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Primarily serving Pataskala and surrounding areas
May 29, 2011
Licking Heights superintendent
Tucker chosen for top job in Worthington By CANDY BROOKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers Thomas Tucker has been named superintendent of Worthington schools. Tucker, currently superintendent of the Licking Heights Local School District, will begin in August. He succeeds Melissa Conrath, who is retiring after five years with the district. The Worthington school board plans
to approve a contract for Tucker during a meeting set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 1. Details of his contract have not been finalized, and no salary has been announced. His current salary is $120,000. His expected salary is $160,000, according to his application. Tucker has been superintendent of Licking Heights for three years. During that time, the district received its
first “excellent” designation on Ohio’s report card. Licking Heights is a district of 3,287 students in western Licking County. He has 21 years experience in public education in Kansas and Ohio. Prior to Licking Heights, he was an administrator with Hilliard City Schools. He was born and raised in northeastern Arkansas and received his B.A. in English education from Philander
Smith College. He also has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Ohio State University. His wife, Janae, teaches elementary school in Dublin. Twenty-one candidates had applied for the Worthington position. “Throughout his career, Dr. Tucker has consistently demonstrated the leadership skills and vision necessary to take organizations to the next level,”
Worthington board president Marc Schare said in a prepared statement. “Under Dr. Tucker’s leadership and in conjunction with Worthington’s already strong leadership team, superb teaching staff and caring and talented support staff, we are excited by the opportunities the future will bring to Worthington students.” Tucker couldn’t be reached for comment by ThisWeek’s press deadline.
Licking Heights
AUCTION ACTION
Board sets hearing for retire-rehire contracts By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Chris Parker/ThisWeek
Pataskala Elementary School physical education teacher Suzanne Hayes shows off one of the chairs up for auction in the school gymnasium at the Pataskala community picnic and art auction May 26. Students painted 15 chairs from the public library. They were auctioned off to raise money for the historic Sterling Theater in downtown Pataskala. The auction netted $2,040. See related story, page A3.
Sewer-service expansion
Commissioners oppose Pataskala’s plans By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers The Licking County commissioners formally notified Pataskala by letter May 17 that they object to the city’s plans to expand its sewerservice area under an EPA-approved “208 plan,” in reference to the federal law that allows the Ohio EPA to
designate sewer-service providers in a geographic area. Following a utility study performed in 2010 by W.E. Stilson Consulting, engineers for the city, Pataskala officials decided they would promote the city’s utility service to expand its service area, allowing existing capital costs to be spread over a larger customer base.
The commssioners’letter states that the commissioners will pursue their objections with the EPA and asks that Pataskala limit its service to its corporate boundaries. County commissioner Tim Bubb said the commissioners see the 208 plan as a way to avoid wasteful duSee COMMISSIONERS, page A2
Visit www.ThisWeekNews.com to read the letter Licking County Commissioners sent to Pataskala objecting to the city’s plans to expand its sewer-service area under an EPA-approved “208 plan.”
The Licking Heights school board held a special meeting May 24 to correct procedural mistakes in its regular March 17 meeting regarding the retirement and rehiring of a custodian and the district building and grounds superintendent. The board had accepted resignation letters from Allen Rogers, director of facilities management, and Ronald Nutter, custodian, but had not complied with a public notice and public hearing requirement required under Ohio law. Treasurer Jennifer Vanover said that the school had been advised that it should hold a public hearing on the moves. Vanover said the public hearing would be held at the regular board meeting in July and then a special meeting will be held in August to complete the rehiring process. Vanover said Ohio law provides an opportunity for the public to comment on situations where employees give formal notice of retirement, triggering pension benefits, but also continue at the same job, earning salary in addition to pension payments. “It’s because people are not thrilled with the whole retire-rehire scenario,” Vanover said. “It allows the public the ability to (voice objections).” Board members said they mostly supported the idea of retire-rehire but recognized the public view was often different. “Let me paint a picture for you: What happens if we get to public hearing and we get a huge outcry of complaints?” said board member Richard Wand. Superintendent Thomas Tucker said the policy was a good one. “That’s OK, but at the end of the day, I advise the board to accept or continue with the retire-rehire policy,” Tucker said. “This just gives an opportunity to come and speak and express their opinions. See RETIRE-REHIRE, page A4
Granville, Licking Valley, Lakewood
Some county districts ranked in top 5 percent in statewide study By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers Three Licking County school districts are among 135 statewide who have been recognized for superior operational performance in non-classroom functions, according to a study released this week by Ohio Education Matters, a subsidiary of the KnowledgeWorks Foundation.
The Granville, Licking Valley and Lakewood school districts were identified in the study. Consultant Michael Harlow said KnowledgeWorks had been approached last year by the Ohio Department of Education to explore ways in which the state could save money spent on schools. The study released last week concluded that the state could save $1.4
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billion annually if all districts were to adopt the practices of the top 5 percent of schools in five categories, including central office administration, school administration, maintenance, transportation and food services. “They asked us what we thought about this and we said, ‘Let’s focus on operational spending, identifying efficiencies on all this stuff that happens
outside the classroom,’” Harlow said. “If districts could match their spending to benchmark districts, the state would save $1.4 billion.” The most savings, $618 million, would come from maintenance, followed by $248 million in central office administration, $240 million in school building administration, $138 million in food service and $126 mil-
M
emorial Day was not conceived to be the kickoff to summer activities or as a reason to schedule a threeday weekend. It was established to recognize the nation’s military veterans who died while fighting for their country. In keeping with efforts to recognize and honor the sacrifices and service of military veterans, ThisWeek Community Media is launching Honoring Heroes, a continuing series through which we will share the stories and remembrances from and about local men and women who are either on active duty or retired from service. As part of covering their beats, our reporters often hear about and write about veterans leaving for overseas or coming home
lion in transportation. Harlow said the study took into account the seven typologies used by the Ohio Department of Education to group similar schools. “We’re not comparing Granville to Newark or Granville to Columbus or Newark to Columbus,” Harlow said. See STATEWIDE STUDY, page A4
at the end of a tour of duty. We’ve covered funeral services of those who have sacrificed their lives. We’ve written about soldiers who arrive at their homes or their children’s schools to unexpectedly surprise their delighted families. We know many more stories are out there, waiting to be told. We want to tell them. And we need your help. If you have a story idea about a friend, family member or colleague, let us know by emailing editorial@thisweeknews.com, with the subject line, “Honoring Heroes.” Honoring Heroes isn’t just a ThisWeek Community Media project: It’s about sharing history.
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