District Profile

General Information

The School District, one of over 600 public school districts in the State and six in the County, provides education to 943 students in grades PK through 12. An additional 58 students resident in the School District attend the Career Center.  It is located in Crawford County in north central Ohio, approximately 60 miles north of Columbus, 70 miles southeast of Toledo and 90 miles southwest of Cleveland.  The District’s territory, approximately 120 square miles, encompasses all of the territory of the Village of North Robinson, portions of the Townships of Bucyrus (5.76%), Cranberry (1.46%), Dallas (13.01%), Jefferson (85.41%), Liberty (74.60%), Sandusky (83.96%), Vernon (20.26%) and Whetstone (99.52%); and small portions of the cities of Bucyrus (8.98%) and Crestline (2.59%).  (Percentage figures based on approximate percentage of a recent tax valuation of the overlapping entity that is located within the District.).

The School District’s 2010 population was 5,727. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the School District’s 2015 population was 5,550.  See Economic and Demographic Information – Population.  Its area is approximately 120 square miles.  Land use, as measured by the assessed value of real property, is presented in the following table.

The District’s general area is served by diversified transportation facilities. Immediate access is to seven State and U.S. highways.  The District is adjacent to areas served by the Norfolk Southern Railroad and the Penn Central Railroad.  Passenger air service is available to District residents at Port Columbus International Airport located approximately 65 miles south of the District, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport located approximately 85 miles northeast of the District, Toledo Express Airport located approximately 75 northwest of District, and Mansfield’s Lahm Airport, located approximately 15 miles east.  The District is also served by general aviation facilities at Mansfield’s LahmAirport, the PortBucyrusAirport and the GalionAirport, all located within 15 miles. 

Banking and financial services are provided to the area by offices of five commercial banks and savings and loan associations, two of which have their principal offices in the area.

Three daily newspapers serve the area. It is within the broadcast area of four television stations and six AM and FM radio stations. Multichannel cable TV service, including educational, governmental and public access channels, is provided by Spectrum.

Within commuting distance are several public and private two-year and four-year colleges and universities providing a wide range of educational facilities and opportunities. These include North Central State College and its Crawford Success and Urban Center Branches, The Ohio State University’s Mansfield and Marion Branch Campuses, Marion Technical College, Tiffin University, Heidelberg University, the University of Findlay, Ohio Northern University, Ashland University and Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

The District is served by Avita Health System’s Galion Hospital, a 126-bed acute care hospital facility located in nearby Galion, and Bucyrus Community Hospital, a 47-bed acute care community hospital, in Bucyrus and by OhioHealth’s Mansfield Hospital, a 326-bed facility, and Shelby Hospital, a 68-bed general acute care hospital, located within 15 miles of the District in Richland County.

District residents are served by free public libraries in the Cities of Bucyrus and Galion and the Village of Crestline, all in the County, and have access to various recreational and cultural facilities, programs and events.

The Crawford County Park District owns and maintains six different park, nature preserve and wildlife areas on more than 300 acres in the County and, through its naturalists, offers a variety of programs and summer day camp opportunities. The Cities of Bucyrus and Galion and the Village Crestline also offer parks with athletic fields, playgrounds, pools and shelters. Four public golf courses are located in the County. 

Other area attractions include Pickwick Place, a facility offering programs and “acres of adventure” designed to educate visitors of all ages about food, farming and the environment as well as a farm market and event center; the Bucyrus Copper Kettle Works, a copper kettle shop opened in 1874, where tympanis, apple butter kettles, candy and caramel corn kettles are still produced – primarily by hand; Cooper’s Mill and Market, offering educational and entertaining factory tours allowing visitors to observe and learn how ripe fruits are cooked into jams, jellies and apple butter; and the annual Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival.

The Mid-Ohio Race Car Course, which features grand prix-style races for sports cars, Indy-cars and motorcycles as well as a driving school, Malabar Farm State Park, a park on property that formerly was the estate of Pulitzer-prize winning author Louis Brumfield that is now dedicated to providing a place where visitors can explore life on a farm and the beauty of nature, and the Kingwood Center, a 47-acre public garden, are all located in adjacent Richland County, as is the Snow Trails resort that provides opportunities for skiing, snow-boarding and snow tubing in the winter and various festivals and events during the remainder of the year.

Board and Administration

The Board of Education is a body politic and corporate charged with the responsibility of managing and controlling affairs of the School District and is, with the School District, governed by the general laws of the State. The Board is comprised of five members elected for overlapping four-calendar-year terms.  The present Board members are:

(a)   President.

(b)   Vice President.

