This Week in Shaker©

An Independent E-Letter for the Residents of Shaker Heights, Ohio

Founded April 14, 2003

     Volume 7, Number 35                  Monday, October 19, 2009

Jane Wood, Editor                                                                 Street and Alley, Proofreaders

This Week in Shaker will be emailed every Sunday night or Monday morning,
if news warrants.  Sometimes that schedule changes.
If you like it, pass it on; if you would like to be on the distribution list, email thisweekinshaker@sbcglobal.net. 

This issue has 6 pages.

Corrections and Clarifications

A reader has advised TWIS that an address was incorrect on last week’s Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s web page (it has since been corrected).  Up for Sheriff’s sale is 16625 Aldersyde Rd., not 16225.  TWIS regrets the Sheriff’s error and is pleased it was fixed.

Regarding the item about the Walgreen’s liquor permit, chief counsel William Gruber has advised TWIS that “City Council has no authority to approve or disapprove liquor permits.  Council has only the ability to object to a liquor permit on fairly narrow grounds under State law and request a hearing.”  As noted in the previous issue, TWIS did not attend the Council meeting at which the liquor permit was discussed.

News Briefs

• The school district paid Landau Public Relations $10,500 in September, for, according to treasurer Bryan Christman, “an internal communications audit.”  Last year, the City entered into a $10,000 contract with Landau for “crisis communication assistance.”  At that time, TWIS could not determine when the contract was signed or its duration (Vol. 6, Issue 20, May 26, 2008). 
• School superintendent Mark Freeman told the Board of Education* last week that Title I is “in jeopardy.”
• Following a lengthy power point presentation on “financial planning and budgeting,” the Board of Education* last week approved a 5-year financial forecast (June 30, 2010 – June 30, 2014) that assumes approval of a property tax levy “with a projected yield equivalent of at least 9.9 mills in 2010 and again in 2012,” among other things.  The forecast for 2009 – 2013 is on the school district’s web site.
• Tomorrow (Tuesday) morning’s Finance Committee agenda includes “authorizing the employment of outside legal counsel at a rate of up to $225/hour” and authorizing a license agreement to install conduit and fiber optic cable in the City’s right-of-way.
• The Board of Education* last week approved policy revisions on incapacity of treasurer, incapacity of superintendent and evaluation of instructional programs, and placed on “first reading” policy revisions on fiscal management goals, annual budget and appropriation measures, long-term financial planning, inventories and prohibition of student harassment and bullying.
• According to the Public Works Department’s “action plan,” a fence behind City Hall will be repaired in second half of the year.

*Norman Bliss, Drexel Feeling, Freda Levenson, Peter Robertson, Annette Sutherland

Board of Ed Offers Suggestions for ‘Fact Book’; Achievement Gap Re-Surfaces

At its meeting last week, the Board of Education* talked with Dale Whittington, director of research and evaluation; Bernice Stokes, director of elementary education; and James Paces, director of curriculum; about the “Accountability and Fact Book”** and made some suggestions as to what might be added.

Whittington told the Board she uses multiple sources, including the report card, to gather data.  She said the “Fact Book” has been in existence for 10 years, and last year she began meetings “to determine how to enhance it.”  She passed around a summary to Board members, but not to members of the audience.

Whittington would like to add the following:

• demographics by school
• foster care information
• kindergarten readiness
• results of a test everybody takes (TWIS does not know its name)
• a summary of the “school climate” survey

Paces and Stokes suggested adding a category related to the homeless.

In her presentation, Whittington noted “there is a group that bounces back and forth [between public and private schools] that is almost impossible to keep track of.”  She said she looks at “continuous enrollment.”

While Whittington and superintendent Mark Freeman were receptive to Board members’ suggestions, Freeman noted that the “Fact Book” might not be the appropriate place for some of them.

Board member Freda Levenson had several suggestions: looking at “how kids are doing in AP” and how that enrollment affects the International Baccalaureate program as well as how the IB program affects college admissions; tracking languages and the effect of Chinese; and an “inventory of technology,” i.e., “who has the Internet at home.”  Regarding the last suggestion, Whittington said, “Self-reporting is not always accurate.”

Board member Peter Robertson wanted to know how many students have taken an AP course or a language as well as the number of people accessing the “progress book” (a password-protected online grade book for grades 5-12 that parents can view), and Freeman said, “[We] can get some feeling about this.”

Another suggestion was to “look at the numbers in enrichment classes” (before students are placed in honors or AP classes), as well as “how many kids” have been identified as gifted and talented.

Board member Annette Sutherland asked about tracking parent involvement, and Freeman responded by saying, “The data is not going to be clean.”  He noted, however, that it was “important to look at it.”  This was an example of something he did not think should be in the “Fact Book.”

Sutherland also asked about “data on the lowest achieving” students—“factors to help us identify kids most at risk.”  Freeman said, “Teachers and principals pay attention” to how kids do on standardized tests versus how they do in class.  He said, “[We] might be able to answer that some other way.  To track [it] in the ‘Fact Book’ might be difficult.  Let us think about that awhile.”

