Springboro Success Stories

With fourth quarter underway and spring break around the corner, Springboro Schools Superintendent Carrie Hester and Treasurer/CFO Terrah Stacy sit down to talk about some of the district's recent successes, several upcoming events, the steps the Board of Education is taking to create a new taxation policy, and how to become a bus driver! 

Taxation Policy Session One Full Video: https://youtu.be/byN-PI6WJGY

Taxation Policy Session One Presentation:  https://www.springboro.org/Treasurer.aspx

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:08

This is the Panther Experience Podcast from Springboro Schools, where we share meaningful conversations about the things impacting our community. So whether you're a lifelong Panther or brand new to Springboro Schools, we're glad you're here. It's a Wednesday today when we're recording. We got Spirit Wear going. Wellness Wednesday, and we are hoping that spring is around the corner. We are recording today. It is pretty chilly. Hopefully, by the time people are listening, the weather has taken a change for the better and it's getting a little more spring-like. Yes, I think I heard a rumor that it's gonna be maybe 80 on Sunday. Take it. Ooh, yes. We certainly will take it. And you know what? You actually had a pretty decent day pretty recently, Carrie, when you went on a field trip. You took a little field trip with some of the was it fourth grade, third grade, third grade, five points, third graders.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Um I got to go to the city building for um their real life experience about learning about local government. And so our city building um hosted and welcomed all of us. It was such a great experience. I actually learned a lot. Um we got to see the mayor, we got to interact with um the city manager Chris Bazuto and his finance manager. We got the children got to understand trash pickup and how um different pieces of playground equipment are chosen. And um I was able to get up close and personal with a snowplow, right up on the snow plow.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

We'll put you on the list next winter when we need those parking lots cleared, Superintendent Hester.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Um and then shout out to Officer Morgan. She did a great job with the kiddos um as they got up close and personal to um a real police cruiser. Um they were able to look inside, lots of curious minds, you know, because they see police cruisers, oh yeah, lights, and everything. Um she did a great job. And then we all ended it with blue, just giving blue a nice pet, and he's such a great dog.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

Did the kids just have tons of questions?

SPEAKER_01 2:21

They were really good. The most questions were for Officer Morgan, honestly.

SPEAKER_02 2:25

Yeah, that makes sense. Um, and so you felt you like you learned a lot. And I thought what was cool is sometimes it's going past a place that these students probably drive by a lot of them pretty frequently, but you don't know everything that goes that goes on. Right.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

It it really helped connect the dots with you know just the basics of civics, yeah. Um, but then community pride, you know, really understanding um what happens and why in Springboro.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

All right, love that. And Tara just shared some excellent news with us the other day. I got an email from her, did a little happy dance because we always like to celebrate good reports, and we got an excellent one from the auditors.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

So tell us what we heard from them. Um yes, we um received a notice that we are gonna receive the Auditor of State Award again for our audit. Um, and there is about just under 6,000 governments in the state of Ohio, you know, with libraries, cities, counties, um, schools, and only about 3% are awarded an auditor award. So that's about 120. So um out of the 4,000 that are actually audited annually, because some um are not audited every year, um we are. Um but we did receive notice, and so they'll be bringing out our awards soon. So it's just you know, my team, our whole district, everybody working really hard and putting all the things in place to make sure we have a clean audit, um, no management letter, um, there's no material um deficiencies, and so kudos to all of us for that. So amazing. I did not realize it was that small of a number. Yes. I mean, it seems like it because you'll see um southwest Ohio, there are more um in Southwest Ohio that do get the award um than in other parts of the state. But we also have a lot more entities, um, we're a lot more populated down in our part of the state than in other areas, but again, still only about 120 um statewide. So we're very lucky and proud of that.

