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Ohio school districts are paying the price for flawed healthcare policy

Letters to the Editor

A school district’s budget has to cover a lot before the first student walks through the door. Teachers and support staff need to be hired, buses need fuel, and buildings need heat. When those costs rise, school boards have to make difficult choices about how to meet students’ needs with the dollars available. Health care can be one of the biggest variables in that equation. Districts need to provide dependable coverage for their employees, but an unexpected increase in costs can upend months of careful planning and leave less money available for classrooms. For a school board, ...

Voter questions ballot language for East Palestine School District's proposed income tax

Letters to the Editor

I’m unsure who drafted the ballot language for the proposed annual 1 percent income tax that’s on the Nov. 3 ballot. The wording leaves me questioning whether it was intended to build support for the measure. Although the language specifies when the tax would begin, it leaves important questions about its duration. If approved, the tax would begin on Jan. 1, 2027, and run “for a continuing period of time,” with no stated end date or renewal date. I find the lack of a defined end date or renewal date troubling and feel it shows insufficient consideration for East Palestine ...

Election officials are keeping Ohio results safe from fraud

Editorials

Despite repeated attempts by others to instill fear that Ohio’s elections are riddled with fraud, interference and illegal ballots cast, the public official best equipped to accurately assess the situation, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, has said, “voter fraud is rare in Ohio.” An analysis of data from the Ohio Crime Statistics Dashboard by the Ohio Capital Journal bears that out. Since taking office in 2019, LaRose has referred for investigation 1,200 voting/election-related cases. According to the crime statistics dashboard, only 16 resulted in felony convictions — ...

Harassment and assault of sports officials cannot be tolerated

Editorials

Refereeing isn’t supposed to be dangerous. But those who (often volunteer to) do so are increasingly facing dangers to their mental health and well-being AND their physical health while they are trying to do their jobs for our kids. During a Steubenville-New Philadelphia boys soccer game this week, an official was injured so badly he had to be hospitalized. Video evidence shows a Steubenville player who may have been reacting to a red card being given to a teammate charging at the official, knocking him to the ground. According to published reports, the referee suffered a collapsed ...

Ohio lawmakers owe it to taxpayers to address EdChoice

Editorials

Lawmakers who never bothered to complete the phase-in of Ohio’s Fair School Funding Plan, or update data that could have helped more equitably fund the state’s public schools, are now also operating with the knowledge that their beloved EdChoice voucher program has been deemed unconstitutional by an appellate court. (Interim state Attorney General Andy Wilson has already said he plans to appeal that ruling to the 6-1 Republican majority Ohio Supreme Court.) If their consciences weren’t already being prodded by the knowledge that they abandoned fair school funding, and that an ...

West Branch's future depends on levy approval

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: On Nov. 3, residents in the West Branch community will have the opportunity to support our local schools by voting “for” the five-year permanent improvement levy. This levy, if passed, will generate funding that is much needed to provide upgrades for our school buildings and grounds. These upgrades include purchasing security cameras, emergency alert lanyards, and a paging system. Further upgrades include improving the fire suppression system and making asphalt repairs to parking lots. All of the upgrades will meet the safety requirements that ...