The Vernal Equinox is just days away (March 24 at 5:24 p.m.), and Leah and I are looking forward to our first spring in Bay. The days are longer, the weather is warmer and everything is beginning to bloom. What’s not to like? Like the proverb says: hope springs eternal! 

It’s easy to be hopeful every day in this district; our students and staff are doing amazing things. Whether it’s honoring a state champion swimmer or recognizing our middle school writers, we always have something to brag about! Please read on to learn about all these accomplishments. They just keep coming!

And don’t forget, Treasurer Meghan Rohde and I have two more Coffee Chats scheduled before the end of this school year, including one on Friday, March 31 at the new Bay Library from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. I encourage you to stop by and ask us any questions you may have. If you can’t make this one, we’ll be at Mojo’s on Friday, May 5 from 7:30-8:30 a.m.

Be Proud To Be Bay and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Announcement:
Your Input is Welcome

The Bay Village City School District Board of Education announces a public hearing to discuss the use of federal IDEA, Title I and other federal funds to be held at 6:30 p.m. at the beginning of the regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting on Monday, April 17, 2023 at the Board of Education/KT Allen Building, 377 Dover Center Road. The regularly scheduled Board meeting will follow immediately afterward. For further information or to submit a comment without attending, please contact the Director of Special Services or the Curriculum Director at 440-617-7300.

2023 Merit Finalist

In October, Bay Village Schools announced that Bay High School Senior Anna Mayer was recognized as a Semifinalist in the 2023 National Merit® Scholarship Program (NMSP). Bay High School Principal Jason Martin was recently notified by NMSP that Anna has advanced to Finalist standing in the 68th annual competition. Anna is now eligible for Merit Scholarship awards totaling more than $30 million to be awarded later this spring. Anna is one of only 15,000 Finalists of the more than 1.5 million NMSP entrants.

Celebrating a State Champ and Other State-qualifying Athletes

Congratulations to BHS’ Nina LaRosa who won first place in the 100-yard Breaststroke at the recent 2023 Swimming & Diving State Tournament in Canton. Your State Champ broke her own school record with a time of 1:02.57. Nina also placed 6th in the State 100-yard Butterfly.

We also congratulate Divers Charlie Vatolin (5th place), Bennett Bourn (21st place) and Belle Dent (24th place) for their accomplishments at the tournament.

BHS Wrestler Anthony Rocco, far left, placed 8th at the Wrestling State Tournament last weekend, and becomes the 25th State placer in the history of BHS Wrestling.

Seven BHS students represented the Rockets at the OTCCC Indoor State Track meet: Jayden Perrine, long jump (9th place); 4x800m Relay of Will Dunstan, Connor Spellman, Kieran Ripley, Iain Ray (16th place); Payton Krafcheck, long jump (17th) and Michael Hanselman, 3200m (21st place).

Celebrating Our ‘Superior’ Music Students at OMEA State Competition

The Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) is the Ohio state-level affiliate of MENC: The National Association for Music Education. Our BHS Band, Choir and Orchestra were all recently recognized at the OMEA statewide contests. Please click HERE to see a complete list of BHS students who were recently recognized at state-level OMEA competitions.

Destination Imagination Teams State Bound

Bay Village Schools has seven teams who have qualified for the Ohio Destination (OHDI) State Tournament next month in Barberton. Congratulations to the following teams and students:

WESTERLY
Drama Squad: Alice Fanter, Veronica Hyland, Annabelle Ligman, Margaret Thanos and Alexandra Williams.
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun: Maisie Bower, Vivian Boyll, Kourtney Dussault, Audrey Kavanaugh and Sophia McCall.
Purple Frogs: William Saine, Luke Sanders, Grover Brown, Logan Rutan, Abdur Kazmi, Avinash Ratani and Henry Losey.

BAY MIDDLE SCHOOL
Rambunctious Hyenas: Jalen Brewer, Braeden Egan, Adrian Ray, Andrew Davey and Oliver Hignett.
Not the Team You're Looking for: Jonah Bendoraitis, Nova Spellman, Cam Williams, Ewan Maile, Charlie Stelik and Abdur Kazmi.

BAY HIGH SCHOOL
Plastic Bush Gooses: Sam Brown, Kellie Keane, Clara Lang, Simona Overfield, Evelyn Ray and Brendan Spellman. 
The Crew: James Chilton, Annie Davenport, James Fowles, Patrick Lehane, Finn Meadows, Maeve Ransom and Iain Ray.