SPEAKER_02 4:06

So as a as a big basketball fan with March Madness starting, I'm thinking of like the teams that make the tournament. I feel like that's what we're doing, winning that award. You're like one of those few teams that works all year to make it. So awesome, great stuff there. Uh, speaking of athletics, winter sports just wrapped up for us, spring sports have started, and we wanted to acknowledge a couple of our wrestlers. We had six of them who went to state and also five swimmers, but two of our wrestlers came away on the podium. So we had two juniors, the junior class is really strong in the wrestling department. Um, Kari McCall, third, and Max Weimer fourth. And we have a great side-by-side picture that they posted from the two of them in sixth grade to now as juniors, and their growth and just like I'm sure the friendship you you uh establish over all of those many practices and hours.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

The long wrestling tournaments, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

Yes, yeah. So that was awesome to see. And as the spring sports get going, Tara, we've got some updates over at Wade Field. So as people head over to La Crosse, games are gonna notice some changes.

SPEAKER_00 5:09

Yes, absolutely. We had a new uh turf field put in there. Um, they usually last somewhere between 10 and 15 years, and ours was 14 years old, and so it definitely needed replaced. Um, I loved the post that you shared out there because there are so many likes and so many comments about um all the different teams who are excited to be able to utilize that field. Um, it was a $621,000 project, um, but we did have close to $190,000 that was um in the Cook Family Fund at the Warren County Foundation that they donated um through the concession sales for this whole time since 2012 when the last field was replaced. So that gave us a good chunk of money to help towards that, and then we're financing the rest of it through the district. So, but yes, it's it's really looks good, and I know everyone's excited to play on it, and so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:58

Every bag of chips and every bag of MMs somebody bought over there. By the way, quick side note if you're going to the concession stand, what's your go-to item? MM's.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

Oh, popcorn.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

I love popcorn. Yes, the saltier the better in my book, I think. On the academic note, right, we're closing in. Graduation is not that far away. We are in fourth quarter already. Oh. And we had some excellent news at the high school. In the fall, we had four national merit semifinalists. And sometimes throughout the year, as they go through and check things, some people get weeded out, and we were excited to hear that all four of ours are now finalists and they have advanced, so they're waiting now to hear what happens with that. And we had our robotics teams, which are not technically, I guess, a district organized activity sport, but it's a great partnership, and the students are our students. They have some awesome coaches who keep us updated, and they just had a team last weekend, I guess, get invited to go to a competition in Canada.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Yes, and they ranked seventh out of 40 teams in Ohio.

SPEAKER_02 7:05

Yeah, that was one. Well, there were two teams, I think, right? So one did that and then the other one got the invite.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Yes, to go to Canada in June.

SPEAKER_02 7:12

I know. I love that, and it's it's so awesome to see that development in STEM. We'll talk about STEM Fest a little bit later, but that is common. That is only a few days away as well. Um, let's talk about the last episode we recorded. We saw, you know, we're we're new. We started our viewership, we didn't know what we would get, and we're trying to you know increase that and get engagement. And it's very clear that people in our community want to know what's going on and are particularly engaged when it comes to finances and what's changing because the last episode was about property tax reform and changes being made in Columbus that are impacting taxpayers and our district. And we had quite a few views on that. I think about 700 views and downloads, which is which is excellent for this little podcast that just got off the ground. But it's showing us okay, let's continue to keep this conversation going and answer those questions. And we've been doing that on the ground here. You guys have been busy visiting buildings, and Tara, you have done a terrific job. Tell us what you've been doing and and why that's been important.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Um, well, what we've been doing is we kind of start out with what's happening. Um, and I think to make sure that we're giving a full view of what's happening, we have to really start with the state funding side on how much the state is funding schools. Um, and so you'll hear things like um, well, the state is actually you, and and yes, the state might be you, but you pay part of your income through income tax to the state of Ohio. Um, there's also sales tax. There's lots of other funding systems that go up to the state of Ohio that are taxpayer dollars, and then they use a portion of that money to fund the schools. And the Constitution says that it should be a shared partnership, which you usually, like we talked about before, would expect around 50-50, and it will be at 32% as of next year, which is the lowest amount in Ohio's history. And Ohio ranks 45th out of the 50 states in terms of the lowest amount that actually they support their schools through the state piece of the funding, and so that that shifts 68% onto the local taxpayers. And so, you know, we we've been talking about property tax reform, and we want our you know, residents and our staff to understand that we are facing a $7.2 million reduction over the next few years due to property tax reform. But until the system is fixed and the state actually picks up more of the cost from this from the dollars we're already sending up there for our income tax and other uh revenue sources, until they fix that part of the system, we're we're just it's always going to be the residents that we have to go back to. So it's not really reform or relief if we have to go back and ask for the money or just cut from kids. Um, and so I think that's what we really want everyone to know. It's that there's kind of two pieces to it. Um, and we're having we're having to talk about the effects from one, but we're also being affected by the other piece as well at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

