Wish the school system had given more notice of this meeting. I first saw it in the Stow Sentry (that I received Monday, August 29th). Only one day's notice for such an important discussion. Perhaps they might continue to work on improving their communications with the public.

Dr. Russ Jones said: "We have a $55 million budget. I can tell you whether or not we go forward with the IB primary years program at Echo Hills, we still have a budget crisis we're facing. If we do it, we have a budget crisis. If we don't do it, there's still a budget crisis. There is no major long term financial effect on the school district."......

Say what????????????

This is maybe the single most idiotic thing I have ever heard anyone on the school board say. It's like, 'oh well, we'll be in financial trouble anyway, so what difference does it make if we get into even MORE financial trouble? It makes no difference'......This is why Russ Jones needs to go, and the present board should be no where near the 'paltry' sum of $55m that they can't seem to manage! With responsible management, that staggering sum of money should be more than enough to take care of the schools and then some - without the IB program that is too expensive for a school 'claiming' to have a budget crisis.

Just a reminder for those of you interested in the fees, September 1st is the deadline for Application B (Indian Trail) and Application A (Echo) for a total of $19,000. if not submitted tomorrow, you cannot submit again until April.

For Indian Trail expect a $3500 verification visit between September -December, 2011.

http://www.ibo.org/iba/become/newprocess/documents/DPAug-SeptEng_001.pdf
This refers to the fees.

Where happened to the vote or is the district moving forward?

"We have a $55 million budget. I can tell you whether or not we go forward with the IB primary years program at Echo Hills, we still have a budget crisis we're facing. If we do it, we have a budget crisis. If we don't do it, there's still a budget crisis. There is no major long term financial effect on the school district."......Russ Jones

I have NO WORDS that I can type here without being deleted from this thread, so I will just say as my father taught me "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!" Thanks Dad.

rhonda,do you know if they filed yet?

Not sure. I do know today is the deadline given by IBO for any school applying for the candidate phase (Application A and B). I'd nor submitted today, a school must wait until the next date of April, 2012.

Does anyone know if the school must pay for the police presence at the meetings they've had lately or is that a service provided for free by the city?

Hi Ed,
It does cost money to have a police officer there. We are working on a story.

All I can say after attending this meeting is that it is a done deal. For those who don't agree with IB, if you don't start attending school board meetings and speaking out about the spending, the district will continue to fund IB as it slowly becomes part of the curricullum.

Dr. Jones states that Kent State is trying to become a training site for I.B. He stated that this will save the district money when it comes to future training. Does he really think that KSU will charge any less (probably more) for the classes? KSU is like the other schools in Ohio. They are only interested in generating money. Many other schools in the U.S. took a look at the program and refused to even consider it. It seems the only ones interested are the schools with an extremely liberal attitude toward education. These are the same schools that educated their teachers in such wonderful disciplines as open classrooms (70's), Denealian writing (80's), new math and estimating (90's) and many other teaching fads that came in with a bang and left with a whimper. I suggest that it is time for the school board to take command of it's chief employee before the entire system splits down the middle.

It does appear that Indian Trail has a team of individuals from IB visiting..Possibly the team of Govenors deciding whether or not to approve IT as an IBO World School. I don't recall Dr. Jones or Ms. Miller stating that IT was that far along in their process of becoming fully certified, does anyone agree? Where did they find the money to continue funding this Programme? Are we not still in an "emergency" state and need the 6.5m levy?

Where does Echo stand with IB? Weren't those parents told that they could vote on whether to proceed? Has Application A been submitted, if so, when? It does appear that our "leaders" have not been so forthcoming with information as they would like us to believe. The dog and pony show the other night was just that.

Please email the BOE requesting answers! Ms. Matthews is the Board President and should be able to at least answer to what IB is doing at IT... st_Matthews@smfcsd.org

First of all, I think the mentality of "well 'x' tens of thousands of dollars going to this program won't contibute to the district's future deficit" is the same as saying, "well even though I know I won't have enough money, what's the difference if I go ahead and buy an extra car I don't have to have since I'm already going to have financial problems and just maybe I'll come into some money or win a $65,000,000 lottery." Isn't this the kind of thinking that has helped cause our nation's deficit, our mortage problems and so forth?