The Superintendent of Schools, appointed by the Board for a maximum term of five years, is the executive officer of the School District and has responsibility for directing and assigning teachers and other employees, assigning the pupils to the proper schools and grades, and performing such other duties as determined by the Board. The current Superintendent is Todd Martin serving since August 1, 2012 and whose present term runs to July 31, 2021.  Previously, Mr. Martin was a Principal for three years in the School District, Assistant Principal for three years in the Ontario Local School District, and a teacher for 14 years.  The Superintendent’s professional memberships include Buckeye Association of School Administrators and Ohio School Boards Association.

The Treasurer, appointed by the Board pursuant to law for a maximum term of five years, is the fiscal officer of the Board and the School District. Vickey Stump, the present Treasurer (for a term ending July 31, 2020) was appointed to that position in January 2007.  Prior to assuming that position, Ms. Stump served as an accounts/payroll clerk for the Mansfield City School District for five months, as fiscal coordinator for the North Central Ohio Computer Cooperative for six years and as Assistant Treasurer for the Wynford Local School District for 10 years.  The Treasurer’s professional memberships include Ohio Association of School Business Officials and Ohio School Boards Association.  For a discussion of the duties of the Treasurer as fiscal officer, see Financial Matters.

The School System

General Information

As of October 2019, 960 students were enrolled in the School District’s three schools (an elementary school, a middle school and a high school). Of those students, around 270 are open enrollment.  An additional 58 district residents attended Pioneer Career and Technology Center (Career Center) classes. For the last complete academic year the average pupil/teacher ratio was below 20 to 1 ratio. The District’s five-year plan forecasts total enrollment for the 2019-20 academic year to increase by five.  The School District employs (full and part-time) 71 professional staff members and 46 nonteaching and support staff employees.

The District has chosen not to participate in the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation process.

The District offers a curriculum with a wide range of electives and comprehensive courses of study in college preparatory, vocational and physical education programs. Post-secondary education linkages with universities are also available for advance placement students.  Many College Credit Plus classes are now offered on the District’s campus.  A full range of extracurricular programs and activities are available, beginning in the elementary grades through twelfth grades.  In 2016, the District completed classroom facilities project in cooperation with the Ohio School Facilities Commission (now a part of the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission) created a K-12 facility on a single campus and provided for the demolition of the older school buildings within the District.

Approximately 82.5% of the School District’s teaching staff members have master’s degrees. The District’s faculty has an average of 16 years’ teaching experience, compared to the statewide average of 12 years (as of Fiscal Year 2019).

Classroom teachers at all levels are supported by specialists in reading, guidance, art, music and physical education. The elementary school has full-time teacher aides. Psychologists, aides assisting disabled students, speech pathologists and a nurse are employed to work with students at all levels.  The District’s Pupil Personnel Services program includes school health and psychological services, pupil appraisal, counseling and guidance services, special education services, and speech-language and hearing services.  Guidance counselors are available at the elementary, intermediate and high school levels.

Vocational education courses offered by the District include family consumer sciences, vocational agriculture, and industrial engineering at both High School and Middle School levels. Other vocational programs are available in cooperation with other schools in the area and at the Career Center.

The District is one of 14 school districts included in the Career Center, which also includes the Buckeye Central, Galion, Plymouth, Bucyrus, Lexington, Shelby, Lucas, Willard, Crestline, Northmor, Wynford, Crestview, and Ontario. The Career Center has nearly 1,041 students enrolled in either a two-year intensive training or one-year work/study program, and 3,000 adults in evening classes.

The District’s goals are to promote and support a structure for family and community involvement in the education system; to ensure the development and implementation of high quality and standards-based education and encourage and maintain a positive and safe learning environment. Its mission is "To enable students to grow academically and socially by providing a positive and challenging learning environment."

The District provides professional development to staff on an on-going basis to ensure State standards are addressed in its curriculum for students in grades K-12.

The District offers a program of instruction for students identified as gifted and talented in grades K through 12. Students are evaluated for entry into this program based on criteria involving IQ and achievement test scores, sociograms and parental assessments.

The School District’s academic and extracurricular achievements and programs include these attributes, among others:

• A Right-to-Read Program, offered to elementary students for the past 23 years as a part of the District’s effort to encourage improved reading skills.

• Weekly classes in music and computer skills are integrated into the curriculum at the kindergarten and first grade levels.

• For grades Pre-K to 12, the District offers a series of programs to assist students experiencing academic and social difficulties, along with peer tutoring groups, and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, a program of which provides motivation and recognition for academic success.

• 85 regular education classes, 18 vocational classes, 8 college credit plus classes and 9 special education classes are offer at the high school level.