Bay Middle School Power of the Pen Advances

The Bay Middle School Power of the Pen writing teams fared well at Regional competition at Baldwin Wallace University last weekend. Highlights include a first-place finish by seventh-grader Veronica Sebastian. Eighth-grader Cam Williams won Best of Round and was chosen for the Platinum Pen Award. And the seventh-grade team of Allison Pistorino, Veronica Sebastian, Claire Jenkins, Nora French and Sophie Johnson earned fourth place. Next up: State competition at Ashland University this May.

BHS
Yearbook
Honored

Last year’s BHS Yearbook, Down by the Bay, was considered one of the top covers in the nation, and will be displayed in Jostens’ “Look Book” as an exemplary design.

Save the Dates for Westerly STEM Camp

STEM Camp 2023 will take place from 8 a.m. to Noon weekdays from June 20-30 at Westerly School. This fun and hands-on, science-based program is for students entering grades 1-5 for the 2023-24 school year. More information is coming soon!

Personal…My husband and I have been married for six years. Our son, Everett (who attends Glenview) is 2 1/2 and we also have another on the way due in early August! This is my 13th year teaching, and my sixth year with Glenview.  

Where are you from? Vermilion, OH

Hobbies and interests…I enjoy reading mystery novels, shoe shopping and spending time with family. We also are huge Disney fans and usually visit the most magical place on earth a couple times a year.

What’s one thing most people don’t know about you? I have been to Disney World, Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. Visiting all of the Disney parks around the world is on my bucket list.

What did you want to be when you grew up? I've actually always known that teaching was my calling (that is, after I turned 5 and realized "Princess" wasn't an option).

Favorite color…Dark green.

Favorite thing about Bay Village Schools…The sense of family and community is definitely the most wonderful thing about our district. I am lucky to work in a building where I am able to share things one-on-one with parents and families on a daily basis. It really does take a village, and no place does it better than BAY Village!
 
Favorite thing about the CLE/Northeast Ohio…I truly think our region does not get enough credit. We have so many big-city things like sporting events, Broadway shows and museums, all with that close-knit community feel. It's really the best of both worlds!

Favorite quote…"You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try."
  ~ Dolly Parton

Kindergarten Registration for 2023-24 School Year

Please visit this link if you still need to register your child for Kindergarten for the 2023-24 school year.

Sharing news clips of our students and staff
making headlines in the region and beyond!

BHS Recognized for Gender-gap Closing in AP Computer Science

BHS Centennial Named ‘Project of the Year’ by Community Council

Normandy Students, Bay Senior Citizens Read Together in Bay Buddy Program
(Story Continued)

Bay Village Mom, Son Star in Local Theatrical Production

Normandy First-graders Celebrate Valentine’s Day

Normandy Second-grader State Wrestling Champion

Newsies Comes to BHS Auditorium

What Does a School Board Member Do?

As one of the largest groups of elected officials in the state of Ohio, school board members are charged with the important responsibility of providing the best educational opportunities for young people. Here are some specific responsibilities that school board members perform, and conversely, others that are not part of our roles. 

What School Board Members Do
-School board members set educational goals and establish policies for the school district based on state laws and community values. 
-School board members hire and evaluate the school district’s superintendent and treasurer, and hold them responsible for managing the district in accordance with the school board’s policies.
-School board members set district policy.
-School board members advise the superintendent.
-School board members set goals and long-range plans.
-School board members adopt curriculum.
-School board members establish budgets.
-School board members engage parents
-School board members are good fiscal stewards.
-School board members create community relations programs.
-School board members act in the best interest of the school district within the scope of their legal authority.

What School Board Members Do Not Do
-School board members do not manage day-to-day school district operations. 
-School board members do not evaluate any staff other than the superintendent or treasurer.
-School board members do not conduct employment interviews beyond those of the superintendent, business manager or treasurer, but may be consulted during the hiring process for other positions.
Skills that school board members may find helpful in their roles include being an informed and confident decision-maker and practicing public outreach. School board members are the link between schools and the community, and help the public understand and support their local school district. The Ohio Schools Board Association website is a great resource for anyone who would like more information on Ohio school boards and school board members.

If you have any questions for the Board, please click here to send an email. To view the list of Work Sessions and Regular Board Meetings for calendar year 2023, please click here. To view the list of Committee Meetings, please click here. 

 Sincerely,
 The Bay Village Board of Education

March 15–BHS Winter Sports Banquet, 6:30 p.m., BHS

March 17–No School  (Glenview OPEN)

March 20–Board of Education Public Hearing on use of federal IDEA, Title I and other federal funds, 6:30 p.m. with Board of Education Meeting beginning at 7 p.m.