Secondly, to Lisa: Please understand that Stow/Munroe Falls residents are a more quiet, conservative type people than some other towns in the U.S. and even though we may object to things we tend to find other ways to express our free speech than to create demonstrations (except for union workers who organize protests or go on strike). Parents have also been afraid of retaliation against their children from the schools in the form of grades and behavior towards them. I experienced that as a student myself and was graded unfairly because a teacher disagreed with my own personal beliefs concerning evolution and creationism (when I told her during open discussion that there is no where in the Bible, Koran or Torah that states the earth is only 6000 years old - a misconception many pro-monkey-to-human advocates use). She actually threw away my test for another subject without grading it. I was later vindicated by the principal and received an A.

We can start fighting back by making sure no more school levies are passed.

A petition was circulated to get lower council salaries on the ballot. Any chance we can start a petition to get rid of Russ Jones? His contract probably makes him unassailable, but we could circulate a petiton saying we have no confidence in Dr. Jones and the rest of the board.

I'm not sure any of us are right anymore. We know the district has financials issues yet the quietly put a ten year levy on the ballot when most are on vacation and they did not advertise the "get out and vote" campaign as they usually do, The CFO has publicly stated our "emergency" needs yet she is writing checks to IBO to fund a program we may or may not be able to afford. I think the message is, we need leaders that we can trust....it doesn't appear that the current BOE, Superintendent and CFO are trustworthy. Pete, would you realty trust THIS administration with any more money than they already have?

Whatever your position is on IB, not one person from these two schools were upfront and truthful about implementing IB. The costs are ridiculously high, there are no proven reports that indicate PYP impoves grades, and....it is apparent that Dr. Jones was not able to answer simple questions asked by the parents. Again proving that new leadership is needed.

Is Dr. Jones and the CFO intentionally misleading the community? Was the meeting on 30th to involve the parents and community or just a formality? Who do these two report to.....the BOE? Why hasn't the Board demanded answers? Simple question..can we or can we not afford IB? Let's just be honest with one another, we all deserve to be respectful of each other!

Commenters, please update your username to include your full first and last name per our terms of use: http://stow.patch.com/terms Thank you!

Parents I would not allow this program into your schools if it was free- Being a mom in a PYP school for 4 years- I cannot tell you how sick and tired I am of hearing about the learner profiles- The whole school must cater to the global citizen- international agenda- Every program put on by the kids is in spanish- every field trip must relate to the IB agenda- Kids carry around Reflection journals and inquiry notebooks- Ok first of all giving a 5 year old a school planner and hoping they plan their weeks with it is a joke-Programs that brought parents to the campus are no longer available- unless its International Market Day and they need volunteers- Parents do your research- If I could afford 1000 a month on private school I would in a heartbeat to have my kids out of a PYP school

As an outsider, look at what IB is doing to your community. IB teaches tolerance as long as you don't question IB. All that I read here happens in many towns where IB is being quietly introduced. Just like in our town, parents questioned the Programme only to find that they were called "Tea Party Lunatics". Many disagree with the IB philosophy (even many on the left that actually take the time to research IBO.org) but, IB will become a massive cost to your district tear apart friendships. Your BoE must ask themselves is this really what they want for the community they represent? The debate became so heated in our little town that we finally had to walk away and enroll in another district. Once your district becomes certified, you'll find more Title I students enrolling from your surrounding districts....they need those students (money) in order to help fund their cause.....the taxpayers will foot the remaining bill with additional levies or renewals. It is not a question of your views on IB.....where does your BoE stand on purchasing this innovative Programme and can your Treasuerer equivically state how he will fund the remaining years? Our private schools benefitted from IB, enrollment went up 27%! Sometimes those sacrifices turn out for the better for our children. There are those of us who wish you luck in this endeavor, stand true to your beliefs and don't let yourselves be bullied....our teachers regret their silence!

John, we live in the Columbus, Ohio area. Our school district "models" IB and most districts in Ohio come here prior to sending teachers off to training. I envy those, like yourself, that were actually able to stop the process. I am a registered Democrat however, I read IBO.org. I was very offended when I was grouped into the Tea Party
Lunatic " crowd..lol..... This controversy divides everyone that actually cares and stands by the values and principals our parents instilled in us. Our nation currently faces the same issues with fiscal responsibility, the fact that this Programme requires
"free money" should tell you to stay away! From Bush the elder to his son and now our current Commander In Chief, what lessons have we taught our children?

