official web presences (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc) - and before that, as the district was transitioning to SchoolWorld's web management and hosting, I asked about things like a standard font, a style guide for the website.

(There, I'm finished patting myself on the back and saying "I told you so." I promise not to do it again for the full duration of this post.)

This summer the Princeton City School District adopted branding guidelines that included print media guidelines (fonts, logos, letterheads, slogans) and digital media guidelines (fonts, logos, specific account names and access). I finally got around to reading the guidelines, and I thought I would offer up my thoughts...because...um...it's my blog, I guess.

• I appreciate the definition of the brand...celebrating diversity, pushing our students, joining the students & staff as 'learners.' I'll admit that I have no idea how this brand platform is reflected in the various choices made further along in the guidelines, but it's important to define who/what you are so that everything can come back to reflect that.
• I don't get the Modern Nostalgia thing, admittedly. History, Purpose, Identity, and Destiny, either.
• The Viking of choice - white horns, red back flap, grey band - is clearly the right choice. I miss the three-dimensional character and high-resolution nature of some of the Vikings, but the one they chose is a solid choice.
• I don't care for the "single color (all scarlet) to be used for athletic branding" option, and I'm not sure what 'athletic branding' really is. I assume that the four-color Viking will still be seen on athletic things like the gym floor.
• Interestingly, the floor in the auxiliary gym of the new high school has the grey-horned logo about twenty feet across on the floor. Maybe should have come up with this plan before painting the floor.
• Also interesting that the Viking is always straight level not tilted slightly upward. This isn't address anywhere in the branding brochure, but there are a lot of Princeton things where the Viking is at a tilt.
• The hat that I'm currently wearing (shown on the left) has the wrong logo in at least three ways: wrong horns, helmet band, back flap colors. It wasn't printed by Princeton but rather by a hat shop in Tri-County Mall back in the days before Princeton had a spirit shop in its most recent incarnation. The other hat I have was made by Princeton a few years back and is the right Viking.

•  The thoroughness of the logo presentation - on white background, on colored background - is appreciated.
• I'll miss the LHF Brewers Bold font in the Princeton City Schools logo. The Proxima Nova Condensed font is more contemporary but lacks elegance. I also don't like the kerning on the logo.
• The two-color oval is interesting. I can't see it large enough to see if the red fades to grey or if it changes immediately. It also seems to have a lot of white space between the central logo and the oval. Interesting choice to do that.
• The secondary logos - the crests - are very interesting. They're the only place with the Viking ship and the P encircled logos. They're also transparent which none of the other logos are. Again, an interesting choice to do that. It makes the logo as displayed in the center on that slide (the PCMS logo) very hard to read against the light grey portion of the photo background.
• I still find it hilarious that the Little Vikes logo, a pretty blatant copy of the old Cleveland State logo, is still around.
• I never knew there was an athletic hall of fame logo.
• I've always hated the flying "P" logo, and I'm happy to see it go. The Viking horn as the top of the P was interesting, but the P always looked squat and deformed to me. I'm sorry to see that the Princeton Education Foundation would still be using it.
• There's no definition of Princeton red or scarlet in a web color. It's R187 G0 B0, but no idea in hex what that is. I'm sure I can find out, but it's an oversight. Same with the gray.
• Why, my that's a lot of different, approved fonts. Why is Trajan Pro there?
• Interestingly, the font on the New Social Network Communication Plan slide isn't one of the approved fonts.
• Only having one Princeton FB page is going to get, I would think, crowded with too many individual school postings.
• The email signature is hilariously long, and I hate but understand the supposed need for the confidentiality notice. I doubt it would have much legal standing with the ease with which email is forwardable, but I understand it. I'm using it, though I've seen lots of modifications (color changes, font size changes) to other people's signatures at school. Interestingly, if I reply to someone, the signature is automatically included, but if they've used some font other than arial, my signature changes to their font. I don't know what's up with that.
• The 24/7 Princeton Pride slogan lives. It's fascinating to me that the 24/7 - which came from the football numbers of two players who died during their Princeton years - is still around and has morphed into something used all the time. 
• I'm sorry to see 'Go Vikes' not being acceptable anymore.
• The letterhead with the watermark Dream Achieve is actually kind of attractive. I like it and wonder when we'll get a chance to use it ourselves. I'm still using letterhead from a decade ago and just keep updating the principals' names.
• I wonder if the Gary Pack business cards were real creations or digital ones. I don't understand some of the letters there. T=telephone...M=??...W=email?...A=address
• I'm surprised that the city is listed on the business cards as Cincinnati instead of Sharonville where the central office actually is.
• Dr Pack is leaving us in a couple of weeks (but staying as a consultant for a year and a few months beyond that). I wonder if he has to turn in his business cards if they do exist in meatspace.
• I find the background of the sample brochure hard to read.

