The Boardman Local School District concluded a three-day ‘visioning’ seminar last Friday with many of the 60 people who attended suggesting the local school system should collaborate more in the classroom---In other words students should study/work together in small groups, and teachers should ‘pair-up’ when delivering their lessons or providing other classroom duties.
      The visioning seminar was directed by Harvard graduate and educational planner, Dr. Frank Locker, who touted what he called “21st Century Schools.”
      The local school system paid Locker $22,000 to oversee the seminar.
      Locker said that 21st Century schools will shift from “teacher-centered learning to student-centered learning,” and “the end of the classroom as we know it.”
      Locker’s three-day event was staged in light of an Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) report received by the Boardman Local School Board last November that suggested the local district needs upwards of $130 million in capital improvements, all but 17 per cent of that cost borne by local taxpayers.
      Among the concepts often-heard at the visioning forum were the closing of two elementary schools (West Blvd. and Market St.), and consolidation of Boardman’s two middle schools into a ‘new building’ that would adjoin the current Boardman High School.
      While Boardman Local School Board member John Landers told those at the visioning forum that the school board has not determined what to do about its buildings, Supt. Frank Lazzeri called the forum “A starting point... We all agree some things need changed for our students and our teachers.”
      Lazzeri said “The next step is to put a strategic plan together. We can start that process maybe later this year.”
      “We need to have teachers, parents and administrators involved in this process,” the superintendent added.
      Lazzeri indicated that ‘local control’ of school systems may no longer a reality in light of the federal mandates of No Child Left Behind and the Common Core curriculum.
      Should the local school board move forward with some type of capital improvement program, the superintendent said “The only place we can get state money is if we follow state guidelines.”
      Boardman teacher Maddalena Amero echoed an opinion voiced by many teachers at the forum, the frustrating impact of teaching to state-mandated standards.
      “State testing frustrates teachers,” Amero said, adding “Testing takes over the schools and the professionalism of teachers.”
      Last Friday’s forum began with discussion on spaces in future school buildings, like classrooms.
      Locker suggested 21st Century schools include round classrooms (more expensive to build than square classrooms), no straight hallways, new furniture and “the end of the library as we know it.”
      A variety of learning modalities were suggested, including student collaboration, project-based learning, technology that includes mobile devices, and service learning (like the Distributive Education program of two decades ago).
      Locker suggested educators of the 21st Century are “looking for natural alignments...buildings that build relationships.”
      In such a building, local architect Ray Jaminet, who just completed construction of a new Beaver Local High School, said that teachers may no longer have their own classroom.
      “Classrooms will be used to teach more than just one subject, and teachers in the future will have their own office,” Jaminet said.
      A school library of the future would provide areas for students to collaborate, provide socialization and perhaps a snack area.
      “Books might be replaced by mobile devices,” Locker suggested.
      He also said school cafeterias of the future would provide students with a place for “greater sensitivity to social issues.”
      For example, instead of eating at ‘long tables,’ students could sit at round tables.
      “With your present facilities, you can do some things, but not like you could if facilities were designed for 21st Century schools,” Locker said.
      It seemed ironic that one of the most-favored concepts at the visioning forum---students and teachers collaborating---is a process that requires no, new buildings.
      Local school officials have been suggesting for the past several years that Center Middle School needs to be shut down, complaining that portions of the building are 100-years-old, there is no air conditioning, and there is not adequate space to wire the building to future standards that require computer learning.
      Despite such conditions, the Ohio Department of Education rates Center Middle School as achieving an ‘A,’ with 100 per cent of indicators met on the state report card.
      During the visioning forum, Supt. Lazzeri made an impassioned plea of the negative impact of trying to teach children at Center Middle in classrooms that are not air conditioned.
      “Believe me, I’ve been in those classrooms on hot fall and spring days, and it is hot,” Lazzeri said.
      One Center Middle teacher, Brad Calhoun, who also serves as a Boardman Township Trustee, disputed the superintendent’s position.
      “It doesn’t matter what type of environment you’re in,” Calhoun said, noting “A good teacher will find a way to educate children, no matter what the conditions.”
      Whether local school officials consolidate elementary and middle schools, or resize the current high school to include a wing for middle school students, or take any action, it is in response to the OSFC report issued last November.
      That report said the current high school building needed the following:
      •$4.063 million for a complete roof replacement.
      •$4.627 million for complete replacement of the electrical system.
      •$890,680 for security upgrades including the installations of outside barriers.
      •$426,147 for a new fire alarm system.
      •$825,059 to make the building more handicap accessible.
      •$1.293 million to improve the ‘site condition’ on the some 20-plus acres the school building sits on.
      •$146,500 for replace all 65 outside doors to the school and five overhead doors.
      •$331,068 for hazardous materials removal, including the removal of floor tile and piping insulation.
      •$1.169 million for ‘life safety’ that includes additional fire extinguishers in the school.
      •$1 million to replace ‘most of the furniture’ in the school.
      •$1.929 million to update technology.
      The current high school was built in 1969 at a cost of some $4.5 million.
      A new high school could cost upwards of $75 million, the school board was told last November.
      The OSFC study issued last November called for some $94 million in capital improvements to middle school and elementary school buildings, including
      •$29.488 million at Center Middle School.
      •$20.389 million at Glenwood Middle School.
      •$10.389 million at Market St. Elementary School.
      •$6.339 million at Robinwood Lane Elementary School.
      •$7.5 million at Stadium Dr. Elementary School.
      •$11.134 million at West Blvd. Elementary School.
      Because of the total cost of some $130 million called for by the OSFC, the local school board appears to be searching for more economical ways to reshape its system by consolidating schools, and at the same time laying the groundwork for a bond levy to fund construction of capital improvements.
      The visioning forum was the first step in that process.
      “You have to prep people,” Supt. Lazzeri said.
      Ohio School Report Cards issued by the Ohio Department of Education indicate that Boardman Local School students are largely achieving success in their current buildings and classrooms.
      In terms of achievement, the overall Boardman Local School District received a grade of ‘A’ on the state report card last year.
      Boardman High School, Center Middle School, West Blvd. Elementary School, Stadium Dr. Elementary School and Robinwood Lane Elementary School also received A’s. Glenwood Middle School received a ‘B’ on the state report card.
      The system’s lowest achieving school, Market St. Elementary School, where more than 60 per cent of its 400 student population are eligible for free or reduced lunches, received a C. According to the Ohio Department of Education, 54 per cent of the students at Market St. are economically disadvantaged.
      The overall student population of the Boardman Local School District has been declining for the past two decades, to about 4250 students last year.
      Supt. Lazzeri said he expects the student population to stabilize at current levels, suggesting the need to consolidate schools.
      “We used to be concerned about efficiency. Now we are concerned about effectiveness,” Lazzeri said when the forum opened
      “The 21st Century is very different that when we went to school...We are going to do some recalibration,” Locker said.