Yeah, and you do a remarkable job of making it understandable in all the backgrounds. So you guys have been to all of the buildings, talk to our transportation folks. We've got, I think, one more gathering over here in Central Office to make sure that everybody knows what's happening, and that's why we're doing this podcast, so the greater community can be hearing that and staying involved in that as well. And part of that also is bringing in sometimes an outside view to help us along. And so you may or may not have heard that we have a couple of open work sessions to help our board of education form a taxation policy, which sounds a little serious and a little complex, and it is, but let's talk about who came in, how people can get involved in that. So, um, Tara, who who is this consultant who's coming in, and then um Carrie, we'll have you kind of tell us a little bit about the goal of bringing him in and how he's helping.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Okay, um, his name is David Conley, he's the president of Rockville Financial. Um, the district has used him in a few different capacities over the last probably 30 years. Um, he's a financial advisor, he's a municipal advisor, so he's helped us through our bond um piece um process over the last couple years. So people may have recognized him from from different events or speaking engagements. Yes, um, and so we've used him for a long time, and um, he will help us kind of talk about why, when, and how um you tax your community. And um, so you know what do you want to talk about?

SPEAKER_01 11:46

And I think um it's important for just like we went to all of our staff, and um, this is a heavy message, like I said to everybody, when you talk about finances and money, that brings a lot of emotion. And we really wanted to be transparent and we wanted to be people first and in front of everybody who wants to listen and learn, because a lot of this is education. Yeah, it was of all the people that we were in front of, I think there was a lot of shock and a lot of learning of this isn't a partnership and it should be a partnership. Um, but David's gonna come in and he's gonna help the board live out our values of people first and always growing them better together and helping us to form this taxation policy because the rules have changed on us with the reforms. And so we are gonna have to reach out to the community, and this policy will ensure that we do this in a very transparent and um with with a lot of integrity and just by the way the community wants to fund schools.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

I I found it really interesting, being somebody who is newer to the area, that he really in the first session, which just happened on March 11th, um, he he really went through background and demographics of where we live and what this community is built of, what we look like when it comes to performance, what we look like when it comes to tax rates. And I thought, Tara, maybe you could give us the I guess the cliffnose version if somebody was not able to come of some of those key points. So if we're talking about our tax rate, everybody feels the burden of taxes, particularly property taxes, right now. But when we really look at that chart, and we've we've got one, we'll show where are we falling?

SPEAKER_00 13:25

We actually have one of the lowest tax rates in the entire state of Ohio. Um so even though when you see the data that David provided, he picked a um sample of districts that are geographically around us. But when you compare us to the whole state, we look very similar to that um uh sample. Um so we're we're in the bottom, I think, and we're in the like 20th lowest tax rate in the whole state. Um, I'd have to double check that number, but it's close. It might even be a little bit lower. And in Warren County, we're the lowest by far.

