Board Meeting Q&A | 9.14.26

 

Thank you to those who attended and participated in the Board of Education meeting. We have compiled responses to several questions raised that evening and are sharing them to help clarify and be transparent.

Just a reminder, Board of Education meetings are conducted to carry out official district business and must remain orderly and in accordance with established procedures. To ensure the most accurate and thorough responses, district employees are asked to submit questions in advance to Superintendent Dr. Jeff Graham. This allows for appropriate review and for responses to be addressed directly to the Board in alignment with board policy.

We also ask that public participation follow the structure of the meeting:

• The first Hearing of the Public should be limited to questions directly related to agenda items for that meeting.
•  The second Hearing of the Public provides an opportunity for broader comments, which must remain respectful and on topic at all times.

We value community engagement and appreciate your cooperation in helping maintain a productive and respectful meeting environment for all.

Q: Were you guys aware that on the first day of school we did not have badges?

A: Yes. This is why additional time was provided for teachers to work independently on the professional day.

 

Q: Are principals allowed to tell teachers they're not allowed to use certain printers within the building? Does anybody know approximately how many prints that the copier should make when it's full?

A: We encourage our staff to have a collaborative discussion about who uses what equipment.  If there are building-specific situations, we encourage our staff to discuss the situation with their principals. The copiers came with a limited supply of starter toner and should be working correctly.

 

Q: Do we have any intention of going back to having laptop carts per classroom?

A: We are not going back to 1-to-1 computing.  We have Chromebook carts, and we plan to build additional carts.  Our students will need to share Chromebooks.  Our target at the elementary school level is to have one cart for every two classrooms.

Q: Is there any intention of giving Garfield Early Learning Center and the School for Autism supplementals for BLT and PBIS and those types of things? Is the board aware that we do not have those?

A: Yes. Some supplementals will be offered. 

 

Q: Can preschool be included in Special Olympics this year? If not, can the coordinator plan one for the preschool special education students, or can we hire a coordinator so that we can do our own?

A: We will discuss to see what is age-appropriate. 

 

Q: Can somebody explain a little bit more about what this PSI for Title One services at Spectrum is for $56,000?

A: Eligible Lorain students attending Spectrum receive a Title I allocation, and the district is required to use those funds in consultation with Spectrum. Spectrum has elected to use the funding for a PSI contractor rather than hire a staff member because of the amount of available funding. The contractor functions similarly to a Title I teacher for the eligible students, with the funding flowing through the district.

Q: Regarding the chronic absenteeism, do we have any more broken-down data as to which grades or schools might have the highest at this point in the year so far? And then are we including preschool in those numbers?

A: Yes, we break down our data by school and grade level.  Preschool is included. While preschool is not part of accountability measures for attendance, we must establish good attendance habits with our students and families from an early age.