One of the topics introduced at the latest Milford Exempted Village School Board of Education meeting on Feb. 17, 2022, was the appropriateness of books in the curriculum and for summer reading. New member Melissa Nolan proposed the idea of a “parental community advisory committee.” Pictured is the book used for last summer’s reading program for students.

One of the topics introduced at the latest Milford Exempted Village School Board of Education meeting on Feb. 17, 2022, was the appropriateness of books in the curriculum and for summer reading. New member Melissa Nolan proposed the idea of a “parental community advisory committee.” Pictured is the book used for last summer’s reading program for students.

<p>Two Milford High School students, Ellen Long (on left) and Sarah Morgan, were selected to perform with the Ohio All-State Honor Band at the Ohio Music Education Association Conference in Cleveland. Photo provided.</p>

Two Milford High School students, Ellen Long (on left) and Sarah Morgan, were selected to perform with the Ohio All-State Honor Band at the Ohio Music Education Association Conference in Cleveland. Photo provided.

The Milford Exempted Village School Board of Education met on Feb. 17 to discuss the latest with the bond, a question about books, and recognize high school band members.

Brian Rabe, treasurer, presented on the bond. Previously, voters approved a bond measure in the November 2021 General Election to build a new grades six-to-eight middle school.

The bond was estimated to be 30 years at a 3.5 percent interest rate. However, Rabe said lower-than-expected interest rates meant they can issue the bond at a cost of 3.08 percent, or a represented cost-savings of $5 million to residents, because the actual bonds issued represented $50.9 million instead of the original $55.9 million.

That savings to taxpayers typically comes at the end of the life of the bonds, Rabe said.

“This was a true ‘win-win’ scenario for us,” Rabe said in a press release. “During the sale, our bonds were very attractive to investors. That is due in part to our high bond rating (Aa2) and our financial stability as a district. This is great news, to be able to save our taxpayers money while still bringing in the revenue needed to complete the project.”

Once voters approved selling bonds to raise the $55.9 million needed for the new school, a financial institute, like RBC Capital Markets in Cincinnati, sells the bonds and gives the money to the District, Rabe explained.

Tax money then goes to paying back the bond and interest over the years.

The Ohio Facilities Construction Commission is contributing $11,559,512 to the total, for the building fund, which is $23,315,136 total.

Milford Schools’ local share with no state co-funding is under the “classroom facilities” fund, totalling $32,584,864.

Overall, that comes to the $54.9 million figure.

During discussion on the Appropriations resolution, Rabe explained that the District is actually sending money back that it received as part of the COVID-19 relief funding from the state, to help students with broadband internet access.

Rabe said they did provide internet to students, but because it was a limited number of students, they have money leftover to then send back.

The District received $42,410 through the BroadbandOhio Connectivity Grant. Appropriation outlays shows they spent $20,980, with another $1,799 spent the previous fiscal year. The rest will be returned.

Jerry Combs, board member, said he would vote no on the Appropriations resolution because of the COVID-19 relief funds included.

“I just want to make sure that we’re digging in and understanding that there’s no strings attached to the COVID-19 relief fund,” he said.

In other words, Combs said it’s a large amount of funds coming into the District and he wants to understand that there’s no strings attached, and make sure the public has had input into the allocation of the money.

Melissa Nolan, board member, agreed with Combs’ reasoning and also voted no.

Rabe explained that the initial $2.5 million the District received was already approved for allocation for this year. But there is still additional COVID-19 funds left unallocated.

The funds in question concern the State’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief grant, as part of CARES Act federal money. A total of $489.2 million was disbursed to Ohio’s schools; the first of these is meant for allocation by Sept. 30, with two more the following two years, also in September. That first allocation already approved was the $2.5 million figure.

Funds can be used for a wide array of issues to address “needs arising from the coronavirus pandemic,” including training and professional development on sanitizing and minimizing the spread of infectious disease; improving indoor air quality; providing meals and technology to students in need; providing mental health services; addressing “learning loss,”; and more.

Board members Dave Meranda, Emily Chesnut and Emily Mason voted yes, so the resolution passed.

At the end of the meeting, Nolan proposed forming a parental community advisory committee to review “appropriate” textbooks and reading materials for the high school students.

She said that’s based on a number of “concerns” or “complaints” she’s received.

“We are not in a position where we are going to censor books; we are in a position where we going to be community related,” Paul Daniels, director of secondary curriculum, said.

He added that there’s a matter of finding the middle ground, both allowing choice within the curriculum, i.e., looking at books of high interest among, but that the books also still meet family values representative of a diverse community.

Where it gets “fuzzy” is when it gets to AP classes because there’s less leeway there, Daniels added.

In the summer of 2021, students in grades nine through 12 were tasked with reading the 2012 novel, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. The book is set during the Great Recession and follows Clay Jannon, who leaves behind his tech job in San Francisco to work at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, where secrets lurk behind the dusty book jackets.

As a matter of policy, the District notes on the website for the summer reading material, “If a parent requests that his/her own child not read a given book, the teacher and/or school administrator should resolve the issue, perhaps by arranging for use of alternative material meeting essentially the same instructional purpose.”

Books in the ElA curriculum for 10th graders, for example, range from magical realism to graphic novels to classic literature and poetry (Yeats, Shakespeare, Chekhov) to modern memoirs, such as an option to read Malala Yousafazi’s memoir, I Am Malala, her story about supporting educating girls in Pakistan, despite the threat (which they would carry out against her) of the Taliban.

On the curriculum front, the District makes public the book lists for each course, broken down by grade level, and for more than just ELA, including mathematics, science, social studies, world languages and fine arts.

Those interested in viewing the curriculum online can visit https://sites.google.com/milfordschools.org/secondarycurriculum/home.

Daniels said the all-school summer read has not been chosen for summer 2022, as of this writing, and that ELA curriculum revisions are also currently taking place for grades K-12.

“Currently, our staff is reviewing materials from different vendors to determine our process to adopt new resources; it is possible this process could span into the next school year for certain grade bands,” Daniels said in a follow-up with The Sun. “New resources purchased for the school district will be board-approved.”

The past practice for summer reading has been to present that information in the Curriculum and Instruction Committee and share that as an informational item, he said.

“We are proud of our reading list, and as always there may be a level of discomfort with students and families. Our staff has accommodated alternate book requests for many years and it is a policy that we have as referenced on the summer reading website,” Daniels noted.

He added, “We listen to all feedback and it helps inform our decision-making process.”

In band news, Josh Kauffman, director of fine arts and extracurriculars, said Ellen Long, a senior on the clarinet, and Sarah Morgan, a junior on euphonium, were two of just 74 high school musicians across the state who auditioned and were chosen to perform in the Ohio All-State Band at the Ohio Music Education Association Conference in Cleveland.

Long was placed in first chair on clarinet, meaning, she’s the best clarinet player at the high school level in Ohio, Kauffman said. Morgan earned second chair in euphonium.

In the Board’s monthly, students’ artwork was recognized. The artwork will be displayed throughout the administrative offices of the board, located at 1099 state Route 131, until the next Board meeting.

This month, students from Seipelt Elementary School were recognized: Cruz Davis, first grade; Isabelle Dedden, third grade; Alaina Nickley, third grade; Keilah Loranzan, fourth grade; Luke Schwerzler, fourth grade; Zoey Myers, sixth grade; Zoe Gallagher, sixth grade; and Kendall Vaught, sixth grade.