HB 136, staff moves on tap

Craig Suttman was named CHS career technology principal.

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By Jill Kelley, Staff Writer 8:50 PM Wednesday, October 26, 2011

CENTERVILLE — Financial concerns and the announcement of a new principal highlighted Monday night’s Centerville School Board meeting.

In his legislative report, school board member John Doll voiced opposition to House Bill 136.

The bill, introduced in March, would offer low- and middle-class parents tax-funded vouchers to pay private school tuition.

The vouchers would be available regardless of how well local public schools are doing, and would divert local taxes.

“There are no limits if your school district is ‘Excellent’ or not,” said Doll, noting Centerville has been rated “Excellent” on the state report card for 12 years and “Excellent with Distinction” in three of the past four years. “(The bill) is another stab at destroying public education in this country.”

Mitch Biederman also reported that property values districtwide fell by $51.8 million according to the county auditor’s recent review, due to the estimated decrease in local property values. This will have a negative impact on the schools’ tax revenue.

Doll said the loss of funds from HB 136 would be another blow to the district, which is still reeling from state cuts. He asked that local residents contact their state legislators, Ohio Rep. Terry Blair and Sen. Peggy Lehner, to voice their concerns about HB 136.

Biederman also noted that delinquency collections were up 2.3 percent for the district.

• Also at Monday’s meeting, Superintendent Tom Henderson announced that Craig Suttman has been named the new career technology principal at Centerville High School.

Suttman replaces Jon Wesney, who was hired as the school’s new coordinating principal to replace the retiring Eileen Booher.

Suttman was principal at the district’s School of Possibilities.

• The board also recognized Centerville High School’s National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalists, commended scholars and Hispanic scholars for 2011:

Semifinalists: Arjun Balwally, Shirin Dey, Rahul Dole, Gina Gaerke, Devika Gandhi, Catherine Garrison, Rajiv Karani, Collen Kochensparger, Kevin Kulshrestha and Stephen Shan.

Commended scholars: Carly Blodgett, Matthew Brockman, Colin Bunker, Eric Chou, Brian Clark, Samuel Coale, Samantha Echevarria, Brialyn Hasset, Kendra Huhta, Ayesha Khan, Paula Kim, Ryan Letcher, Alec Michael, Nikita Nanavaty, John Nichols, Pallavi Orunganti, Olivia Rogers and Jason Treadway.

Hispanic scholars: Samantha Echevarria and Elena Morales.

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