All in all, I'm thrilled this project has been put together. There are certainly creative choices I might have made differently, but I'm no graphic designer and am barely even an amateur one.

The sell is going to be, I'm afraid, tough. Teachers are fiercely independent, wanting to use their favorite little graphic, their favorite font, their favorite font color, their favorite colors. I wish the branding police a lot of luck, persistence, and patience, because they're going to need all three, I'm afraid.

Community Power Study

At least week's OEA (Ohio Education Association, doncha know) summer training, we went through an activity in which we tried to map out some basic knowledge about our various local school districts so that we could more successfully organize our members. I'm embarrassed to admit how much trouble I had in filling out the form about Princeton.

So I turn to you guys, many of whom are Princeton folks, to see if you can help me with some of the answers. I'll put my early answers in italics.

• What are the major celebrations and festivals in your community?
• Sharonville - St John's Fest, SharonFest
• Lincoln Heights - Heritage Days
• Evendale - ???
• Springdale - ???
• Woodlawn - ???
• Glendale - Black Squirrel 5K 
• What are the community's slogans and mascots? Who are the best known members of your community?
• Slogans?
• Mascots - Princeton Vikings, all the elementary schools are Little Vikes, I think
• Best known - Isley Brothers, Roger Troutman, ??  
• Does your community value its history? How so?
• Each community is very protective of their own identity, their own history.
• How so? ??? 
• What are the core values of your community?
• Family...survival (sometimes short-term)...
• What is the main economic source of the community (e.g., light manufacturing, farming, heavy industry, service industries, etc.)
• GE aircraft engines, Ford transmission, light industry, service 
• What is the economic structure of the community served by the school district? (rough percentages)
• $32K & below, $32K-$60K, $60K-$120K, $120K & above
• ??????????? Where the heck could I even look this up?
• Percentage of residents who work in the community (rough percentages)
• ??????????? Where the heck could I even look this up?
• Age (rough percentages)
• 0-18, 18-30, 30-65, 65+
• ??????????? Where the heck could I even look this up?
• Education (rough percentages)
• less than high school, high school graduate, some college, BA/BS, advanced
• ??????????? Where the heck could I even look this up?
• Political party index (rough percentages)
• democratic, republican, independent 
• ??????????? Where the heck could I even look this up?
• Are there specific political organizations that have power in your community?
• ???
• What is the ethnic breakdown of the community served by the school district?
• ??????????? Where the heck could I even look this up?
• I can make some guesses based on the breakdown of the high school, but I don't know that it's entirely representative of the district population as a whole. 
• What is the approximate number of households in the community?
• ??????????? Where the heck could I even look this up?
• What are the main retail business centers (and locations) of the community? Where are intersections with high vehicle traffic?
• Tri County area, Fields Ertel area, Glendale-Milford & Reading Rd intersection...???
• Where do people congregate? Where would be an appropriate place for flyer distribution or bannering?
• ???

Branding the Vikings

I noticed last week that the Princeton High School Facebook page has gone through a bit of rebranding, switching the profile pic from being a Viking to being a PCSD logo and changing the name of the page from PHS to PCSD. The banner pic also changed, though I'll admit I have no idea what it was before it became the image of the new school.

There was also a story posted on the page linking to an Enquirer story announcing that the Board of Ed had decided - after Shawn McMullen's presentation - that the Viking's horns should be white. That isn't, admittedly, Earth-shaking decision making - especially in light of a year when 25% of the high school's certified staff left the building over the summer. It is, however, something that I'm somewhat happy about.

See, I've been noticing the lack of coherent branding in the district for a few years now. Below the jump you'll see some pictures that I had a couple of my student aides take in 2007 and 2009 showing how many different ways the Princeton Viking was being represented around the building, a building that now is going to be plowed under within the next year.

