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Focusing community as ‘education village’
It was Antioch College President Joan Straumanis who
came up with the phrase that would frame much of the discussion at Saturday’s
strategic planning forum, sponsored by the Yellow Springs Men’s
Group.
Noting that Yellow Springs is a “village in
which education is a major industry,” Straumanis said that the presence
of public, private and higher educational facilities here makes Yellow Springs
an “education village.”
The members of a breakout group focusing on education
then highlighted as a priority the importance of valuing education and providing
resources for pre-kindergarten through college and adult education. Dianeah
Wanicek said that the community should “keep building on the idea”
that Yellow Springs values education.
“Every time we talk about the development of
institutions, we ought to be talking about improving Antioch College and
Antioch University McGregor,” Straumanis said later in the day during
a large-group discussion.
The education group was one of five discussion groups
that looked at selected challenges facing Yellow Springs and Miami Township
during “Where We Are and Where Are We Going,” a daylong planning
forum held at Wright State University, which was attended by about 70 people.
The forum centered on data published in the 2002 “Yellow Springs Cost
of Living Report,” which the Men’s Group sponsored.
During the breakout sessions, participants identified
priorities and challenges facing their topic and selected action plans to
address those issues.
The 11-member education group voted as its top priorities
focusing Yellow Springs as an education village; increasing enrollment of
all local schools; and maintaining academic quality. The group also acknowledged
goals related to increase the community’s tax base, addressing the
school culture, and providing affordable housing.
The Yellow Springs school district said in a report
prepared for the forum that its “major challenges” are:
• Meeting state and federal standards in spite
of the limitations of a small district
• Increasing “in district” enrollment
as percentage of total enrollment
• Maintaining a quality educational program
in light of double digit insurance increases within the present sources
of funding
• Increasing the commercial and industrial
tax base as a means of reducing reliance on agricultural and residential
taxes
The education group included Bill Alexander (from
the Men’s Group), Superintendent Tony Armocida, Bob Barcus (Tecumseh
Land Trust), school board president Rich Bullock, Sean Creighton (Community
Children’s Center), Ellen Hoover (Community Resources), Jeanna Peifer
(Methodist Church), Straumanis, Wanicek (Dharma Center), Jo Wilson (Arts
Council) and this reporter.
Among the priorities selected by the education group,
the idea of promoting Yellow Springs as an education village received the
most support. Straumanis recommended that the group come up with an infrastructure
that integrates resources and expertise of the community’s academic
institutions.
Barcus, who runs the Yellow Springs Psychological
Center, suggested that representatives from local public and private schools,
plus Antioch, meet regularly as a group modeled after chambers of commerce.
The Saturday education group endorsed this idea and proposed that the education
chamber carry on many of its ideas.
The group’s discussion on increasing enrollment
focused on the public schools, which, according to the district’s
report, currently has 694 students in Mills Lawn Elementary, McKinney Middle
and Yellow Springs High School. Of those students, 113, or 16 percent, are
open-enrollment students from other school districts who pay to attend school
here. Armocida said that the schools have the capacity for 850 to 900 students.
After the forum, the school board office reported
that in 1972–73, the earliest year figures are available, the district
had 1,051 students; in 1982–83, 748; and in ’92–93, 657
students.
Noting that enrollment is a “critical issue”
for the schools, Armocida said that the district needs to increase the number
of students from Yellow Springs in the schools. He also estimated that half
the open-enrollment students once lived in Yellow Springs, but their families
moved out of town because of housing costs.
Members of the education group said that providing
more affordable, or moderately priced, housing could increase student enrollment.
Creighton suggested providing a subsidy to help
offset the cost of day care. He also questioned whether more people with
young children would move to Yellow Springs if daycare were free.
Wanicek said that housing benefits should be provided
to teachers to help them live in town.
The education group suggested several ways to address
its third priority, maintaining academic quality. Wilson said that she wanted
the schools to maintain a low student-teacher ratio. Currently, it’s
13 to 1, the district reported. Armocida noted that the district needs to
continue to generate the funding to run the schools by increasing the local
tax base.
Bullock said that the district needs to focus on
professional development of teachers. Barcus suggested that the schools
allow students to evaluate their teachers.
The group stressed the importance of maintaining
a “holistic, balanced approach to education” that includes extracurricular
activities and nurtures students’ relationships with each other and
maintains a diverse student body and staff. Group members also said that
the district needs to have a safe and orderly environment.
Armocida described the ideas generated by the group
as “doable,” saying that they give “us a direction and
something we can hang our hat on.”
—Robert Mihalek |
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