Call to Order
Welcome and comments on the end of 2015
     a.  Last meeting in October
     b.  Election results, new School Board Members
Plans for 2016
     a.  Plan to make Raider Strong meetings meaningful and useful for Reynoldsburg residents
          1.  February 25th Meeting: A.J. Wagner Ohio School Board Member (Front Fellowship Hall…note that this is a
               Thursday and not a Tuesday)
           2.  March 29th: Cyber Safety
           3.  April/May: Bullying
           4.  Possibly having Brenda Kimble the Youngstown Board of Education President to discuss multiple issues
           5.  Asking for the public to give ideas for future meetings
           6.  Would like to find a student who is interested in recording Raider Strong meetings

Kevin Griffin: Guest Speaker Dublin City Schools
Video of Kevin Griffin's presentation: 
     a.  Discussion based around testing
     b.  MAP Test immediate results given with useful data
     c.  Discussion that the Common Core tests are not valid and reliable
     d.  Value Added to judge teachers on OTES (Ohio Teacher’s Evaluation System) is not valid
     e.  Efforts to educate parents how the tests are impacting both students and teachers
                         _


Business
     a. Financial Statement 
         1.  Open Enrollment Report
         2.  3.6 million we have averaged every year
         3.  Enrollment continues to grow as teachers who are staffed declines
        


    

1. Call to Order
   
2. Review of previous minutes
   1. New ideas for community events to allow Raider Strong to provide community service opportunities
   2. Campaigning and canvasing
      1. Sign up genius for canvassing
      2. Mailers and two dates of canvassing
      3. Idea of handing out literature to parents as long as you are off of school grounds
      4. Yard Signs….donation of $5 for yard signs
      5. If you know of people who want them can take signs…collect money from candidates
   3. Finance Report
   4. Selaa …custodial services was given a contract at 1.8 million as opposed to 1.3 million from Mid-American
   5. Paraprofessionals has increased by 41.58 in 2012, today we have 68.29
   6. Some paraprofessionals continue to teach while preparing their own lessons.  The law states that a certified teacher conducts the planning
   7. Question of intervention classrooms that are large
   8. Public Forum
   9. Keeping active and focused on the goals for Reynoldsburg
   10. Trying to rebuild involvement from the community to support the schools and the community
   11. Emphasizing that there are seven available seats in regards to the city, all residents have a responsibility. 
   12. Question of physical education teachers….and what data that they are being asked to report to the state
3. New Business
   1. Some conversation was had in regards to the physical education teachers being required to report specific data to the state for 2nd, 5th and 8th graders.  The question is whether or not a paraprofessional or a certified teacher is the one supporting the required data. 
   2. Election 11/3/15
      1. Can follow election results on the county Board of Elections websites
      2. A call to the Senior Center to see if anyone needs a ride to their polling place
   3. Canvassing continues
      1. Main and Briarcliff Krogers will remain the meeting place for those interested in cavassing on Sunday November 1st from 2-4
      2. Encouraging those who aren’t in town to vote via absentee ballot
   4. November meeting tentatively moved to 11/17/15
   5. December meeting…cancelled
   6. January 26, 2016 a definite Raider Strong meeting
   7. Need to verify if Messiah will still be able to offer space for the meeting
4. Reports
   1. Malaysia Pollard-Education Seminar
      1. Kevin Griffin- President of Dublin Education Group-Willing to come to a Raider Strong meeting to discuss high stakes testing
      2. Topic of Parent Advocates Group
      3. Discussion of charter schools and the growing movement that is recognizing that charter schools are not being held accountable and that research is showing that some students loss up to one year of learning loss when enrolled in charter schools
   2. Finance Report-Jim Rodenmayer
      1. Inquiring about building budgets for substitute teacher pay
      2. By 2020, revenue of $72 million…projection is by year 2020 there will be an expenditure of $75 million; 16.5 million in cash balance at the end of this year.  For 2016, 21 million dollar cash balance, 2017…27 million, 2018…29 million, 2019…29 million, 2020…25 million (as projected by the 5 year forecast)
      3. All finance reports are posted on Board Docs for public view
      4. $202,000 spent on a district attorney in the past six months
   3. Vision Statement publically read by Raider Strong President Louis Savalti:
      1. “The vision statement of Raider Strong is as follows: It is our vision to foster an open relationship between community, teachers, the administration, and the Board of Education in Reynoldsburg in direct support of our mission in the hopes of creating a high quality educational system in which all children achieve their educational goals. 

                            As such, Raider Strong received two contributions from Friends of Reynoldsburg Schools during
                            its initial stages of activity, totaling $900.When the contributions were received, we understood that
                            such contributions were allowable when made to community organizations whose mission was to
                            support excellence and high quality education in the Reynoldsburg Schools, and in doing so
                            restore the faith of parents and teachers in our schools.

                            Questions have been raised about the propriety of the contributions received from Friends of
                            Reynoldsburg Schools.Raider Strong vigorously believes that the contributions were valid and
                            were neither made nor received with any questionable purpose.Thus Raider Strong disagrees with
                            the questioning of these donations.

                             Raider Strong’s executive board has been a good steward of monies donated to us.No endorsed
                             candidate was monetarily supported by Raider Strong, and all costs for Raider Strong activities
                             have since been recouped through contributions of generous community supporters.As a result,
                             the initial contribution amount of $900 remains in our account.In the interest of this issue not
                             becoming a distraction from our vision, the executive board has elected to donate $900 back to
                             the Friends of Reynoldsburg Schools fund.

                             Raider Strong deeply thanks our supporters, and will continue to move forward to engage the
                             community in ways that will foster and improve excellence in the Reynoldsburg Schools and strive
                             to open communications between the School District, the City of Reynoldsburg and the citizens of
                             Reynoldsburg.”
    5.  Adjourn

Copy or download this sign to place in your car windows.  Buttons will be available at the September 15th  BOE and Sept 22nd Raider Strong meetings.    Let's drive and go all around Reynoldsburg proudly informing that Dunlap, Truexx and Whitman are the candidates that we support.

Raider Strong Looking Ahead to November

Reynoldsburg, Ohio, June 29, 2015: 

     Raider Strong, a local education-friendly community activist group, is looking to endorse candidates for the upcoming November election.

     Raider Strong is looking to endorse both school board candidates and city wide positions, and is seeking education-friendly candidates who have the community and its youth in mind.

     The group will be conducting interviews on August 4th. If you are interested in seeking an endorsement, please e-mail Sabrina Gray, co-secretary, at ssgray22@hotmail.com.

     “We are looking to endorse candidates on both the schools and the city side who are willing to make educated decisions that take into consideration both our community and our children,” said Louis Salvati, acting president.  “Both arms of local government should be working hand-in-hand to protect the quality of our education while building an environment where our youth will grow and thrive.”

Raider Strong is a non-profit Political Action Group that was created to support excellence and high quality education in the Reynoldsburg City School District.  Our vision is to foster an open relationship between the community, teachers, the administration, and the Board of Education in Reynoldsburg in support of our mission in the hopes of creating a high quality educational system in which all children achieve their educational goals. 

Raider Strong meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month, 7 p.m., at Messiah Lutheran Church in Reynoldsburg.

For more information, contact Sabrina Gray at ssgray22@hotmail.com or Louis Salvati at lksalvati@gmail.com.