By JOHN BADEN
Record Herald Writer
Courtesy of the Record Herald; Printed 7.29.12
TIPP CITY – Due to financial cutbacks, Tipp City Exempted Village Schools will not be accepting any open enrollment students unless they attended and finished the previous school year in Tipp.
Student Brittany Schulte was informed of the decision by Superintendent Dr. John Kronour at Monday’s board of education meeting.
Schulte, who will be a senior this fall, was at the meeting with her mother, Martha Smith, and her stepfather, Darion Smith. Schulte previously attended Tipp schools from the fifth grade up to the start of her junior year of high school.
Two weeks into her junior year, her family moved to Huber Heights, which meant that Schulte could no longer attend Tippecanoe for school.
She spent the fall at Wayne High School and left because she “didn’t feel at home” and found the teachers to not be as helpful as the teachers at Tipp.
In the spring, she went to school at Ohio Virtual Academy (OHVA).
“I believe without attending Tipp in previous years, I would not have the self-discipline and learning abilities to handle OHVA,” Schulte said.
Despite getting advanced education from OHVA, Schulte said that the school “did not reach the expectations” she received from Tippecanoe High School.
With her final year of high school coming up, her family has recently moved to Vandalia to give Schulte the opportunity to attend Tipp her senior year through open enrollment.
“It would mean everything to me to be able to graduate from Tippecanoe High School with all the teachers and friends I have made, who I have been drawn close to and have helped me throughout the years,” Schulte said.
Kronour responded that the high school is not accepting seniors on open enrollment due to the cutbacks in staff and the size of each classroom. The only exemption is if the enrollment student attended and finished the previous school year at Tipp.
“We stated right up front that there’s no guarantee year to year that we’re going to be able to accept open enrollment students,” Kronour said. “The only guarantee to be able to attend Tipp Schools is if you live within the Tipp boundaries.”
While he couldn’t promise anything, Kronour said that he would go back and look at class sizes and see if there could be room made from Schulte and a couple other seniors seeking open enrollment at the school.
“Believe me,” Kronour said. “In the financial times that we’re in, we’d love to be able to say we’re going to take more.”
Make-up procedures
In other action, the board passed a resolution to use online lessons to make up for snow days and other calamity days.
Kronour said that it is the exact same policy from last school year, which wasn’t used. This plan is more of an alternative to making up school on holidays and weekends and would only go into effect if the school missed more than a week of classes.
According to the resolution, lessons would be created by the school’s staff and posted on their webpage in May if needed. Students will be given two weeks to complete the lesson after the posting date.
Tipp Foundation grants
The board also accepted two grants from the Tipp Foundation. The foundation gave $1,367.75 to L.T. Ball Intermediate School toward a fifth grade trip to Victoria Theatre.
Tipp City Schools also received $3,000 toward their in-school suspension program. This will go towards the high school and can also go towards the middle school as well.
Upcoming dates
On Aug. 1 at 6 p.m., the Tipp City Board of Education will have a special meeting work session at the board office to discuss contingency strategies in case the levy does not pass.
The following day, there will be a “Levy Open Forum” at 7 p.m. at L.T. Ball Intermediate School.
The next board of education meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 27.
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