Officers Allowed to Carry Concealed Weapons During After-School Events

The Stow-Munroe Falls school board passed a resolution allowing guns in the buildings Monday night.

Stow and Munroe Falls have taken another step to make schools safer, even after the day is over. On Monday night, the Stow-Munroe Falls school board passed a resolution that allows active and retired police officers from the Stow and Munroe Falls police departments to carry concealed weapons on school grounds during after-hour events, reports the Akron Beacon Journal. "Allowing off duty officers to carry their weapons to events at our schools provides an additional layer of protection in case a crisis should occur,” Superintendent Russ Jones told the Beacon. Both cities and the school district have made safety a top priority after the shooting in Newtown, CT, in December. Stow Mayor Sara Drew appointed 10 people to a task force that will …

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School District's Transportation Director John Daymon Resigns

The lifelong Stow resident was a 1981 Stow High School graduate.

Transportation Director John Daymon is leaving the Stow-Munroe Falls School District after several jobs since 2008.  Daymon will be relocating to the southern United States.  "It is with both sadness and joy that Stow-Munroe Falls City School District Daymon has resigned from the district, effective Sept. 4," accoridng to a press release. “It saddens me to leave, but the opportunity my wife and I have is too good to pass. We have always planned to retire in the south, and this is a step in the right direction at this time," said Daymon. "I’d like to thank [Superintendent Russ] Dr. Jones, [Finance Director] Catherine Bulgrin and the board of education for the opportunity to work here. I wish them the best in the future for the school system…

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Indian Trail IB Article Featured in Ohio School Board Association Journal

The article featured in the June 2012 edition is titled "IB Program Unites School in Common Purpose."

Superintendent, Treasurer Exceed Expectations Says 2011 BOE

The annual evaluation is attached in full to this story.

The 2011 Stow-Munroe Falls Board of Education handed out good grades to the district superintendent and treasurer in its annual evaluation.  Both Superintendent Russ Jones and Treasurer/CFO Catherine Bulgrin were rated on: The board said Jones "exceeded" all of the above goals except for Operations, Support Services and Facilities and Personnel Management — which was marked as "met." The 2011 board said Bulgrin "exceeded" all of the goals except for Operations, Support Services and Facilities — which was also marked as "met." "I am so pleased with the evaluation outcome as we were faced with many challenges due to the district's need for the passage of the new levy," said Bulgrin. "A prevalent challenge has been and remains in the areas of…

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Mike Barnes

5:53 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012

Congrats to both and to the district.   more ›

Listen to Superintendent Talk about Levy on Radio Interview

Superintendent Russ Jones was interviewed about why he thinks Issue 20, a 6.57-mill 10-year levy is crucial to pass for the community and district Nov. 8.

The Stow-Munroe Falls School District, for the second time this year, is asking for a 6.57-mill, 10-year operating levy (Issue 20) Nov. 8.  Listen in on a radio interview about the levy between Superintendent Russ Jones and Akron News Now. Jones told Akron News Now passage of the levy would " ... put us in the black through five years and we'll continue to look at cost savings." See the district's full five-year financial forecast here.  A 6.57-mill 10-year levy would generate $6.5 million annually for the district and would cost the owner of $100,000 home: Related content:  

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Mike Wright

6:58 pm on Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Jeanne that's great! That means that the admin is transparent after all.   more ›

Best of Blogs: Browns, School Cuts, Growing Revenue and Low-Carb Diets

Check out this week's best blogs on Stow Patch.

Stow Patch is bursting with blogs and you can participate. Whether you talk to the blogger in the comments or consider writing your own blog, you can be a part of the conversation.  Interested in blogging? Contact Local Editor Amanda Harnocz for details.  Here's the bests of last week's blogs: Browns Blogger Matt Striner laments the sad consistency of the Browns in his recent blog post Deja Vu, Cleveland-Style. Dr. Russ Jones, Stow-Munroe Falls School District Superintendent, blogged in Board Announces Additional Proposed Budget Reductions about cuts the district may have to make if a levy on the November ballot doesn't get approved by the voters.  A conversation on his blog has already started to take place in the comments.  New business …

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Public Employee Salaries Published on Ohio Treasurer's New Online Database

The website for Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel now includes a salary database for public employees in Ohio, including state workers, teachers and professors and some local employees.

A new online database allows Ohio taxpayers to see how much they are paying government workers across Ohio, from the governor and university presidents down to the teachers at your local elementary school. The data was made available as part of a transparency project by Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel includes the most recent salary information for state employees, as well as historical salary info for teachers, higher-education workers, federal employees and some local employees. Much of the data from the database was already made available by The Buckeye Institute. While Stow residents can see how much their child's teacher at Stow-Munroe Falls Schools makes, salary information for Stow's city government workers is not available right now. …

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Video: Principal Retiring After 23 Years at Lakeview

Lakeview Principal Kim Lockhart will officially retire June 24.

Kim Lockhart has set a longevity record in the Stow-Munroe Falls School District by serving as principal at Lakeview Intermediate School for 23 years. But now, the open road is calling his name and he’s ready to respond. Literally. With his retirement date set for June 24, Lockhart and his wife of 33 years, Sandy, have fulfilled their dream of buying an RV and are making plans to see America up and close and personal. “It just felt like the right time to retire, to spend more time with my family and to leave the day-to-day routines to somebody else,” said Lockhart. He briefly considered staying longer in order to break John (Jack) Salters’ longevity record as principal at Echo Hills Elementary School. “But then I thought, nah, I’m ready to…

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Calamity School Days Could Be Made Up in June

The Board of Education approved keeping students in school two days longer in June to make up for extra calamity days used.

Summer vacation is two days further away from reach now that students need to make up calamity days in June. That is, unless, the Ohio legislature decides to return to five allowable calamity days, like last winter. "Everything we're hearing recently is that they'll likely add two more this year to take us to five [calamity days]," said Superintendent Dr. Russ Jones. Ohio State Reps. John Carey (R-Wellston) and Casey Kozlowski (R-Pierpont) sponsored a bill that would change the number of calamity days allowed back to five, effective immediately. A decision is expected to be made soon. The Stow-Munroe Falls Board of Education approved  the dates June 6 through June 8 to make up for the extra calamity days used.  To date, the Stow-Munroe …

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District Evaluating Potential Cuts for Coming School Years

About $3.5 Million has already been cut from the budget in three years.

"After 44 community engagement meetings with parents, community members, staff and students, the board has listened to its stakeholders and as a result, taken a number of action steps to further reduce the district’s budget by $3.5 million over the past three years," said Superintendent Dr. Russ Jones. Below is a list of possible new cuts coming to the district: “Through the community engagement process we identified nine areas of possible reductions,” said Board of Education President Pat Matthews. “We have implemented three of those suggestions including eliminating high school busing and electives as well as instituting pay-to-participate. Not only are the other six suggestions currently under consideration as we move forward, but the …

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Dean Marchok

4:28 pm on Monday, August 22, 2011

Donny lets make sure you get your figures right, at our peak we had 6000 students. School year 2009-10, we lost 330 students for a total of 5663 students. As of the school year 2010-11, we lost 524 students for a total of 5476 students. These numbers are expected to go down even more. This was reported by the district Feb. 2011 and can be found on the Ohio Department Education website- look for …   more ›