Alex's point of bringing in more Title I students from surrounding districts is interesting. What this means is our district will get brought down even more by bringing in even more students from Akron Public Schools

Anyone take a look at the Sentry? The Editor failed to mention that Dr. Jones originally stated the parents would vote on moving forward with IB at EH. Also missing from the article is actual research. While it stated it cost $1,000 to train each teacher it did not mention that amount did not include; travel, lodging, food and transportation. The article also mentioned that Dr. Jones stated it would cost $15,000 - $16,000/year to maintain the program....Application A submitted for IT states $32,000/year. A little odd that our Treasurer was not able to comment on the total cost of IB to date.Gotta love the transparency going on here! It also stated that the continued feasibility at EH would be left to the teachers. Remember, these are the teachers that were told back in May that if they were not on board to please request a transfer...We fully understand why Dr. Jones does not want a balanced discussion of IB but we would expect the media to be more informative.

@ Mary I was not bringing the child in the debate, my point is that this program is being shoved down our throats and anyone with the IB program thinks it is so wonderul why not stand behind it all the way. All I was asking was a simple question, if your going to promote something stand behind it.

@ Lisa & John you both are right. Molly is from PTA council. This forum is to voice our opinions and welcome anyone to post information when needed about the IB program, as citzens and tax payers of Stow we have the right to get information, at least we are not being hush hush about information, we are being informed from people that do not even live here in Stow because they care and have went through the same in their cities. I myself welcome any statement made by Lisa and John and glad they keep up informed on this IB program I have learned more about it from them then from our school system. John and Lisa have not divide our community, dishonest, greedy and sneaky people have divided it. Thank you Lisa and John for all your hard work on keeping us informed on IB, I think your great!

I have to wonder why John and Lisa, 2 people not from our community, feel the need to post incessantly on this subject. I tune into Patch as a local source of information but am constantly finding them running down our city and our Board. Don't you have issues in your own community that could use your particular kind of attention?

It leads me to believe they are from Stow but are choosing to use assumed names.

Lisa loves name calling with "Mystery Mike" and "Good Golly Miss Molly," and others' "kind words" encourage her to continue.

It's interesting how one sided your "conversation" is on this topic. I have NO doubt you will blame it on some conspiracy theory. In truth though, more and more people won't even visit this site because it has become your personal venting location. Haven't you noticed how few different people are contributing?

Everyone has a right to express an opinion, but what you seem to fail to realize is that the majority of people won't enter into your discussion because you have taken it way too far to be believable. In other words, you are turning this topic into some extremist rant and it discourages real conversation. Perhaps that is why you don't seem to get the answers you want.

There is nothing wrong with a divided community. A place where everybody thinks the same is called a "cult."

I can't wait for the next BOE meeting on 9/12/2011 at 6:00 PM, Echo Hills... Maybe I should bring popcorn...

Actually, our community is NOT divided on this issue. The majority that I have conversed with oppose introducing any program right now that costs extra money due to the fact our economy has tanked and the school budget can't seem to live within the current means of the residents. Most of us support levy renewals every time. In fact, we pass a levy on average every other year for the past 30 years. We made it clear in August that we can't afford another hit to our properties and we expect the schools to make more cuts. The board has also expressed willingness to make more cuts. They know what property owners are going through, but they are of course proceeding with putting the levy on the ballot again, ignoring the will of the people. By law in Ohio, schools can ignore a previous 'no' vote and put the issue before voters again. But, it isn't legal for anyone who voted 'no' on a levy to get it put on the ballot again, with the same ease the board has, if a levy is passed. Furthermore, only about 30% of potential homebuyers actually have children in public schools, while the majority now seek communities that tend to keep property taxes in check, yet reasonably support the school district. Stow has been known as that kind of place. That will change if our millage is taken over 50 mills, which will happen if this levy passes.

Thank you Lisa, I was also wondering when we might see those questions. I was not able to attend the meeting but am looking forward to reading the questions and answers. I thought I read somewhere that Dr. Jones was going to allow a vote with the parents and teachers, did that happen? Is EH currently following the IB "framework"? I'm just trying to figure out what is going on, is this still an issue? I have yet to see the BOE make a statement and there has been no statement from Ms. Bulgrin or Dr. Jones.

so the answer is yes plus pay for international attorney to . what great imfomation on video and other links on site from other schools

Just got on, thanks Lisa. I'm wondering what has happened to the IB debate? I don't believe anyone violated the terms of this site. Amanda, would you please explain, is this the Patch or just others trying to stop the IB conversation?

I believe any comments with links to other sites, including ib.org, can be deleted by Patch editors if they choose. IB.org is controversial and links to it's site pages can be removed from Patch.

Although I'm against SMFS paying for this program, don't like some of IB's ideology and respect other people sharing their comments for and against whether this program is a necessary expenditure, I must admit this discussion has fatigued me as I've read the continuing discourse.

