United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to discuss school reform and federal education
reductions. Although many districts in Ohio have begun to pull out of Race to the Top, we reaffirmed
our commitment when our Board and the teachers union signed a Memorandum of Understanding to
stay in Race to the Top and participate in the Ohio Teacher Evaluation system, although we did not have
to contractually. I am honored to be strategically positioned to personally discuss policy issues directly
with United States Associate Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education, Deborah Delisle by my
invitation to call her direct at any time.
Internationally, I met with the superintendent of the Worthington’s Chinese Immersion Schools and in
partnership have made arrangements that they can expand their use of the Worthington School facilities
during the weekend. This allows more of our students to take part in this extended learning.
Additionally, I have accepted an invitation from its superintendent of travel to China in summer 2014 to
study the Chinese education system and culture so as to increase relations of Worthington’s Chinese
student population.
Specifically, how did you involve your community stakeholders in the process?
I have engaged our district’s key communicators to keep the community informed through various
communication methods. The District has a Key Communicators group for discussing education with
our community, which connects with residents and builds a base of strong advocates for Worthington
Schools. Our treasurer has a Treasurer Advisory Committee for community members to discuss finance.
Our quarterly newsletter is sent to every household, informing them of educational changes and current
financial challenges. The finance department is transparent, by annually providing a Comprehensive
Annual Financial Report (CAFR), Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR), and a Comprehensive
Budget document.
As a result, what innovations are you implementing in your school system?
We are adopting the following best practices to dramatically reduce expenses. PRINTING. (a)Migrating
to digital textbooks and digital technology for testing and general communication. (b) Using Infinite
Campus (an online system) for handouts and student resources. (c) Creating a unified solution that
seamlessly transfers documents into multi-device formats. (d) Partnering with Northwest Community
Counseling services to acquire more than $150,000 in annual grant funding form the Alcohol, Drug and
Mental Health Board of Franklin County to provide new school-based prevention and treatment services
for our students and their parents (attached supporting documents). ALLIANCES. (e) Partnering with
the City of Worthington to acquire an Outpost Property at no cost from the Ohio Department of
Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA, fhwa.dot.gov/). Worthington Schools
and the city will jointly use the property to house our respective landscape maintenance department.
Nominations:
Former Employeer
Thomas would be an outstanding candidate for the 2014 Superintendent of the Year Award has he
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