Week in Review – 09/11/2020

Week in Review > Week in Review – 09/11/2020

Posted by Buckeye Association of School Administrators on September 11th, 2020

FY20-21 BUDGET

The Office of Budget and Management (OBM) Tuesday released August 2020 preliminary revenue data showing that total General Revenue Fund tax receipts finished the month $69.0 million or 3.2 percent above the budgeted estimate. Specifically, the auto sales tax collections were $14 million or 9.9 percent above estimate for August, but down $26 million from July. The non-auto sales tax collections were also above estimates for August, coming in $23 million or 2.9 percent above estimate for the month, but were down $147 million from July’s record revenues.

EDUCATION

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Paolo DeMaria on Sept. 3 surprised Ohio School for the Deaf teacher Anthony Coy-Gonzalez by naming him the”2021 Ohio Teacher of the Year.” Coy-Gonzalez teaches upper elementary students at the school located in Columbus. DeMaria made an unannounced appearance during a video conference staff meeting to share the news with Coy-Gonzalez and several of his colleagues. He is the first Ohio School for the Deaf teacher so honored.

Doug Ute has been selected as the next executive director of the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA), the organization’s Board of Directors announced Tuesday. Ute is taking the OHSAA post after spending the last 20 years as a school superintendent, including nine years at Marion Elgin Local Schools and the last 11 years at Newark City Schools. He also coached and taught at Noble Local Schools in Eastern Ohio and Buckeye Central High School, which is near his hometown of Bellville in North Central Ohio.

The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) said licenses for education professionals that had been set to expire July 1 will be extended until Tuesday, Dec. 1 because of the pandemic.

The Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) recently expanded the number of projects listed in its School Facilities Portfolio, an online repository of photos, locations and other information on more than 350 school construction and renovation projects. The portfolio includes information on projects including building specifications, project budgets, state and local funding shares, completion date, project contractors and more. The portfolio is available at https://ofcc.ohio.gov/Portfolios/K-12-Portfolio.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY/STATEHOUSE

Just a month after taking the gavel, House Speaker Bob Cupp (R-Lima) said in a one-on-one interview with Hannah News the biggest surprise to him is how much legislation had stalled as relations between the House and Senate had deteriorated. Cupp was elevated to speaker after former House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) was hit with multiple federal charges alleging a bribery scheme surrounding the passage of energy legislation HB6 (Callender-Wilkin), charges that Householder denies. After the House Republican Caucus agreed to remove Householder from the dais, it held a closed door vote to choose a new speaker in which Cupp emerged as the winner over Rep. Jim Butler (R-Dayton), the House Speaker Pro Tempore, in what was reportedly a close vote. A long-time member of the Senate and former Ohio Supreme Court justice, Cupp said that the leadership role is nothing new to him, having served in the number two position in the Senate. “It has been interesting, and of course, I always like learning new things,” Cupp said of taking the gavel. “One of the pleasures of serving in the Legislature is you’re always learning new things, and it’s been quite enjoyable in that regard.”