I'm curious to see font choices, manual, colors, and letters that Shawn has chosen...

Shawn McMullen, media and tech specialist for Princeton City Schools, gathered the district’s logos and narrowed the fonts and colors, and designed letterhead to reflect a consistent use of design to identify the school district.

The district’s logos include a flying letter P, a youth version of a Little Vike, and a single horn. Each has a purpose, and McMullen outlined the use for each in a manual that he is compiling.

Not so helpful statistics

Sorry for the watermark - source

WLWT.com published an article last week (I'll link, but I warn you that there's an auto-playing video with an advertisement right at the beginning) reporting that Fairfield City Schools has to hire 79 new teachers, 13% of their district staff; and Hamilton City Schools has to hire 40 new teachers, 6% of their district staff.

The entirety of the context given for those numbers is this quote, "[b]oth districts said that's a jump over previous years."

The article also says that Ross Schools has to hire 12 new teachers, 8% of their district staff, which is, "fewer new faces than the last two years."

No hard numbers from previous years...no comparative numbers from other districts...no state-wide averages for districts of similar sizes (or even of not-so-similar sizes.)

From second-hand information, I've heard that Princeton City Schools have hired 58 new teachers district-wide this summer, about 18% of our district teaching staff (plus another seven administrators). Anecdotally it seems higher than in previous years, but I don't have any hard evidence to prove that.

Numbers without context aren't useful.

In this case, they're just evidence of lazy reporting.

I taught her everything she knows...

...about stoichiometry.

Kelsey Mitchell, Princeton's career scoring leader, Ohio's Ms. Basketball and the Gatorade Player of the Year in Ohio.

And a heck of a chemistry student for me last year.

Pride and...something else...

My job is becoming increasingly impossible to accomplish between the new methods of teaching we're supposed to use, the new materials we're supposed to teach, and the new ways we're supposed to be evaluated (which involves a whole lot more paperwork).

But...

Every now and again something pops up and that makes me think maybe this job - in this place - might be worth doing for a little while longer. Today's piece of evidence comes to us from AKC09 on LiveJournal.

See, AKC09's a PHS graduate from way back...like 2001. She recently posted some reflections on her time at PHS and reasons why it wasn't that bad.

I had a group of other nerdy girls. We talked about philosophy and biology and art at our little nerd lunch table and our little nerd slumber parties and kind of thought we were the s***. We lucked out that we ended up in the same class; this made a HUGE difference, and without having those ladies as my core group of friends, I have a feeling high school would have been practically unbearable. The effect here is similar to the fact that:

...

We had an incredibly diverse class. My high school, being a big public school in suburban Cincinnati, drew in many different demographics. We had rich kids, poor kids, suburban kids, rural kids, white kids, black kids (not a big Asian or Latino presence while I was there (ten years ago? Whaat?), but what can ya do). Because of this, there were a number of different social hierarchies, and it was basically impossible to be at the "top" of all of them simultaneously. This turned out to be a great thing, because hey, it mirrors the real world!

From the lone time I've met AKC09 and the religious following of her blog, I can say she seems to have turned out just okay, partially, I would like to think, thanks to her time at PHS.

Go AKC09!

Bonus points!

UPDATED as of 12:52pm 8/25/13

It's that time of the year...new school year, new students, new chances for bonus points.

Here's how my students can earn bonus points this year:

• first 5 people to leave a comment here on the blog about some post
• congrats to ?? (Mike2500 and James Muffinman need to say who they are) (still available)
• must actually say something substantive about a post that looked interesting (not just "hey, gimme points")
• the account name cannot be your own name...for example, me making an account called Lonnie Dusch wouldn't work. Feel free to mention your name in the comment, though, so I can assign points appropriately.
• first 5 people to join the honors Facebook group or the CP facebook group
• congrats to Fayth, Hannah, Tanner, Karina, and Yuliya for honors (DONE)
• congrats to Emma and Allison for AP (still available)
• congrats to Catherine for CP (still available)
• first 5 people to have a an adult family member (parent, stepparent, grandparent, whatever) join the honors Facebook group or the CP Facebook group
• congrats to ?? for CP (still available)
• congrats to ?? for honors (still available - one joined, but the student already had the points for emailing me)
• first 5 people to send me an email to my school account
• congrats to Jasmine, Rushona, Alena, Michael, and Francisco (DONE)

That's 30 opportunities for extra credit.

