Talawanda School District seeks local voices

BY RACHEL TRACY | Miami University journalism student

To give individuals a voice, Talawanda School District has created a Community Advisory Committee that has the potential to create state-wide change.

Ending its first year of establishment, this committee of about 30 people meets quarterly and consists of parents, Oxford City Council members and individual community members. They discuss issues ranging from finances, to mental health, to issues in the education system.

“This particular idea actually came from a Bogan Elementary parent,” said Talawanda School District Superintendent Kelly Spivey. "Last year it was invitations by us. This year I put it out again and I have several more families from each building that wants to participate.”

At these meetings, individuals from around the community can discuss any issue they believe needs to be addressed. Spivey believes members should present the goals and issues of the committee.

“Everyone on the committee feels free to speak,” said Talawanda School Board member Mary Jane Roberts. “It is a risk-free environment.”

The goals of this committee are to collect community input on how Talawanda School District could improve and to discuss issues brought up by committee members. But most importantly, the group exists to educate the community about issues that affect them, said Spivey.

“It's really to create dialogue and inform, educate as well as maybe even organize for possible changes down the road in legislation,” Spivey said in an interview in her office.

In addition to educating the community, Spivey and other committee members are interested in taking specific education mandate issues to Ohio state representatives. These include mandates that lack government funding. Spivey was specifically concerned with testing mandates and a new mandate involving gifted programs in public schools.

"The mandates that are issued by the state of Ohio to the school districts to do whatever, whatever these mandates are, they consume a lot of effort on part of the school district,” said Oxford City Council member Stephen Dana. “I think that it’s fair to say, that Superintendent Kelly Spivey thinks these mandates are excessive.”

Spivey went to the State House in Columbus in February 2015 to discuss state mandates and excessive testing placed on students with state representatives, but believes public schools could have a louder voice.

“I got the impression that two years ago we were testing more than we were teaching,” said Spivey. “I really believe that if we would become more vocal at the state level, we could really make some positive changes for people. I have a group of people that say, 'You just tell us when and what the topics going to be and we'll have a van or bus load of people who will go to the Capitol and talk about it.’ ”

Spivey said she supports accountability and wants to measure student growth, but believes local government should make decisions about student testing.

“We're not just putting information out; we're getting input from others. But also a voice, a potential, to a have a voice even at the state legislative arena, if we choose to,” said Spivey. “It's in the best interest of individuals as well as our community to speak up and be a leader for self and others, and if not, we give up so much.”

Former Mayor of Oxford, Prue Dana, said she believes these committee meetings are important for educating the community.

“I would only say that we're without a local paper here, so these meetings and reports are what is currently our Oxford Press,” said Dana.

The weekly Oxford Press stopped publishing in recent months, leaving only Miami University's student newspaper, The Miami Student, as a regular news source. (This new Patch site is operating under a Miami class as a pilot project.)

Spivey also leads a student advisory committee with Talawanda High School students. Sixteen to 20 students join her quarterly to discuss issues they want addressed. Since established, this committee has discussed issues with drug policies, length of school days and much more.

Top photo: The Talawanda School District's newest building is the Talawanda High School, located off of Hwy. 27 south of the Miami University campus. -- Photo courtesy of Schaefer Inc.