Nordonia Hills Education Association

this is an email from Chad – he sent this out to different district leadership folks – like union leaders, PTA leadership – etc…he gave me permission to share this – I echo his sentiment.

“All,

I am emailing all of you, our school system’s supporting organizations, booster clubs, unions and parents groups, to directly ask you to please endorse the next levy that is put on the ballot and to please encourage your membership to volunteer and participate in the levy campaign. 

By now, I am sure you are all well aware that the levy attempt on November 5 failed by a margin of about 44% to 56%.  While this is a significant step in the right direction as compared to the March levy failure, it is still a failure all the same.  Our school district will now clearly be facing difficulties as we move into the 2025-26 school year. As of now, the Board of Education has not yet met to discuss the levy failure and any plans moving forward.  However, I am sure this is a discussion we will be having over the next few months and it will only be a matter of time before a levy is placed on the ballot again. Changes will be coming. I just cannot say what they will be or how deep they will be.  The Board and the Administration will be looking into this.

The way I see it, we are facing two every large hurdles-

• * Communication and marketing – There is no longer a local newspaper.  That has made it very hard to reach people without a direct connection to the schools system. Also with the termination of Friends of Nordonia Schools and the transition to Nordonia Together, we lost a very large online presence going from a reach of over 3000 followers to under 500.  We need to build that following up again and fast.  Please ask everyone to start following Nordonia Together on social media so we can start to fight against the disinformation and the negativity in the community.
• * Getting volunteers– Please remind your membership(s) that there’s strength in numbers.  We have had opposition to our levies for the last 10 plus years and sometimes it can get very personal and nasty.  People seem to be afraid to volunteer because they will be bashed online and in public.Believe me, I know how this feels. However, if we can get 100s of people, it’s going to help. Please recruit your members, friends, neighbors, grandparents, etc.

Most of your organization probably have bylaws that say you are “nonpartisan” organizations.  I completely agree with that and understand.  But, schools and school levies are a nonpartisan issue, no different than levies for the library or the county developmental disabilities board: we are all neutral entities. It is a very different concept to be nonpartisan versus apolitical.  I am not asking you to support a candidate or a political party. I am asking you to support our schools, our community and our children. People move into this area and stay here because of our schools. I don’t want to see that fall apart.

The school district is constantly striving to find efficiencies and cost savings.  However, I think all-in-all, we do very good with the community’s money, are transparent with what’s going on, and stretch our levy dollars as far as possible.  Our 5-year forecast from May of 2022, projected the District to deficit spend by $5,306,020 for this past 2023/24 school year.  Over the last 2 years, we have made significant cost reductions by not replacing retiring/resigning staff and budget cuts.  Through these measures, what was projected at $5m in deficit spending actually came in at a deficit of $431,856.  Unfortunately, we still project to deficit spend in 24/25 and beyond.  As Casey Wright has said numerous times, we are not going to cut our way out of this. The only way to get back on track is to get additional funding from the community (we cannot wait for the State to do the right thing).  It’s never fun to ask for money, but this is where we stand.  The Schools have been hit by the same inflation as every person and every business around.

In short, I’m going to direct you back to the first sentence.  Please endorse the next school levy request.  Please ask your memberships to volunteer.

We all need to come together and get the next levy passed. With all of us together, We are Nordonia!”

hey all – for a few reasons I/NHEA felt kind of rushed at the convocation – for one, in lieu of the length of the present I could feel the room getting restless, and on top of that I wanted to get you all on with your day – so that was kind of a double whammy. Then for two, I was personally a bit rushed because I had a health care appointment scheduled, and as I had the mic in my hand they called and said they could take me early, yes, go figure we are presenting and a docs office called and said they were early – so…needless to say – I wanted to take more time with you all – but the perfect storm hit. I also had to have a driver for this appoint – so letting them know we had to roll fast was also a little off putting…but I digress – thanks for your attention yesterday and as a follow up…

…here is a link to the present (lil reminder to use the pack arrow to navigate back to this page, links open in the tab) if you want to access the ways to stay in touch with your association – also, please consider volunteering for the levy in some way – I understand putting yourself out there in this way is at times intimidating – so I validate the anxiety it might cause – but it is WAY better with more support and teamwork – and that anxiety only last for short time, even when you are solo, like I was on Friday outside NF…everyone one I met was kind and receptive. This levy is very important…working conditions and learning conditions go hand in hand! It is okay to promote our “brand” and be vocal about all the good we do – shit, everyone else is their own mouthpiece so why are teachers so reserved and demure about ALL that we do…also, go ahead and volunteer for something/anything and I may not even use ya all – so you can feel good about putting your name in the hopper and then in the end might not even get “tapped” in…:-) We are still building out the campaign strategy a bit, and will be meeting with the Nordonia Together crew now 2x per month – so things are gonna start ramping up a bit. Use the NT link above to keep in touch with this community group, and if you can not donate some time…how about a lil $$ so we can effectively advocate for our school community. Please be assured there are Nordonia educators involved in the decision making for this group this time around – we will be making sure your money is well spent.

