This Blog was originally posted earlier this year. It has such important information, we wanted to share it once again.
When I express concerns to school leaders, I demand confidentiality. What is my expectation of privacy when communicating with district leaders?
This is fairly simple. When you talk to school employees about your child you have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Emails and letters about a student’s educational experience are protected by the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). If your communications involved the health and safety of your child, or of other children, district employees are mandatory reporters and may require communications with appropriate law enforcement or support agencies.
If you raise the level of communications to the Board of Education, there is no expectation of privacy. When you email or share information with members of the Board of Education, you are knowingly and willingly sharing information with elected officials – with policy makers. Simply by emailing or writing to the Board of Education Members you are creating a public record, which does not receive the same privacy protections.
Per Board of Education Policy, concerns should be directed to the source of the issue before escalating concerns. While people often say, “I’m going straight to the top” when they call my office, our staff is required to refer concerns and/or complaints back to building administration. On our web page we have a page dedicated to letting you know Who to Contact.
Since the district is eliminating class rank, who is going to speak at graduation?
While traditionally the speakers at commencement exercises have been the valedictorian and salutatorian, with the district no longer calculating class ranks beginning with the Class of 2022 each high school will hold auditions to be graduation speakers.
While the process and qualifications to audition have not been finalized, our plan is to phase in this process over the next three years. At the same time, we will begin recognizing students who earn Latin Honors over the next three years as well. Students will be recognized with Summa Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, and Cum Laude accolades beginning as early as the spring of 2019. These honors will be phased in concurrently with the phasing out of class rank. We will be intentional in our actions and clear with our plans.
Why is Hilliard starting later than neighboring districts in the fall?
First, we intentionally planned to start a little later this year due to construction projects. With the opening of Memorial Middle School, shift of Station Sixth Grade Building, and creation of the Innovative Learning Hub we have a lot going on this summer. We have built flexibility into the calendar to ensure everything is ready when students are scheduled to return to school. Please note . . . we have no control over road construction projects.
School calendars for 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21 are all available and easy to find on the district’s website. These calendars take into account both projects for this summer and graduation dates coordinated with Ohio State University.
