Perhaps the biggest issue to face residents in the New Albany-Plain Local Schools in 2022 will be the request for a five-year, 1.25-mill permanent-improvements levy renewal.
Superintendent Michael Sawyers said discussion of the renewal, which raises $1.1 million annually for capital-improvement projects in the district, will begin in earnest soon.
Sawyers said the school board is on schedule to review the matter after approval of the district’s first permanent-improvements levy in 2017.
The money would be used only for capital repairs and replacement, such as tech infrastructure, roofing and security measures.
“It has to be justified,” Sawyers said. “We won’t do a special-election ballot issue. We will just do a general-election ballot issue if that’s the way the board goes.”
He said he’s particularly excited about the career-pathways expansion, such as offering the two-year cybersecurity class on campus instead of one year at New Albany High school and the other at the Eastland-Fairfield Career & Technical Schools.
Plans include introducing a sports-medicine program, depending on student interest, Sawyers said.
School officials also are in conversation to introduce a career-connections course at the middle school so students can prepare for high school and beyond, he said.
One item that is not planned is the implementation of so-called critical race theory, but efforts will to be focused on social-emotional well-being.
“Critical race theory is not taught in the New Albany-Plain Local Schools district,” he said.
But, he said, the district at all academic levels has specific school initiatives rooted in well-researched data as they pertain to student well-being and issues associated with diversity, equity and inclusion.
School officials made a concerted effort in 2021 to make sure students felt safe, supported and connected and that they know they belong.
“Why wouldn’t we want that?” he said. “Why wouldn’t we want that for mankind?”
As for objectives, Sawyers said, the administration adopts annual goals – “well-being” is the first and foremost, he said – in its continuous-improvement plan with the board.
Even as the variants of the COVID-19 coronavirus loom, Sawyers said, he does not see the district returning to a hybrid schedule in 2022.
Yet the pandemic has taken its toll over the past two years.
“I think people are all adapting and adjusting differently,” he said.
Dave Effron, FIRST Robotics coach at New Albany High School, said he’s looking forward to 2022 as being a marquee year for the Digital Eagles robotics team. On Jan. 8, the school will receive its instructions for the March 23 regional competition at Cleveland State University. It’s a qualifying round for the April international championship in Houston, Effron said.
He said he has a young but earnest team.
“We’re excited about reestablishing the strength of the program,” he said.
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@ThisWeekGary
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