At its May 7 meeting the Akron School Board agreed to cut the budget for fiscal
year 2013 by $18,163,966. These cuts will include the eliminaton of 139
teaching positions and all middle school sports.
Further cuts will be needed in the next few months in order to totally eliminate the
projected deficit of $22,000,000. And because of declining property valuation
in the city — which means less revenue for the school district —
a further $2,000,000 in cuts may be necessary.
In addition to the above, cuts were also made in the budget allocations for supplies,
textbooks, technology, equipment, and purchased services.
East High Athletic Director, Ron Linger, has announced that Marques Hayes
will take over the school's football program as varsity head coach. Hayes
will replace outgoing head coach, Damon Beasley.
Hayes was an assistant under Coach Beasley, serving as defensive line coach in 2010 and
as defensive co-ordinator in 2011.
Said Hayes, "I think the best thing about this right now is that we are a grades 7-12 school
here at East Community Learning Center. We are connected and we want to keep these
kids from the middle school here to play ball at the high school level. We want to
keep these kids in the building and in our football program."
Coach Hayes played linebacker and defensive lineman at the University of Akron from
1999-2003. He earned his master's degree at the University and currently teaches
special education at East.
A.D. Linger adds "We are excited to have Marques. He has great rapport with our student
athletes. He is young, energetic, and he is a very positive role model for our kids.
We are looking forward to him getting things rolling in a positive direction."
Footballers Advance to the Next Level
East seniors to play college ball
Outgoing head football coach, Damon Beasley, announced that the following
four senior varsity players will continue their football careers in college:
Defensive lineman Joshmere Dawson will attend St. Francis
University in Loretto, Pa.
Defensive lineman Devon Myers will attend Baldwin-Wallace College
in Berea
Quarterback Tevin Richards will attend St. Augustine's College
in Raleigh, N. C.
Linebacker and strong safety Richard Fields will also attend
St. Augustine's.
Scholarship News
East seniors prepare for college
Congratulations to senior Tanai Cannady who has been awarded a full four-year
scholarship to attend Ohio State University.
Tanai serves as this year's senior class president, is a varsity cheerleader, a member
of the varsity volleyball team, and, for the second year in a row, a national finalist
at the DECA International Career Development Conference in Salt Lake City.
Fellow senior Matt Schertz has been awarded the Michael T. Hayes Adademic
Scholarship to continue his education in the College of Engineering at the University
of Akron. The scholarship, renewable each semester for four years, will amount
to a total of $4,400 in aid.
Matt is this year's band president, National Honor Society president, and manager of the
stage crew.
Matt will join on campus 2010 Hayes Scholarship awardee, Iris Edmondson, who is currently
completing her second year at the University of Akron.
Fiorello Named Coach of the Year
After yet another successful boys basketball season, the
Akron Touchdown Club
has named head coach Ross Fiorello, Sr. its coach of the year for 2011-12.
Coach Fiorello led the Dragons to their first city championship since 1991 and on to
the Canton Regional semi-finals.
Other Touchdown Club awardees are listed in the Akron Beacon Journal article
here.
N.E.A. Takes On Bullies
The National Education Association (N.E.A.) has launched a new web site,
Bully Free: It Starts With Me.
This effort by the N.E.A. urges caring adults to get involved when they see
evidence of students suffering from bullying. Visit the site by clicking
here.
In a related matter, the award-winning and provocative 2011 film, Bully,
is showing in selected cities around the country. Below is a preview.
High School Will Be More Demanding
Beginning with the 2013-14 school year
Beginning with the graduating class of 2014, an Ohio high school diploma
will be a much more valuable document. With the implementation at that time of the
Ohio Core Curriculum, the standards for graduation will be a bit more demanding.
One of the most noticeable changes will be the requirement for four years of math
instead of the current three years.
The goal of the Ohio Core Curriculum is to expose students to a course of study requiring
higher-level skills and more critical thinking — things that colleges and employers
say they want in a high school grad.
Testing will also change. The current Ohio Graduation Test, required for a high school
diploma, measures knowledge only in the 8th to 10th grade range. Ohio, along with 23
other states, is working to develop more rigorous tests that will be part of the new curriculum.
Below are two sources with more information about the new curriculum.
An impressive number of East students submitted entries in this year's Akron Public
Schools Science, Math, and Technology Expo held at North High School on
January 28.
An equally impressive number of Dragons took part in the District's
annual Bridge Building Contest held at North the same day.
Below are two slide shows of pictures of East competitors from the two events.
At its May 7 meeting the Akron School Board agreed to cut the budget for fiscal
year 2013 by $18,163,966. These cuts will include the eliminaton of 139
teaching positions and all middle school sports.
East High Athletic Director, Ron Linger, has announced that Marques Hayes
will take over the school's football program as varsity head coach. Hayes
will replace outgoing head coach, Damon Beasley.
Congratulations to senior Tanai Cannady who has been awarded a full four-year
scholarship to attend Ohio State University.
Fellow senior Matt Schertz has been awarded the Michael T. Hayes Adademic
Scholarship to continue his education in the College of Engineering at the University
of Akron. The scholarship, renewable each semester for four years, will amount
to a total of $4,400 in aid.
After yet another successful boys basketball season, the
Beginning with the graduating class of 2014, an Ohio high school diploma
will be a much more valuable document. With the implementation at that time of the
Ohio Core Curriculum, the standards for graduation will be a bit more demanding.
One of the most noticeable changes will be the requirement for four years of math
instead of the current three years.
An impressive number of East students submitted entries in this year's Akron Public
Schools Science, Math, and Technology Expo held at North High School on
January 28.