Dear Editor,
As we approach the “Back-to-School” season, many of us, including myself — a bio teacher at MVHS – feel a mix of excitement and anxiety. While I look forward to meeting my new students, I worry about the busy year ahead and the additional stress that comes from giving my maximum effort for my students.
I am grateful to work in a supportive community for a district that has made significant investments in projects like the Energy Field House and improvements to our facilities. This year, we were able to waive school fees for many students and ensure their nutritional and emotional needs are met during the school day.
However, I am reminded of the words of Todd Whitaker: “It’s people, not programs,” that have the largest impact. Unfortunately, our high school faced staff reductions during the economic recession, resulting in larger class sizes. Two years ago, taught a class of 32 students. I have only 24 seats in my room. The biggest “hit” was to our much-needed intervention specialists, who have been decreased to just four.
Our greatest successes, as reflected in state test scores and graduation rates, come from collaborative co-teaching in math and English classrooms, where our remaining intervention specialists work alongside general education teachers. I have not had the benefit of such co-teaching since 2016, nor have my science department colleagues. We simply lack the staff numbers.
While I deeply appreciate the financial support from our community, increasing staff to meet our students' needs is crucial but prohibitively expensive. This increase would require a sustained influx of funds that we cannot consistently ask from our community partners.
I am jealous of districts like Paulding County Public Schools, which have improved their teacher-to-student ratio by utilizing PILOT (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) funds since 2013 from local solar projects. While MVHS has maintained a “B” on our State Report Card, Paulding County has risen from an “F” to an “A,” according to Will Hinman of the Ohio Capital Journal.
The Frasier Solar Project could provide MVCSD with access to sustained PILOT funds for the next two decades, enabling us to hire more staff to better serve our students. I know this issue has been polarizing for our neighbors. But, as an educator and lifelong Knox County resident, I humbly ask that we take advantage of this potential by supporting this project.
Sincerely,
Scott Patterson
MVHS Biology Teacher
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