SPEAKER_02 13:56

Yes.

unknown 13:57

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:58

Conversely, um, on the other side, when we're talking about our performance, we also saw a chart that kind of flips. So you're we've got the lowest tax rate, and then our scores are toward the top. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

High performing, low spending.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

Absolutely. And when you know you see the data that hopefully everyone goes out and looks at that data that has already been shared by David. But we can say, because it's it's data, we can say we are the highest performing district that there's no district in Ohio that spends less and has achieved higher um than Springboro. Yeah, so you get the biggest bang for your buck.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

And he travels the state, not just in schools, but in other parts of government and um helps with their finances. So he sees a lot of numbers and a lot of government organizations that spend taxpayer money.

SPEAKER_02 14:47

Absolutely. And he he's those sessions are about two hours long. And I I I'm full full disclosure, I was not sure how interested I was going to be the entire time. But I really was very engaged and he makes it really understandable because sometimes you wonder if this isn't my wheelhouse, if I'm not the treasurer getting the auditor of state award, am I gonna be able to follow? And I think everybody in that room, which would staff and then some community members really were able to follow along and left feeling a lot more educated. I certainly did.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

He makes you feel very um at ease with the information.

SPEAKER_02 15:22

Yes, and so he'll be back two more times. This um video, it was recorded and it is on our website on Tara's treasurer page. You can watch the whole thing, it's about an hour and a half, hour 40 minutes long. But I promise it really it kind of zipped right along, you know, and it was really interesting, especially there's a whole segment where he breaks down the the demographics in our area, which I think would be of interest to a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Um, and he will be back when? He will be back on um April 8th, um, and then he will be his final one will be May 6th. Okay. And we're doing six to eight here in the central office building. Yes. Um, the one for April 8th will be here. Um then the May 6th one has been moved, and I believe it'll be at the LGI.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

At the high school.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

Right across from the library. Okay. And his slide decks will be um available also.

SPEAKER_02 16:11

Yep, the first one is already up um right under the link to the video because yeah, some of the there's lots of numbers, so that slide deck can be kind of helpful. Yes. Yes, we hope that you'll check that out. And you know what? I wanted to ask you, he gave some homework at the end of that, which was for everybody there to think about what is the value proposition that they feel connects with Springboro schools. What is the value that a Springboro school's education, the way that it looks right now, brings? And I wondered, I'm sure you two have chewed on that a little bit since then, of what you feel like those big things are that are our value.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

Um, I definitely, I mean, from a treasurer's perspective, if you see what we produce in terms of achievement and opportunities for our kids and the amount of money that we spend for that, to me, that's a to me, that's a value. Um you're getting a lot for a little, among other things.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

But and I think another value proposition is just the dedicated and amazing staff that um we have. I met with our Franklin B. Walter winner, um, Morgan Damas, earlier today, because I just really wanted to sit down with her and ask her a bunch of questions. And I said, you know, what has um the high school prepared you for once you go into your next chapter? And she said it's it's been more than academics, and she mentioned so many of her teachers, but she said the one in particular, um, more than academics, really, really instilled in her that she needed to believe in herself and she needed to be fierce as she goes out there and pursues a career in medicine. And so absolutely do our teachers deliver um high quality education, but they also personalize the education for each and every student.

SPEAKER_02 17:53

It is yeah, agreed. And being being again somebody new here, that feeling, it is not always data, is a big part of it, but sometimes it's something that's an intrinsic thing that you just feel. And I mean, coming in, I just this is a such a welcoming and engaged community where people are plugged in, and that is not everywhere. So that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 18:17

I think the school pride is just top-notch. It's amazing how much how our whole community is rallies around our whole school district. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna throw us off our order just a little bit, but I think that segues really great into the pride that will be on display this weekend at the Hometown Expo because we've got different musicians who will be playing. I know you're kicking things off, Carrie. It's gonna be at the high school.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

And so this you are new, and this will be your first hometown expo. Oh my gosh, get ready. Heard a lot about it.