• In recent years, more than two-thirds of the District’s High School graduates have indicated they intend to pursue a college education, and the average ACT and SAT College Entrance exam scores of the District’s students generally approximate national averages.

• Eight courses are offered on the District’s campus for college credit by District teachers, including courses in Calculus, College Algebra, Statistics, Trigonometry, Psychology, Sociology, Communications and Physics.

Athletic programs include a full range of both interscholastic and intramural sports programs for grades 6 through 12.

District students participate is a range of extracurricular activities including community service events, band and chorus, FCCLA (Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America),  and a chapter of FFA (Future Farmers of America.)

The District participates in a joint effort with local municipalities, hospitals and churches to prevent chemical abuse.

The Colonel Crawford Educational Foundation was established in 1999 by the Board to provide funds for extended educational activities and projects not provided for by general School District funds. The Foundation is funded, in part, by an annual membership drive and other fundraising activities which raise between $10,000 to $15,000 a year.  These moneys have been used, in the form of grants to teachers and otherwise, to provide students with supplemental reading materials, computer equipment, guest speakers, academic achievement awards and other items to enrich educational opportunities.

The District’s school campus serves as a hub for community gatherings and activities. Each year the District sponsors a Fall Festival that features arts and crafts, food vendors and musical performances.  When not in use for physical education classes and competitive interscholastic team training and events, its gymnasium is used by community members for basketball leagues and pick-up games and its natatorium is open to seniors and other community members for water aerobics, health and wellness, physical therapy activities, and summer swimming programs. Outdoor playing fields are used for summer Little League softball and baseball. District facilities are used for community meetings, scouting, and 4-H programs.

The Board has established a formal community information program, under which it distributes 2,500 newsletters to residents quarterly and conducts periodic community surveys.

School District and School Building Report Cards

The State evaluates and measures the performance of its school districts and their individual schools and annually reports the results to the public. The State currently measures and reports on the following performance components for all of its school districts and each of their individual schools: (i) Achievement (measuring absolute academic achievement compared to national standards of success), (ii) Progress (measuring the average annual improvement for each student), (iii) Gap Closing (measuring how well a school district or school is doing in narrowing gaps in reading, math and graduation rate among students according to socioeconomic, racial, ethnic or disability status), (iv) Graduation Rate (measuring the percentage of students who entered the 9th grade and graduated in four and five years), (v) K-3 Literacy (measuring the improvement in reading for students in kindergarten through 3rd grade) and (vi) Prepared for Success (measuring whether students who graduate are prepared for college or a career).  Further information relating the State’s methodology of evaluating and measuring the performance of its school districts and their individual schools, as well as the results from year to year (including the results of the performance of the School District and its individual schools), may be obtained from the Ohio Department of Education.  In the School District’s view, any changes in results from year to year may not be indicative of any material change in the educational attainment or achievement of the School District’s students, but rather may be more reflective of changes in the State’s grading methodology, criteria and standards.

Employees

The School District has 116 full-time and part-time employees. A statewide public employee collective bargaining law applies generally to public employee relations and collective bargaining.

In Fiscal Year 2018, the Board paid from its General Fund $5.123.255 in salaries and wages and $2,464,609 for fringe benefits such as employer retirement systems contributions, workers’ and unemployment compensation and medical insurance premiums. The Board projects paying $5,414,436 in salaries and wages and $2,646,096 for such fringe benefits from its General Fund in Fiscal Year 2019.

Of the current employees, 71 are certificated professionals (certified by the State Department of Education) serving as classroom teachers, education specialists and administrators, of whom all have at least a bachelor’s degree and 61 hold advanced degrees. The current starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree is $32,801 the maximum teacher salary (for a teacher with a master’s degree plus 40 semester hours and 25 years’ experience) is $75,114.  

Average salary for certified teacher. 

FY2019 based on FTE 61.7 (includes those with extended days) = $59,084

FY2020 based on FTE 61.7 (includes those with extended days) = $61,582

49 of the District’s 63 teachers and educational specialists (excluding 7 administrators) are members of the Colonel Crawford Education Association (the Association) which is a labor organization affiliated with the Ohio Education Association. The current three-year contract between the Board and the Association expires on June 30, 2021. Under that contract, Association members received salary increases of 2.75% for Fiscal Year 2019 and will receive an additional increase of 2.75% for Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021.

The District’s classified support staff (secretarial-clerical, custodial, maintenance, food service, and transportation) are not represented by an organized collective bargaining unit but have historically received salary increases at the same rate as provided by the District to members of the Association and the same benefits.

In the judgment of the Board, its employee relations have been and are excellent.