August 3, 2011
Board lowers levy request to 5.9 mills By GARY BUDZAK ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The Hilliard Board of Education unanimously approved placing a 5.9-mill operating levy on the November ballot during a special meeting on Aug. 1. The millage is lower than the 6.9-mill levy voters rejected in the May primary and what had been proposed by board
members this summer. The levy defeat resulted in the district making $3.9-million in cuts for the 2011-12 school year, including the loss of 51 positions and a reduction of hours in 247 other jobs. “We are asking for the lowest possible millage that will last three years and not impact the excellent education our students receive,” school board president Doug Maggied said in a statement be-
fore the vote. Treasurer Brian W. Wilson said that if approved, the levy would cost homeowners about $181 in additional property taxes per each $100,000 of home value. It is expected to raise $13.6 million annually and keep the district’s budget in the black through 2014-15. Wilson said he learned from the Franklin County Auditor’s office that
reappraisals of home values would see a 5-percent decrease instead of a projected 8-percent drop, allowing the district to ask for the lower 5.9-millage rate. “It is a request that is in line with comparable districts, and we submit it with a pledge not to seek new operating funds for at least three years if it passes in November,” Maggied said. According to Maggied, the district has
‘Empty Bowls’
By GARY BUDZAK ThisWeek Community Newspapers
“
We decided to change it up because … nobody wants soup in August. We also thought that the ice cream tie-in was a lot more fun.
SHERI DILLEY
”
— Outside the Lines founder and CEO
See SCHOOL BOARD, page A5
Islamic cultural center stresses transparency
Ice cream subbed for soup Most “Empty Bowls” fundraising events offer soup in their bowls, but a Hilliard business is scooping out ice cream instead. Outside the Lines Creative Studio, 5236 Cemetery Road, will offer Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream at its “Empty Bowls” fundraiser from noon to 5 p.m. Aug. 14. “We decided to change it up because it’s August, and nobody wants soup in August,” said Outside the Lines founder and CEO Sheri Dilley. “We also thought that the ice cream tie-in was a lot more fun. It’s like an ice cream social.” “Helping to provide for the health and economic well-being of children and families here is an integral part of our core business practices,” said Jeni’s president and founder Jeni Britton Bauer. “We are grateful to be in a position to contribute to a worthy cause such as Empty Bowls.” Empty Bowls is a grassroots effort to fight hunger by using pottery or other crafts to make bowls. Guests make a cash donation and get to keep the bowl. Dilley said her employees and volunteers will have hand-thrown and hand-painted 400 bowls for the event, using donated supplies. The bowls are microwave-safe, but Dilley said they might be a bit delicate for the dishwasher. For $8, people select the bowl of their choice and have it filled with ice cream. Dilley said 100 percent of the proceeds will go to the Mid-Ohio Food Bank’s Operation Feed program. In addition, if people want to paint in the studio or buy a gift certificate, 20percent of those sales will go to the cause. “This is the first year we’re doing this,” said Dilley, who opened Outside the Lines in 2009. “I want to continue to do it, but you have to make it through the first one. If we only sell 50 bowls, and I’m stuck with 300-some bowls, I don’t know. “I don’t feel like that’s going to be the case,” she said. “I would really like this to become a tradition.” For more information, call (614) 527-7752 or visit www.outsidethelinescreativestudio.com.
cut more than $10 million from its budget since 2008; the district has not received any new state school funding for six years; the most recent state budget cut an additional $13.3 million to the district; and the district is facing an $8 million operating deficit the next school year. “The time has come to ask residents
By GARY BUDZAK ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Chris Parker/ThisWeek
Worshippers pray at the Noor Islamic Cultural Center, 5001 Wilcox Road, on July 22. The center has stressed transparency since it was built.
The tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, occurred as the Noor Islamic Cultural Center’s foundation was being poured. Construction of the $6-million, 32,000-square-foot, 401-parking-space facility on Wilcox Road was halted, and changes were made to add more windows and rooms for visitors. “We wanted a transparency,” said Khaled Farag, one of the Noor’s founders, who now volunteers at the center. “We wanted people to look in and feel more comfortable, because obviously there were a lot of questions at the time. “From day one, I felt that it was accepted,” Farag said of the facility. “During the building, the neighbors were very protective. We never had any vandalism or any issues. Ever since, we’ve started several programs of interaction with the community. We welcome all kind of tours, and we even have an Islam 101 class held every Saturday.” Islam 101 takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays at the Noor. It teaches the basic beliefs of Islam and its connection to Christianity and Judaism, and features a tour and a question-and-answer session. The course can even be given offsite. “People who take that class understand things why Muslims do and believe certain things,” Farag said. There’s a library full of Qurans and signs that explain Islam, but aside from two domes, the facility doesn’t look like a traditional mosque. Construction began in late 2000, and was completed in 2006. The facility was designed by Meacham and Apel Architects of Dublin. “Earlier in the design phase we looked at different mosques, and every country has a mosque that looks different,” Farag said. “We told them let’s do something American.” The Noor was built so that it faces Mecca for the Muslims who pray there five times a day or attend sermons on Fridays. See ISLAMIC, page A2
Chamber set for Taste of Hilliard, Business Expo By GARY BUDZAK ThisWeek Community Newspapers
It was so good the first time around, there will be another Taste of Hilliard & Business Expo. “It surpassed our expectations,” Libby Gierach, president/CEO of the Hilliard Area Chamber of Commerce, said of the event. “It’s going to be bigger and better.” Taste of Hilliard & Business Expo takes place 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 10 in the
Makoy Center. For $10, visitors can sample foods from 24 restaurants and learn more about 60 local businesses — all of them chamber members. “We want to promote our businesses that are chamber members, and this is one of the great ways to do that,” Gierach said. “Some join specifically to be a part of this event. They heard about it last year, they saw the value, and joined. There’s not even another kind of an event in Hilliard that has this kind of exposure for our business
community. Last year, we had over 700 people come through. I’m anticipating more this time.” Hilliard-based Credit Union of Ohio is again the presenting sponsor. “Hilliard is such a wonderful community, and it’s fun for us to get out and mix and mingle with our fellow chamber members a in the community,” said Kimberly Hudson, vice president of marketing for See TASTE OF HILLIARD, page A5
Teachers take classes during their summer break By GARY BUDZAK ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The summer break is a time for students to work or relax before heading back to school. Yet for many teachers in the Hilliard City School District, it’s a time to take classes themselves.
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“We had classes all through the month of June,” said Linda Romano, director of professional development for the district. “It was a combination of technology and instructional best practices.” Romano said that changing times and technologies demand that teachers keep pace by taking
classes through her office and the district’s technology department. “The technology is changing rapidly, and it’s a struggle to keep up with it unless you commit to attending classes,” she said. “You’re going to be left behind and you won’t be as current as your students are.”
District spokeswoman Amanda Morris said the district offered 69 different Summer Academy courses for its teachers, with 757 teachers participating. Among the courses were 24 related to technology, with 422 teachers learning things like how to use iPads in the classroom.
“The days of getting your degree and then being done with it has been over for many years,” Romano said. “It’s so important for our teachers to stay cuttingedge on new developments, new research in the educational field, See TEACHERS, page A5
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