No one can earn more than 5 points total here to hopefully spread things out some.

Oh, and the only AP folks eligible are the ones I haven't taught before. Emma, Jonathan, Lira, and Allison - go for it! All of my honors and CP students are eligible.

I'm like a dead tree...

It's been a weird week around PHS, the week when we give the state-mandated Ohio Graduation Tests to our sophomores (and any juniors and seniors who still need to pass). That means I've spent the first two-and-a-half hours of each day in my classroom watching students silently test - or sigh - or put their heads down. It's helpful (because I can get some work done), frustrating (I'm not free to come and go, and I have to be nearly silent), boring (really, two and a half hours of near silence), and tense (the tests are high-stakes for both the students and the staff).

Luckily, my co-proctor, Dennis Simpson, yesterday gave me an interesting bit of trivia before we began the test. Dennis mentioned that at one time, a movie was filmed at Princeton High School. He said it was more of a made-for-tv movie, but that it was a legitimate feature-length production. He could remember the approximate title: The Spider's Web or Spider Web. He had a vague memory of a few scenes: a flying car landed in the PHS gymnasium, students visited a 'nearby' quarry (actually filmed in Bedford, Indiana), and someone drawing a diagram on a chalkboard and explaining the interconnectedness of all things, as in the titular spider's web. And he also knew the director, Scott Wegener, then a cameraman at local WCPO and now a reporter at the same station. Dennis said he has been looking for a copy of The Spider's Web for years and that he had initially videotaped it when it was first broadcast (oddly before he came to teach at PHS) but had long ago lost his copy of the cassette.

I, being the bored teacher that I was - and with third quarter grades having been turned in the evening before - went a hunting via the web. I had no luck at IMBD, finding lots of other movies with very similar titles but not this one. Amazon and ebay were both strikeouts, too. YouTube didn't provide anything other than videos of spider webs in Cincinnati or filmed by someone named either Scott or Wegener. In fact, the only mentions of the production that I could find on the web were listed along with Scott Wegener and even then just in passing as one of his previous projects (adding that it was filmed in 1995). I did find his production company, on whose website I found the only production still (see above) and most in-depth plot summary that I have managed to locate.

Two high school students competing in a state science fair improve on Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Stars Nick Arrom, Adam Winston

In a semi-desperate attempt, I sent Mr Wegener an email at his WCPO account (I oddly couldn't find any contact information on his production company's website) asking if he had or knew where I could purchase a copy.


Anybody know where I can find copies of twenty-year-old, locally-produced, probably never distributed, after-school-special-type 'movies'?

I would love to find a copy of this video (ideally on DVD or digital file) out there but am currently, as the post title suggests, stumped.

The coming last year

Princeton High School's current building has to survive one more year. In the fall of 2014, we are scheduled to move across the street into the new Princeton High School/Middle School complex, a single building with common spaces (cafeteria, main gym, auditorium) connecting the two school wings.

Since the announcement of the new school and the eventual destruction of the old building, maintenance has been a bit less urgent, and the cracks have begun to show around school. In general, the issues have been survivable and workable. Maybe half the hallway clocks are working, the drips in the 'covered' walkway through the courtyard have been less likely to be repaired,

In some other ways, though, the building is aging very, very quickly. Twice this year we have had power outages - once in only the music wing and cafeteria, once throughout the whole school. This past Friday we missed a day of school because the fire alarm control panel stopped working - leading a repairman to open his conversation with a principal by saying, "Wow, I haven't seen one like this in fifteen years."

Bit by bit the old girl is falling apart, and I am at least looking forward to the coming year when things really go to pieces.

One day Don Freeman walks into Mathews Auditorium to find all the seats mysteriously gone, the floor replaced with a lush carpet of moss.

We close the second floor to any staff or students save for fifteen-year-olds as the creatures there seem to be angered by anyone of a different age.

Two lights in the community room consistently flash Morse code messages over and over - "He is coming...He is coming...He is coming..."