SPEAKER_02 18:50

Yeah, and we are doing something kind of fun at our table. We feel like all those teachers and those staff members that you're talking about deserve they deserve so many kudos. And man, we wish that they could get even more of them. So we'll we'll have a little setup there that if you've got something nice to share about a teacher, you can stop by and do that. And we'll be getting them to those teachers or staff members because you have no idea what some of those little words of encouragement do on those days where it is a little tough or something doesn't go to plan. Yeah, it makes a big difference. So we're excited about that. And then I I also loved hearing how seamlessly things flow because we get that all set up, things are tarped off, and then we flow right into Monday. The high school's got career day going on. So thanks in advance to everybody in the community who's gonna be part of that. And then Monday night, we need to see you all back at the high school. STEM Fest. For STEM Fest. We are looking forward to having hopefully hundreds of you and your kiddos over at the high school. Interactive activities. The pictures I have seen, it looks like going to the children's museum, but right in your own backyard. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 19:57

It's just small and smaller and more personal. We um a couple years ago we set off um rockets outside the high school. That was really fun. You know, there's a whole area there was of just all these different kinds of Legos to make things. I mean, it's very interactive.

SPEAKER_02 20:12

And Lynn Greenberg, shout out to you. Thank you for heading this up and making this works hard an awesome opportunity in our community. So it's from 5:30 to 8 in the high school, and it is free. So bring your kids of all ages, and it'll be a great time. A couple other things coming up. We've you know, we've been talking about the junior high musical, but the high school musical is now about a month away. Cinderella. Yeah. And I was excited to do a little feature for them. So be on the lookout if you get the Springboro Neighbors Magazine. A few of the cast members are featured in a little QA in there. And one of the big things, if you're going, you're not watching the Disney version, right? This is the Rogers and Hammerstein version of Cinderella, so the music is a little different. The it's got um just a lot of differences, but they say you'll still get that same sort of fairy tale feel.

SPEAKER_01 21:07

And is it still a really good pair of shoes can change your life?

SPEAKER_02 21:12

I we know that we know Carrie subscribes to this because if you could we should insert a picture today of her of her shiny shoes. Uh yeah, I did hear that the the dress might be a different color than we are used to, also. But it's very cool because students are the ones designing and creating and coming up with all of these costumes and stuff too. It is amazing the things that they do. Very, very cool. Uh, any other big events on the radar that you guys are thinking of? It's gonna be busy, busy, busy. And then graduation and morning. I know. Wow, wow, wow, wow. Um, let's see. Let's get to a few thank yous. I mean, in advance to everybody involved with the expo and STEM fest for sure, because that's a big deal. You know, the schools recently had their evening conferences with parents and uh A couple of the schools wanted to give some shout outs to the organizations that helped feed all those staff members because it's a long day.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

It is a long day.

SPEAKER_02 22:09

And I know over at Dennis, the PTO went out of their way to get some dinner from Outback Steakhouse, so they were well fed, and then families of SHS um teamed up with Carrie Robbins with Berkshire Hathaway and Springboro Baptist Church for theirs. And I know the other schools had PTOs and different people involved too. So it takes a village, and we do not need hungry teachers.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

Yes, we are so appreciative. And the PTOs are oftentimes behind these efforts to really care for our teachers, and we're so thankful. Yes. We have amazing PTOs.

SPEAKER_00 22:39

And we did have one additional donation since our last board meeting. Schmidt Auto Sales did give $250 to the junior high musical for Annie. So that's great too.

SPEAKER_02 22:49

That's awesome. You know, we also heard sometimes every now and then we'll get somebody reaching out just saying, How can I be involved? Maybe not in just a blanket check, but how can we donate this item or be involved in this event? So if that is ever something that crosses your mind, send an email over and we will get you in the right place. Absolutely. Yes. Uh when we're talking about those great teachers, you recently visited one at the junior high who was our latest Hester hero. Tell us about that, Carrie.