Levenson wanted to know how many students travel or study abroad.  “Are we doing a good job of making international experiences available?” was the question she would like to see included.  Freeman said, “My guess is we have a changing trend here.”

Board member Norman Bliss suggested “[we] continue to be sensitive to the needs of all students.”

Board president*** Drexel Feeling asked how the effectiveness of certain programs is tracked.

At the end of the meeting, when it was time for public comment, resident Dan Hoffman proposed a “pilot program to reduce the achievement gap in elementary schools.”  He said it would cost about $30,000 ($107 per month per child) for 30 youngsters to be enrolled in a “Kumon” (http://www.kumon.com/?gclid=CNPHr6aovZ0CFQ4MDQodwiWljQ) reading program.  “Try it and see what the results are,” he said.

Feeling responded by saying there are a number of programs in place right now.  Freeman said the district has a program with very young children, “very similar to what you are talking about” and noted that 2/3 – 3/4 of the children that get help “are no longer in the system by 4th grade.  We need to look at this globally and regionally,” he said, noting that it was a “complex problem” and that Hoffman was “right on target.  We’ve got to get all school districts to do it,” he said.

In a letter to Feeling dated Oct. 5, Hoffman wrote, “The Education Secretary Arne Duncan is touring with Al Sharpton and Newt Gingrich pushing a $4.3 billion program for ‘Successful School Strategies.’

“A compelling new study has just been released from Stanford University entitled, ‘How New York Charter Schools Affect Achievement.’****  It definitively shows that they are shrinking the achievement gap between low-income minorities and more affluent whites.  It reports that, ‘On average, a student who attended a charter school in all of the grades K through eight would close about 86% of the Scarsdale-Harlem Achievement Gap in English.’  Similar, but even better results occurred in Boston and Chicago’s charter schools.  This is being accomplished with a per-pupil spending of about 61% of that of surrounding public schools.

“This is why President Obama and Education Secretary Duncan are pressuring states to become more ‘Charter-friendly.’

“In the face of these conspiring events, it is amazing that the Shaker schools’ Fact Book shows no measure or trending of the achievement gap in Shaker except what the state reports on achievement tests.  How do we know what works, and how well—and what doesn’t, and why?”

In his letter, Hoffman advocated for an “achievement gap task force,” something he has mentioned to the Board before.  

*Norman Bliss, Drexel Feeling, Freda Levenson, Peter Robertson, Annette Sutherland

**Includes information on the school district’s diversity, attendance, achievement, stability, staff experience and environment

***The Board of Education presidency traditionally rotates among its members; all will serve as president at some point.  The same is true of the City’s vice mayor.

****The principal investigator for “The Effects of New York City’s Charter Schools on Student Achievement”— http://www.nber.org/~schools/charterschoolseval/— was Caroline Minter Hoxby, a 1984 graduate of Shaker High (http://www.hoover.org/bios/hoxby.html). 

Public Works Department Stats as of June 30

• 660,990 pounds of debris hauled
• 1,183 mowing and yard cleanup nuisance letters sent; contractor cut 473 [lots], City cut 710
• City has 299 hanging baskets
• Sidewalk plows sent out 19 times in 2009
• 2,378 tons of brush collected
• 4,123 tons of salt used at 35 “ice and snow events” from January - April; “in the 2009 calendar year January 1, 2009 through the final snow on April 7, 2009 we started with an estimated 1000 tons of salt we purchased an estimated 5,000 tons of salt. We have used an estimated 4,000 tons of salt with 2,000 tons (estimated) stock pile remaining.”
• 1,094 misses by rubbish crews; 969 misses because residents “not prepared”
• 290.84 tons of residential mixed paper, 625.73 tons of cans, plastic and glass and 60.71 tons of “white goods” recycled
• 1,325 trees pruned on 33 streets
• 484 trees planted in 2005 pruned
• 430 trees identified for removal
• 513 trees planted in spring; 218 were ash tree replacements, 295 part of annual program
• 10 bare root trees (7 different species) planted in spring
• trees on 29 center strips and islands mulched
• 241 ash trees removed
• 460 catch basins cleaned in Onaway and Boulevard, 400 by contractor and 60 by City; 27 catch basins repaired
• 4 manhole restorations completed; 27 others inspected
• 440 lineal feet of sewer mains “root-cut”
• dye testing performed at 4 locations; 521 laterals cleaned, 31 repaired
• 109,200 linear feet of sewer mains cleaned
• 31 test tees raised or replaced
• 25% of streets rated [for repairs]; remainder will be rated by end of year
• 85 sinkholes repaired
• 10 laterals and 8 curb drains repaired
• 10 streets received large area repair
• 67 CWD [Cleveland Water Department] openings repaired; “at the end of the 2nd quarter there are 6 CWD openings that will need to be  attended to next quarter”
• 360 tons of hotmix asphalt applied to streets; “during winter months cold patch will be used to fill potholes concentrating first on the mains and reported problem areas whenever weather permits”
• Bioaugmentation program bid in late May/early June; “completion will be around the end of September.  Continue to implement the other components of the plan for Marshall and Green Lakes in conjunction with DBWP [Doan Brook Watershed Partnership] when appropriate.”
• Fuel used: unleaded -  44,178.45 all city usage, average price was $2.07 per gallon; diesel - 42,440.65 all city usage, average price was $1.94 per gallon
• $44,136.35 received at vehicle and equipment auction

Following Up . . .