Triceratops are found in the technology wing when Mr Simpson unlocks the doors in the morning. They seem to be adapting to CAD use but are still struggling with fine motor skills on the mouse.

The electrical outlets in the small gym and rooms next door are all flipped upside down overnight.

All windows on the third floor look out not on Chester and Sharon Roads but rather on mid-twentieth century London during the Blitz.

The hallways are littered with students turned to stone whenever they speak aloud any of a half dozen swear words viewed offensive by the Native American spirits.

Three rooms in the 600 wing are filled three inches deep with water. Even when the doors are opened, the water stays. Shop vacs running for hours on end can't seem to make any dent in the depth of water. Shark fins are seen cutting through the surface of the water in spite of the fact that no shark could survive in water that shallow or green.

No sound can be made in room 446B.

...

At least there would be good stories to tell from the year.

Hope springs again?

We haven't had a snow day in nearly two years at PHS, and we're friggin' due.

Maybe Friday (predicted ice/sleet for Friday morning from Winter Storm Q(?)) can finally pan out for us.

A little classical shopping

At Princeton's recently-performed Coffee House Theater performances, I was lucky enough to see "Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread", a one-act play satirizing Philip Glass's musical style.

Sadly there aren't - that I know of, anyway - any videos of the Princeton performances. There are some still photos (click forward from that one), though.

The one-act is spectacular, though, and I think you should take a few minutes to see some of the performances that were captured and posted online...

Yup...uh, huh...

Presented without comment...

Such a precocious pig

Thank you, Ann(i)e Coale for continuing to grace us with your gorgeous artwork...

That special project

I have a new book to read this weekend: The Great Black Hope: a true football story of miracles, faith and hope (Volume 1) by Constance Kluesener Gorman.

See, I taught with Constance Kluesener Gorman at Princeton for a half dozen years before her contract was nonrenewed and she was sent packing. In those half dozen years she treated our secretaries like crap (observed by me), set a student on fire by running a half dozen hot plates at full blast with no experiments to heat up her room (second hand but confirmed by the then-Principal), wore some outstanding denim skirts (terrifyingly observed by me), called WLW to complain that she had to take down a cut Christmas tree from her classroom (rumored), and told me flatly that she was supposed to have my job as honors/AP chemistry teacher because she was hired first.

When Connie left PHS, she told a department member that we would hear from her, that she was working on a big - but secret - project that would later bring her back into the spotlight. I don't know that today's blog topic is that big, secret project, but it'something.

See, Connie seems to have written a book, The Great Black Hope. Lucky for us the book's subject, Tony Daniels, is a former student and spouse of a current Princeton teacher, so I - and Calen - got a casual mention that Connie's new book (assumedly her first and only) is out and ready to read. 

Feel free to give it a read, folks, and enjoy the readings from Constance Gorman...

Constance Kluesener Gorman is a Christian mystic who has been favored with the gifts of prophecy, healing, miracles and private revelation from God. She is also former business owner and product development chemist, who received a calling to participate in the education sector. She is currently a private tutor, but also occasionally teaches business, chemistry and mathematic classes at local universities in Greater Cincinnati. She holds a B.A. in Chemistry from Miami University, an M.B.A. from the University of Cincinnati and a B.S. in Education from the McGregor School at Antioch University. Although Constance has been published as a writer in technical journals and other print media relating to her business career, The Great Black Hope is her first effort in writing a nonfiction novel. She plans to write and publish the remaining fifty-seven or so other stories relating to her spiritual favors and experiences.

Fifty-seven other stories are still coming?

Oh, I am so happy right now...

Indeterminate

"Indeterminate"

That's what the recently-released Ohio Auditor of State's INTERIM Report on Student Attendance Data and Accountability System announced Princeton High School's status to be.

A little background here...

Every student in Ohio is required to attend school. That's not terribly different from it is in most every state in the Union. Each state has a few loopholes that allow parents to pull their students from schools if they can show that they're being responsible for their child's education - filing educational plans with the local school board, stuff like that.

Because of this requirement, each school is required to demonstrate that they are definitively educating each student in their district. If a student is assigned to a school, they stay assigned to that school until there's proof that the student has been assigned to a new school. You can't, in other words, withdraw a student until their new school enrolls them - meaning until you get a request for records from that new school.