SPEAKER_01 23:16

Kiff Corcoran, the junior high English language arts teacher, is amazing. She is just one of those quiet performers that she works hard to create lessons that really bring her kids into the lesson and they're engaged. Last year, a couple years ago, I went over because they were studying mysteries, I believe it was, and she did a whole tea party, and it was at Halloween because it was around this creepy movie, and um a tea party was at the center of it. And you know, eighth graders, seventh graders don't really drink tea from fine china, and she she got it very um accurate. And then when you and I walked in, the question on the board when we interrupted class was who would eat bugs? I mean, and then we learned that they ate meal worms a couple days before. If they wanted to, you know, nobody was nothing forced.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

She just hard pass.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Yeah, for you. Yeah, she goes above and beyond to really connect the lessons that she needs to teach. And so um, thank you, thank you. And she is a Hester hero, and um, it's just it's fun to go in and surprise and say thank you.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

Yes, and you talk about classroom management. We walked in, everybody in that room was doing what they were supposed to be doing from the get-go. And before we go today, we do want to just make you aware of another reality. We've got property tax reform reality, and then one that's been hanging around for a while is bus drivers are not growing on trees these days. It is difficult to get enough bus drivers to cover all routes all year round. And we've just seen this with having to cancel a couple of routes, which is never anything we want to be doing. It's certainly not the call I want to be making to folks early in the morning. Right. But man, Carrie, just talk about how we it is avoided at all costs.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

And this isn't just a Springboro problem. This is a statewide problem. And I think maybe national. Oh, yes, it's being a bus driver is a very, very hard job. Um, and we have an amazing group of bus drivers. Um each year we lose some of them. I think we're gonna lose maybe six this re this season because they're older and and it's time for them to go and enjoy their their lives. And we've tried to be creative and we've had you know sign-on bonuses, which we're still gonna do. We have paid training. Um we really need good people to get our children to to school on time every day. But, you know, like so many other districts, we don't have enough, and so we try hard. Everybody in transportation works hard to, you know, figure out that puzzle on a daily basis, and we um try to give as much notice when we know ahead of time that there's going to be a cancellation, but sometimes people wake up sick and and we don't have enough people to drive buses, and so we're just asking for some grace and some kindness and you know just some understanding that we work on this every single day. Um and we try to lessen the you know the inconvenience on families, but we do not have enough bus drivers. So the reality is gonna be that we have to cancel routes.

SPEAKER_02 26:24

Yeah, and and we would love if you know somebody in your life who is looking to have maybe about five hours or so a day of work in the morning and the afternoon, kind of a good situation. Maybe you you are a stay-at-home parent right now, and you've got kids in school and you want to be transporting them. Perhaps you're retired from firefighting, police work, and you want to still stay busy a little bit. Um lots of options, but lots of options. We we need folks in there because you're right, you can't drive the bus forever.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

No, no, and they deserve to go and have a new chapter in life. Um they've worked hard.

SPEAKER_02 27:00

Yep, absolutely. Um, thinking of buses, I'm thinking of some of those littlest ones on the bus, and it made me just real quick remember preschool applications are happening, and the lottery, or there's a lottery system to get in there, and you've got to get that application completed by the 21st. End of the day on the 21st of March is the cutoff, and then that lottery process continues. But if you've been thinking about it and you've been putting it off, or you know somebody who's got a kiddo that age, please hop over to the website and you'll be able to find that on the registration page.

unknown 27:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 27:30

All right, well, I think that's all I know. We're ready for those 80-degree temps, I believe. Yes, please. And been hearing some of the baseball, softball teams throwing outside, so we know it's close.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

Spring is coming. It's coming in like a lion, though.

SPEAKER_02 27:44

Yes, we're ready for that lamb partner. Yes, we are. All right, well, hey, enjoy spring break, everybody. It is so close, and we look forward to finishing out fourth quarter strong. Okay. Thanks, Aaron. See you next time.