From the desk of Matt Geha, Superintendent of Springfield Schools

Purple Stars and Risking Redundancy

This week, I would like to cover two important topics. First, to celebrate our renewed status as a Purple Star school and then to provide an answer to a question/comment that is being posed to me with an increased frequency about perceived ‘strings’ attached to the American Rescue Plan (ARP) dollars received by our district.

First, let’s celebrate that last week we learned that the Ohio Department of Education has renewed Springfield High School’s designation as a Purple Star School. In the letter received from State Superintendent Paolo DeMaria wrote that, “We applaud and appreciate your unwavering commitment to serving military-connected students and families. Each Child, Our Future, Ohio’s strategic plan for education, recognizes the importance of supporting the needs of the whole child. To be successful in school and when transitioning between school settings, Ohio’s military-connected youth require particular supports to ensure that their unique social, emotional and academic needs are met. The Purple Star award your school is receiving today signifies your schools demonstrated commitment to serving these students and their families. As you know, Ohio’s Purple Star Advisory Board has established a set of important criteria that schools must meet in order to be considered for a Purple Star designation. It gives me great pride to announce that your school has continued to not only meet but, in many cases, exceed these criteria.”

Each Purple Star designation is valid for three years, and we were proud to be one of the first recipients to receive this designation and proudly display the Purple Star School emblem on the homepage of our website.

Next, I would like to address head-on some misinformation that seems to be circulating that funds provided to our school district from the federal government (to support our operations during this global pandemic) are dictating the district’s current COVID-19 mitigation efforts. Please help us stop the spread of any comments indicating that:

1. There is any other reason than the health, safety and welfare of staff and students for the requirement that facial coverings must be worn inside district facilities. There are no political or financial incentives tied to our funding.

2. There is any reason other than the health, safety and welfare of staff and students that influences when, how and the duration of periods of quarantine and isolation due to exposure of a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. There are no political or financial incentives tied to our funding.

3. The Ohio Revised Code 3701.13 (“Health-Safety-Morals” and then “Department of Health - Powers”) gives the department of health the authority to isolate and quarantine, among other safety actions. The health department quarantines, and schools just exclude students from attendance while in isolation or quarantine.

As we near almost two full years of the coronavirus and COVID-19 placing our health, safety and welfare at risk, and our sense of ‘normalcy’ into a feeling of perpetual limbo, we simply can’t allow wrong information to undermine the trust and confidence that Springfield Schools has deserved and received from our community. So, I will risk redundancy to state one final time that what influences my recommendations to the board of education members, and those of treasurer Ryan Lockwood and other school leaders, are the health, safety and welfare of staff and students.

JROTC Halloween Formation

Superintendent Matt Geha joined Assistant Superintendent Dana Falkenberg and the high school administrators at the annual JROTC Halloween Formation. Together, they helped to judge the cadet’s costume competition. Winners were: Daniel Young, TV head–funniest; Aiden Schultz, scream–scariest, and a tie for most creative to Kera Sensel and Gavin Ruiz, as Danny and Sandy from “Grease,” and Leandra Ferguson, as an alien tourist.