Seems pretty straight forward, sure, but there are two complicating factors, both of which are part of the state report card for schools: attendance and state testing. Every school is 'graded' on a series of factors, most of which are based on various state-wide tests (10th-grade science, 4th-grade math, 5th-grade reading, etc) with attendance and graduation rate thrown in for good measure. We have to test every student in our building, but we only have to count the scores of the students who are 'ours' for 120 consecutive days - from the end of September through the March testing dates. If a student scores poorly on the state test but hasn't been with us for 120 days, that score doesn't count for us. This, then, gives schools incentive to err on the side of over-removing low-scoring students who have less than constant attendance to keep our state testing percentages as high as possible - while also giving us an incentive to (sometimes) under-remove students because we need attendance percentages of at least 93%.

Let's say, for example, that a student takes the test and leaves Princeton to transfer to another school. If we receive the request for records on what would be the student's 122nd day with Princeton but the student left on day 115, the official state policy of removing the student on day 122 may hurt us doubly as the student was not in school for days 116-122 and maybe the student's test score wouldn't have helped Princeton's numbers.

'Indeterminate'

Apparently things like this have been going on all over the state - definitely in Lockland which was officially announced as having fudged their attendance/testing numbers this past year and whose cheating has set off a fire storm of investigation by the Auditor's office. The Auditor's office developed a list of one hundred schools whose statistics - students tested, students whose results were cleared - suggested that they needed a second look. Alphabetically, Princeton High School was #73 on that list (linked above) which meant that Princeton was visited by staff from the Auditor's office for a week or so who asked questions regarding our attendance recording.

This wasn't ever officially discussed with the staff or anything. We just...you know...heard about it here and there and got to read the following announcement on the district website...

STATE AUDITORS REPORT NO EVIDENCE OF ATTENDANCE TAMPERING 

The Princeton City School District was notified on September 4 that the office of Ohio State Auditor Dave Yost wished to review our procedures and supporting documentation for student attendance for fiscal year 2011 for Princeton High School. Princeton, along with approximately 100 other schools in the state, was selected due to our high mobility rate that resulted in a large number of students not meeting the criteria for Full Academic Year (FAY). Only students that are continuously enrolled from the first week in October through the week of state testing are considered to meet FAY and have their test scores count on the district report card.  The complexity of urban school districts, as well as those districts adjacent to them, is not widely understood. These school districts often have high rates of poverty and homelessness that may result in families having to relocate frequently.  Additionally, Princeton serves as the fiscal agent for a juvenile court facility.  These attendance files and records are property of the facility, and Princeton does not have access to these requested records. 

While the financial auditors assigned to this work had no experience with this type of paper audit and the types of documentation they would encounter in the process, they were open to learning about the complex system of paperwork surrounding the lives of many students and families in school districts while still managing student confidentiality. The state auditors were present in the school district for five days reviewing student records to verify enrollment and withdrawal of individual students.   No evidence of attendance tampering was identified. Princeton staff appreciates the suggestions from the auditors for improved efficiencies for the management of our paperwork and will begin to improve our systems immediately.

So it seems that Princeton is in the all-clear...at least according to Princeton's website announcement.

And then the big INTERIM report came out and broke the schools down into various categories: 'Schools With Evidence of Scrubbing' (36 of those), 'Schools With Errors' (28 of those), 'Clean Schools' (21 of those), and 'Schools Indeterminate as of the Date of This Report' (15 of those). That last category is the one where I'd like to spend a little time today because there are two schools that are sort of near and dear to me and mine in that category: Hamilton High School and Princeton High School.

Here's what the Auditor's INTERIM report has to say about that last category of schools...

The following table describes the schools where enrollment testing for the 2010‐11 school year is still indeterminate due to factors outside AOS control (e.g., schools are still gathering student information files and other information to support enrollment) as of the date of this report

It's not anything definitive there. There's no concrete proof of any maleficence (big word, huh?) or anything, but I'm not sure anything as definitive as 'no evidence of attendance tampering was identified' in the word 'indeterminate' either.

With all this hullabaloo, all this kerfuffle, all this turmoil and tumult, all this brouhaha, all this upheaval, of course, the report cards for the 2011-12 school have yet to be released - at least a month later than they've always been released in the past years.

(Source - WVXU)