March 20–Westerly PTA Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Westerly

March 23–Spring Musical Newsies, 7 p.m., BHS Auditorium

March 24–Spring Musical Newsies, 7 p.m., BHS Auditorium 

March 25–BHS Softball Team Shoe Drive, 12-3 p.m., BHS West Gym

March 25–Spring Musical Newsies, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., BHS Auditorium

March 27–District Choir Concert, 7 p.m., BHS

March 29–BMS Band Solo and Ensemble Recital, 7 p.m., BMS

March 30–BMS Strings Recital, 7 p.m., BMS

March 31–Coffee Chat with Supt. Prebles, 11:30 a.m.-1230 p.m., Bay Library

March 31–Westerly’s Family Fun Night, 6 p.m., Westerly

House Bill 1 and Its Potential Effect on School Funding
 
House Bill 1 would modify property taxation and income tax rates. This bill would raise taxes for property owners and could have a significant negative impact on traditional public schools and local governments.  

It appears the intent of the bill is to provide a large income tax cut, especially to top earners, through establishing a 2.75% flat tax. This tax would be made possible by significantly restructuring the current property tax system, which would reduce the property tax collections that fund schools and local governments.

HB1 proposes the elimination of the 10% rollback property tax relief program, which is currently a program paid for by the state. This legislation would push this tax expense to local taxpayers from the state.  

HB1 proposes to reduce the assessed percentage on residential and agricultural property from 35% to 31.5%. This would reduce the tax revenues going to schools and other local governments. In addition, residential and agricultural property taxpayers will have their taxes automatically increased to offset the reduction in valuation created by the bill's proposed assessed value decrease.

HB1 would also change the Homestead tax relief program from a 2.5% of tax bill relief amount to a flat $125 property tax relief from the state. This would raise taxes for property owners with tax bills higher than $5,000, and would benefit taxpayers with tax bills less than $5,000.   

Potential issues from HB1 include: districts and municipalities needing to go back to the ballot sooner because of loss of revenue, taxpayer resistance to approve new levies with possible property tax increases and tax rates for bonds increasing to ensure sufficient revenue to pay debt. 

Statewide, the fiscal impact of HB1, according to the Ohio Education Policy Institute, is as follows:

-$538 million annual decrease in local tax revenues for schools and local governments.
-$929 million annual tax increase for residential and agricultural property taxpayers.
-$157 million annual tax decrease for business and commercial property taxpayers.

Below is a graph of the potential effects of HB1 on our district’s cash balance over the next five years.

If you have any financial questions related to Bay Village Schools,
please email Treasurer Meghan Rohde. 

Sunahara Brothers Find Athletic Success

The Sunahara Brothers, Rex ‘15 and RJ ‘18, achieved many achievements on the fields and courts while participating in Bay High School athletics, and that success continues for both former Rockets.

Class of 2015 graduate Rex was signed by the XFL’s San Antonio Brahmas as a long snapper after playing for West Virginia University. After graduating from WVU, Rex had stints with the NFL’s Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers before joining the new XFL. In between his time with the two football leagues, the former Bay High football and basketball standout returned home to assist with Rocket football.

RJ, a Class of 2018 alumnus, has had an outstanding college basketball career at Division 2 Nova Southeastern University in Florida. He has received numerous honors playing forward for the team, including nine Sunshine State Conference Player of the Week awards, and recently awarded the SSC Player of the Year. With RJ’s help, his team has completed its second straight undefeated regular season.

Photos courtesy West Virginia University Athletics and Nova Southeastern University Athletics 

Bay Village Community Council

The Bay Village Community Council is where Bay Village’s civic groups come together. Representatives from clubs, service groups and nonprofit organizations meet four or five times a year to discuss upcoming events and initiatives, share ideas and look for collaboration opportunities. 

Bay Village Community Council is also well known for its Citizen of the Year and Project of the Year campaigns. Since 1976, the Community Council has awarded the annual designation of Citizen of the Year. Nominations are accepted from community members on behalf of Bay Village residents who have provided significant community service without monetary reward. Although not an annual designation, special projects are considered for Project of the Year based on community impact and the involvement of volunteers and organizations. Nominations for both categories are due in January each year.

Sherri Reilly was recently named the 2023 Bay Village Citizen of the Year for her work at the Community Garden on behalf of the Village Project, and the Bay High School Centennial was named the 2023 Bay Village Project of the Year for recognizing 100 years of high school in Bay Village.

Community Council membership is open to all civic organizations in Bay Village. For more information, please email Community Council President Tara Wendell or visit the group’s page on the city of Bay Village’s website.