It's back to school time for students and families. Most of the students in the Akron Public Schools return to classes next week. It is the second year for the district under the leadership of Dr. Michael Robinson. He accepted the role of superintendent in 2023.
The district is facing a budget shortfall and some of the first decisions Robison had to make in his tenure were those to cut back, including eliminating 285 staff positions, including more than 50 teachers. Nearly half of the cuts made were via attrition, including retirements and removing vacant positions.
The district says its expenses are outpacing revenues and that an influx of money is needed. That's why voters will be asked to approve a combined bond and levy proposal in November.
While many school districts will be implementing student cell phone bans this year, Akron has been way ahead on that front and has already seen results from its current policy.
To begin Wednesday’s “Sound of Ideas,” we will sit down with Robinson to talk about his first year leading Akron Public Schools and the year ahead as students return to class.
Then, the coalition that worked to put an anti-gerrymandering amendment on the November ballot has filed suit against the Ohio Ballot Board.
Citizens Not Politicians wants the Ohio Supreme Court to force the Ballot Board to rewrite the ballot summary language for the issue. This is the language the voters will see when deciding whether to vote for the issue. The amendment which seeks to take politicians out of the process of making Ohio's political district maps will appear as Issue 1 on the November ballot.
The Ohio Ballot Board approved summary language drafted by Secretary of State Frank LaRose. It's nearly 900 words long, but the length LaRose says was needed due to the complexity of the issue. An attorney for Citizens Not Politicians has called the summary language a "farce of Shakesperean proportions."
We will talk about the legal challenge with our statehouse team.
We will conclude the hour with the second part of our conversation with Ideastream’s summer intern class as they also head back to classes.
Guests:
-C. Michael Robinson Jr., Ed.D., Superintendent, Akron Public Schools
-Jo Ingles, Statehouse News Bureau Reporter
-Nora Igelnik, Sound of Ideas Intern
-Graeme Grady, WCLV Intern
-Shatara Jordan, Digital Content Intern