The Northwest School Board needs to operate the district within existing income levels

By Bruce Gehring

The Northwest Local School Board remains out of touch with our community. I say we need School Board members who will make adjustments for the district to live with what it has, just like the rest of us, and be thankful for the blessings bestowed on it.

From January, 2004 through November, 2008 Colerain Township residents lost 844 homes to foreclosure. That's three a week, every week, for almost five years! And the foreclosure rate has increased since that time. Our residents are forced to give up their homes at an unprecedented rate and the Northwest Local School Board needs to tighten its belt just like all of our residents.

Unemployment in Colerain Township is at 9.4%. We continue to lose jobs faster than we can create them. And a recent PEW report indicates we can expect 30% of the unemployed to remain in that condition for more than a year.

A look at the district's numbers tells an interesting story. Student enrollment is almost half of its peak level, but we still operate the same 14 buildings it took to service over 15,000 students.

The Northwest Local School District is a community resource, yet its business practices remain secretive. We need to open our business practices to community input by putting all purchases on-line for community scrutiny. Purchases should be open for all prospective bidders. We need an open and effective business plan.

I have recently served four years on the Northwest Local School Board. You can look at my record to see how I administer. The year I served as President of the School Board we merged with Butler Tech, saving the District more than $2,500,000 in annual operating costs while significantly enhancing our technical programs. We merged a school building saving more than $300,000 the following year and instituted uniforms in Northwest High that year. And we cut another $500,000 from the budget as well. A year later our district advanced to an Excellent rating from the State of Ohio.

If you believe a retired corporate CEO with and MBA Degree from Xavier University and certificates of completion from the graduate schools at YALE, UCLA, and George Washington can work in your interest on the Northwest Local School Board, cast your vote for Bruce Gehring.