At its regular monthly meeting held last Thursday, March 19^th, the Olmsted Falls Board of Education voted unanimously to pass two separate resolutions relating to the Common Core Standards and the new State Mandated Assessments, respectively. The first resolution asserts the Board’s support of the new common core standards, adopted by Ohio and 43 other states across the country.  The second, separate resolution, communicates the Board’s opposition to the current accountability model, which mandates an excessive level of testing/assessments for students in Olmsted Falls Schools, and across the state of Ohio.

“It is important that we separate the two issues and address them individually,” said Board of Education President Jim Weisbarth.  “As a local Board of Education, we support the new common core standards and have great confidence in the ability of our administrators and teachers to effectively raise the bar for our students in the classroom.”

“However, as a Board, we also believe that the over-testing that has been mandated by the state to measure the effectiveness of districts throughout Ohio is too much and needs to be changed,” Mr. Weisbarth added.

“We believe the common core standards are the right work and right direction for our students,” added Superintendent Dr. Jim Lloyd, “and that they are a logical progression in the evolution of education standards.”

“We also believe strongly in accountability,” said Dr. Lloyd.  “Unfortunately, the implementation of the new state mandated assessments have proved their excessiveness and taken away significant amounts of classroom instructional time.  As a district, we are actively advocating for a change as it relates to the current assessment requirements.”

Please click on the links below to view the two signed resolutions passed at the regular monthly meeting of the Olmsted Falls Board of Education held March 19, 2015:

Olmsted Falls Board of Education Resolution In Support of Common Core State Standards

Olmsted Falls Board of Education Resolution In Opposition to State / Federally Mandated Student Assessments