On Saturday, several middle school students participated in the Ohio State History Day.
Brady Kile and Jensyn Gillen won a special award from the Society of Ohio Archivists and a cash prize.
Hannah Tedrow and Marcella Morris placed second and became National Finalists. They will head to the National Competition in Washington, D.C. in June to compete.
Congratulations to all who participated!
#WearePDY
Four middle school students participated in the Eagle's Zone God, Flag, and Country Speech Contest in Celina, OH. Congratulations to our winners!
Matthew Arroyo-Sierra placed third in his age group.
Benjamin Tedrow placed fourth in his age group.
Jakub Heinemann placed third in his age group.
Brady Kile placed second in his age group.
#WeArePDY
Fourth Grade students learned all about owls. They even dissected owl pellets!🦉
#WeArePDY
Come see the talent of our amazing students!
#WerePDY
Mrs. Mazurowski’s Social Studies students have been enjoying their volunteering opportunity for The Open Door! They have been helping pack food items and paper products for the food pantry and pricing ornaments and cookie cutters! We really appreciate the partnership with our community members!
Dear Panther Families,
I'm sure you've seen that the Substitute Renewal Levy was voted down for a second time this week. Our Five-Year Forecast shows our district starting deficit spending beginning with the 2026-2027 school year. The board of education will be meeting next Wednesday, and again on April 3, to discuss potential levy options moving forward. I want to take a few moments to explain what this will do, and what it won't do, for our students.
First and foremost, our number one priority is, and always will be, our students. In an ideal situation, any financial cutback by the school goes unnoticed by a student. That means we are able to make budget reductions without sacrificing any quality of service to the student. To be quite frank, this has already been happening for a number of years and we are already operating at a thin margin. We have already made some financial cutbacks on technology, copier services, electrical, HVAC, etc., that may be a slight inconvenience, but hopefully our students are minimally affected. For the time being, we're able to continue making smaller financial savings that add up. These decisions are being constantly evaluated.
Just like we are faced with rising costs and expenses in our homes, our schools are facing the same reality. My grocery bill has tripled, my utilities are higher, and general expenses have increased. Our schools' have too. The 20-mill floor is designed to help offset the costs of inflation when costs go up. The reality is our school district will be looking at serious reductions by the 2026-2027 school year if the Substitute Levy falls off the tax duplicate and the district loses $1.3 million in revenue.
At Pike-Delta-York Local Schools, we will continue to take pride in the work we do. We have plans to improve our facilities and grounds so they are something we're proud of. We are finishing up our Portrait of a Panther work to structure Pre-K - 12 alignment to make sure our students are future-ready. We have some exciting initiatives in the works for our students.
In the future weeks, I'll be reaching out to gain more information on what our community is willing to support. We have to ask what we want our schools to look like 5, 10, & 20 years from now. My vision is that we have the best schools in northwest Ohio. We were recently rated the #1 school district in Fulton County through the ODE State Report Cards. Financial solvency and stability help us recruit and retain high-quality staff, which is the number one factor in high-quality education.
Help me and the board of education figure out a financial package moving forward that is sustainable and continues to provide the high-quality education we've been delivering. Even better, let's keep improving.
You're more than welcome to reach out to me or a board member individually if you have feedback to help this school district remain strong and stable.
Thank you,
Jon Burke, Superintendent
Pike-Delta-York Local Schools
Please see the information to attend Saturday night's Girl's Sectional Final game at Tinora High School. Tip off is at 7 PM. Go Panthers!
Let's line the streets for our Panther Wrestling Team at 5 PM!! Here's our parade route! #PantherPride #OneRoar
Portrait of a Panther 2nd Meeting Recap
On Wednesday, January 24, the Portrait of a Panther Design Team met to start the conversation on the core competencies we believe are important to instill in our students to be future-ready. There were 36 representatives in attendance which included teachers, parents, business owners, and industry partners.
The meeting was facilitated by Superintendent Jon Burke. The meeting started by refreshing the audience on the Landscape Shift activity the participants completed during the first meeting. The participants conducted a "Gallery Walk" to look at the station responses to the questions posed in the first meeting. The questions asked the participants to apply the research given to address our students' needs to thrive in the evolving world.
The participants examined the responses from the first meeting to the question, "What are your hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the students of PDY?" This opened a conversation about what core competencies we believe are important for our students to be successful in their future careers.
In groups, participants narrowed a list of 30 potential competencies down to 7. Groups shared their responses with the audience. As a group, we saw some similar answers which helped build some consensus amongst the team.
In preparation for Meeting 3, three surveys have been sent out to further help our Design Team narrow down the core competencies. Surveys were sent out to students in grades 6-12, staff, and community members. This information will help inform our Design Team if we have accurately captured the hopes, dreams, and aspirations our community has for our students.
If you would like to participate in the survey, click HERE. The survey will remain open through February 9, 2024.
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