At Patch, we welcome healthy debate and we don't delete comments indiscriminately. But if a user violates our terms, yes, we will delete the comment or suspend the user's account.
It is possible that the posts with links in question were interpreted by our system as spam because users were posting the same link repeatedly. We are consulting with our help desk to find out if that is what happened here.
Spam is deleted because it is a violation of our terms of use, which state: "Without limitation, you agree that you will not post or transmit to other users anything that contains content that: contains any advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation.
Instead of trying to memorize all that, you might boil it down to three main policies: “Keep it clean,” “Don’t try to trick people,” and “Treat others as you’d like to be treated.” " http://stow.patch.com/terms

Wow o wow. The paranoia with these people. So during school hours the administration is hacking Patch and getting rid of your comments? I'm glad Susan set the record straight and demonstrated how ridiculous the paranoia of some of you is. Wow....

Not that I'm against what most of you are posting, I just think it is utterly ridiculous to blindly throw out accusations like that. And, like Ed, this conversation is fatiguing me as well, I was enjoying receiving so much information from so many of you but it's getting rather monotonous now and I feel it is the same thing over and over. And I hope that doesn't sound insulting because I don't mean it to be

Dear Susan,

I would like to thank you for researching the matter further and clarifying how the "flagging" process works. It appears that my "suspicions" or what others choose to call "paranoia" has been confirmed - a deliberate cyber attack to censor my information about IB was launched against Patch.

It is unfortunate that the software Patch uses for its comments is set up in this manner. Many message boards have like/dislike - thumbs up/thumbs down options that are part of each message which is visible to the reader. Not only is Patch's "flag" option count not visible to the public, there is no positive counter-measure to off set the delete trigger.

I will not be party to such childish games on the part of IB supporters. Until such time as Patch revises its comment software to prevent such biased cyber attacks from censoring information, I shall not participate.

Anyone who wishes to start a thread or ask questions about IB is welcome to join me at the Truth About IB forum:

http://truthaboutib.com/forum.html

We have had to suspend a user who abused our system. The comments in this thread are being restored.

You will notice fewer comments in this thread than earlier today because the comments of suspended users no longer appear on our site.

There is much more to object to in this program than meets the eye. Even if you had money to blow on www.ibo.org which are basically consultants who take your money but have no responsibility for the educational success of your children, as stated in a recent document I obtained, there is no consideration here for 'constructivism' as the method, and 'attitudes' and 'agendas' for the basic philosophical goals of IBO. THAT is what I am most concerned about as a teacher.

I can tell you that constructivism is a FAILURE and I do not like having to check children's 'attitudes' every two weeks. This reeks of something communist china would do, especially forcing teachers into a team. The team will succeed or fail depending on ONE person, so if ONE person decides that something is against their ethics, the others will tattle on him/her and bring him/her into line. See how that works?
GULAG mentality being use to keep teachers in line.. no academic freedom of thought here will be allowed. I know about this!! FIRSTHAND.

Teacher and anyone who does not have a full first and last name as a user name: please update your account to follow our terms of use: http://stow.patch.com/terms Thank you.

From our terms of use: "Patch believes in transparency, and we ask that all your registration information be truthful. You may not use any aliases or other means to mask your true identity. "

Amanda, I understand why you are making this request. However one of the very points I am trying to make is that if a teacher wants to oppose this program, they could be targeted for transfer or even fired outright. So to expect teachers to do that is very unfair.. There is a reason some of us must remain anonymous. And this proves part of the problem about the way this program is implemented (and others too) in the schools around the country...... This will be my last post since I don't want to violate the board rules.

Folks, when you sign up to use Patch, you agree to our terms.
All we ask is that you stick to the terms.

Everybody knows what the terms are. We post them prominently on the site.
Let's keep our comments to the story.

I don't know what my nephew did. I do know he has always done things in his own way. In fact when I hear the song Frank Sinatra sang, My Way, I think about John

Teacher makes some valid points. She is worried about loosing her job if she speaks up against IB. The principal of Echo Hills "invited" teachers to transfer if they don't like IB, no wonder she is worried.

I am surprised. I have researched and talked to former IB students, one is a co-worker. This is an exceptional program. All programs cost money, money for this program comes from title 1 and arra funds. This money is to be used for things like this program, it can't be used to solve stows current budget problems. I find it unfortunate that people can't see how lucky the district is to get IB and honostly this is the first decision I have agreed with in my childrens entire school experience. I only wish my kids had a chance to be exposed.