·         Library Courts: Plans will be re-submitted to the Architectural Board of Review Oct. 19.

·         CVS: Plans will be re-submitted to the Architectural Board of Review Oct. 19.

·         New School Position: TWIS reported in Vol. 7, Issue 6 (Feb. 16, 2009) that the school district will hire a new “director of planning and development” to “provide leadership in strategic planning and curriculum.” At the February meeting of the Board of Education, president Drexel Feeling said a job description had been developed and that the new person “would help alleviate stress” on the administrative staff.  The new “central office senior administrator,” as Feeling described the position, would help “build a leadership structure” and help with “new initiatives.”  Posted on the school district’s web site Feb. 9, the position is now “on hold,” according to communications director Peggy Caldwell. 

·         Safe Routes to School:  The Planning Department will apply for up to $500,000 in grants from the Ohio Department of Transportation for projects that will include crosswalk striping and updated signs at intersections surrounding Boulevard, Onaway, Woodbury and the Middle School as well as ADA ramps at those intersections; countdown pedestrian signals at Warrensville/Shaker, Warrensville/South Woodland and South Woodland/Woodbury/ Southington; school zone flashers at South Woodland/Woodbury/Southington; and a traffic study of the Warrensville/Shaker/Fayette intersection.  A consulting engineer is determining cost estimates.

·         Sewers: Hildana and Ludgate projects scheduled for completion mid-November.

·         Water Lines: Chesterton and Onaway to be installed this year by Cleveland Water Department.

Real Estate Report

As of yesterday (Sunday), Realtors had listed 231 single-family houses for sale* (excluding condominiums and townhomes) in Shaker Heights, as follows:

• $100,000 - $199,000: 81 (75 last issue)
• $200,000 - $299,000: 55 (57 last issue)
• $300,000 - $399,000: 28 (27 last issue)
• $400,000 - $499,000: 20 (21 last issue)
• $500,000 - $599,000: 13 (13 last issue)
• $600,000 - $699,000: 9 (9 last issue)
• $700,000 - $799,000: 8 (8 last issue)
• $800,000 - $899,000: 5 (5 last issue)
• $900,000 - $999,000: 4 (4 last issue)
• $1,000,000 - $1,999,000: 6 (6 last issue)
• $2,000,000 - $2,999,000: 2 (2 last issue)
• 3,000,000+: 0 (0 last issue)

In addition, there are 25 (29 last issue) houses priced under $100,000, for a grand total of 256. 

As of Friday, there were 29 foreclosure sales pending (including 4 condominiums) and listed on the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s web site.**  In addition to those, there are sometimes foreclosure sales listed by the U. S. District Court.

[Editor’s note:  TWIS has been reporting these numbers since March 12, 2007.]

*227 last issue

**25 last issue; addresses include 3312 Aberdeen, 16625 Aldersyde, 17450 Aldersyde, 17460 Chagrin, 17623 Chagrin, 3356 Daleford, 3536 Daleford, 3663 Daleford, 3598 Glencairn, 22700 Holmwood, 3612 Ingleside, 3651 Latimore, 3618 Menlo, 3292 Milverton, 3455 Milverton, 3585 Normandy, 17600 Parkland, 3618 Rolliston, 3714 Sudbury, 3348 Sutton, 3367 Sutton, 15820 Van Aken, 16100 Van Aken #402, 2705 Warrensville, 3271 Warrensville #2A, 3279 Warrenville #2-8B, 3519 Warrington, 17408 Winslow and 17705-07 Winslow. [Editor’s note: This week’s foreclosed properties include those listed for Sheriff’s sale on Oct. 19 and 26 and Nov. 2, 9, 16 and 23.  Foreclosed properties are listed every week until they are sold or withdrawn; the total listed here, therefore, always includes some properties that have been listed in previous issues.] 

The following commercial properties are for sale: gas station, 3746 Lee; Tower East (designed by Walter Gropius), 20600 Chagrin; 3393 Warrensville Center (“redevelopment opportunity”—“The owner will consider leasing, ground leasing, joint venture or selling the property,” which “sits at the signalized intersection of Warrensville Center Road and Farnsleigh Road, across the street from Van Aken Shopping Center”); Kingsbury Building, 3427 Lee (corner of Van Aken); Warren Gardens, 3610 Warrensville; Lewis Electronics, 3536 Lee ;medical office building, 3645 Warrensville: http://www.loopnet.com/Ohio/Shaker-Heights-Commercial-Real-Estate/

ADVERTISING

Community Conversation with the

Shaker Heights School Board Candidates

Sunday, October 25, 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones Community Building, 3450 Lee Road

 Moderated by Dan Moulthrop

Co-Sponsored by Moreland on the Move Community Association,

Caring Communities Organized for Education and ONE Shaker