Another theme of yesterday was collaboration...please think of NHEA as a human resource dept for any disagreements that occur between staff, if you find yourself having a conversation with your principal about a fellow staff member and you have not talked to them about your concern or your building rep – consider that a RED FLAG…let us try to help. Even if it is something about their performance in the classroom – think about the video Casey showed – those doctors were often being critical one of the other – but the goal was better patient outcomes! – why can’t we have the same process?? I think this is one of the goals of the PLC process, so lets practice.

please feel free to make use of this site – there are tabs about retirement stuff – political issues that impact public education – you can find a tab to our contract (however, you must be logged into your Nordonia account to view, and I am reluctant to allow personal email access, especially if your email is something like @princessdiary326) – and this little diatribe today is an exercise it getting you to head to this site :-)…

Have a good year – and if we can help in any way let us know – (you will also find a tab to building reps and NHEA leadership, so hit us up with any questions)

**check out the perks page for 9 hours of grad credit for $200

NHEA out.

hey all – be on the lookout for an opportunity to make your voice heard for fair elections in Ohio – OEA as teamed up/committed to help secure signatures to get this issue put on the ballot – this is part of Citizen Not Politicians to help create fair districts in Ohio – we will be visiting buildings to take part in this effort – so be on the look out –

check out the attached flyers – there is a new legislative scorecard that lets you know exactly how your legislator performs when it comes to public education here in Ohio (this is also linked on the government page)

AND – go  bowling with the family and support OEA and public education policy here in Ohio at the same time –

take a look at this – VOUCHERS HURT OHIO 

the OEA fund – formally known as FCPE if you recall those fund drives from years ago – supports candidates that support public education, again NONE of your dues support candidates. In the last school year there were ONLY 2 OF US that donated to this fund. This is a bit shameful. If you want a continued voice in your working and learning environments we need to support this fund to get folks elected that value public education. See the post prior to this one about all the ways $$ is leaving public education. For all of you that are concerned about your retirement for instance – WAKE UP. If you want something to retire to, then you need to take action NOW.

The equation is simple, or very devious depending on how you look at it…talk about schools as failing through made up “report” cards + drive in wedge issues and divisive content surrounding things like SEL and CRT = schools bad and indoctrinating. Then provide vouchers and $$ to more and more families, after all, its your money so they say. First it was about “failing” schools in poor socio economic areas, well, that has now been scaled up to include all schools AND families earning up to 750% of poverty or $225,000 can now receive public money to send students to schools of their choice. (see the prior post about those predicted #’s) Since it was getting harder and harder to prove academic failure due to all the improvements in education and how great we all are 🙂 – AND we are doing better than many other (see this link) –  it has now shifted to “failures” on issues that can not really be measured like “indoctrination”. All those private school “spaces”, and yes I use the terms spaces because it includes online schools, well, their staff and schools are not held to the same levels/standards as we in public education, no OTES or state standards as 2 examples.

Now back to more math and things like your retirement for example. More money + more “choice/freedom” = less students in public education. Less students means fewer public school staff = less salaries. Less salaries = less money in STRS = less for you and your families moving forward = more anger and vitriol surrounding “promises” made by STRS. Its not STRS’s fault, it will be yours for not paying attention. On top of this…less kids being born (we are at all time low) =less students = less salaries = less STRS. Its kind of a double whammy. So the time is now to elect those that value public education.

You all should be take this seriously…so this holiday season of giving – how about donating to the OEA fund – its easy – no more paper work and forms in triplicate – I set it up as an auto withdrawal monthly – have one less frappé mocha latte espresso and invest in your future.

On a more personal note and for your information…I am getting more involved in the OEA fund disbursement of funds – I have just been selected as delegate for the OEA Fund State assembly this spring and will also be serving as a chairperson for local screening opportunities of candidates. Your local president will take a hands on approach to this process and how this $$ is dispersed, so, you’re in good hands with All Nate. The fall election season will be upon us before we know it – so now is the time – ! If anyone of you would like to be involved in this process of screening let me know – you get to me educators from around NEO – speak with candidates – and usually get dinner, and NHEA will pay your mileage.

Happy Holidays and lets make this a better new year…

Scrooge out.

hey all – so for the good news – the NHEA supported candidates won re-election! NHEA sent out 2 different post card announcements via snail mail to local OEA and NEA members as a reminder to GOTV and show our support for Chad and Liz, we also sent out 2 text blasts as well, if you live local you probably have seen all or some of those efforts.

now for some more awareness about why voting matters – read this article in the PD

Ohio leads the nation = this article (sent to me by one of you) illustrates a common refrain…there is a systematic defunding of public schools happening under the facade of choice. Ohio leads the NATION in this defunding of public education, yes, this violates our state constitution, but when you have one of the most gerrymandered states in country, along with the election and appointment of judges, nothing happens to reverse this pattern. this will have a lasting impact – more money in the form of vouchers (you can receive $$ up to a family income of $225,000 for a family of  4, that is 750% of the poverty rate) = less students attending public schools (43,880 this year, by next year it is projected to be 150,000 students) = this means less teachers in public education = less payroll/funds = less funding of OEA = less looking out for your rights = less funding of retirement, etc. Yes, it is planned. All of this in an environment of groups like Moms for Liberty, Protect Ohio Children, the 1776 Project etc., driving wedge issues around books, marginalized/traumatized populations, safety etc…Those issues are feeding the frenzy to leave public schools and our legislature has provided the pathway via $$ = the state has committed to $252 million already this year to those 43,880 students – remember, next year it is expected to increase to 150,000 students = $$$$$$$$$$.

just letting you know…for all of you thinking “I don’t do politics”…politics is doing you everyday…from your entry to your exit…EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Hey all – check out our new page – “Friends of Nordonia Schools”

take a read the follow the link – please donate – !!

I have never stopped since the last levy – !!

here is a good follow-up blog post from Steven Dyer and his 10th period 

its about time we got a win – !!

this might make you think a bit – 

please vote like your profession and livelihood depends on it – BECAUSE IT DOES!!