December 30, 2024
2024 brought many great moments for Heath City Schools, including our State Report Card results; our Art teacher, Mrs. Jones, winning the Transcendia Exellence in Education Award; our marching band winning several competitions; and last but not least, our Baseball team became the OHSAA DIII State Champions!
There are a few things that I would like to call out in more detail.
First, in September, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) released its Report Card for 2023-2024 school year. We are proud to say that Heath City Schools earned a 4-star overall rating (5 stars in Gap Closing; 4 stars in Achievement and Progress; and 3 stars in Graduation and Early Literacy)! Our Performance Indicator score – a summary of the star ratings – improved to 93.1 from 91.8 (and to 173rd in the state from 200th, which ranks us third in the county, and puts us on pace to be ranked second soon!
We are making huge progress toward our goals, and we are quickly becoming the best district in the county for educating and growing our students. I am proud of and thankful for our staff for their hard work and dedication. More than just these ratings, our students and staff are doing remarkable things every day. To witness a more comprehensive picture, please talk to your children, other students, educators, and families about what is happening in our buildings each day. Please visit our District website and follow our social media channels.
Second, you may have seen the news that the Licking County Budget Commission approved a request for our district to “call” the bonds for the construction of Heath High School (HHS) in 2000, meaning we will pay off the outstanding balance and all debt will be satisfied. Beyond the bond payoff, this also means the district will have zero debt moving forward. In addition, because the bond that paid for HHS is no longer needed, Heath taxpayers will see a 5.3-mill – or $185.50 per $100,000 of property market value – decrease on next year’s (2025) property tax bills.
We pride ourselves on being a great steward of the taxes allocated to us. The payoff is happening earlier than we planned, but with an increase in collections we are able to save taxpayers on future interest payments, and with a decrease in their property tax bill in 2025. It is a win-win…the Board/District is completely debt free, and the Heath taxpayers are saving money.
Separate but related to this announcement, we have formed a Facilities Planning Task Force to establish priorities, evaluate options, and provide valuable input on our district’s facilities. The task force is focusing on the condition of district buildings, projected growth, curriculum needs, and financial considerations. It is an open, transparent process with no predetermined outcomes, with the goal of coming to a consensus and presenting outcomes to the Board of Education. The district has partnered with architecture firm Garmann Miller to guide the process and task force and help develop a community-centered plan that reflects the district’s goals for the future. The task force began with two 90-minute meetings on October 16 and November 6. It is now in the process of touring buildings in other districts for information and idea gathering and will reconvene for our next Task Force meeting on Wednesday, January 29, at 6:00 p.m. in the HMS Auditorium.
We are expecting our district to grow in the near future, and we have some facility needs to accommodate that growth. While our last attempt at a levy renewal and bond issue to begin building for our future was not successful, we do believe that it is necessary to continue planning, hence the task force. Part of this continued planning is a property purchase we made over the summer to help connect Stevenson Elementary and 30th Street. The idea was that it could help improve traffic flow for a larger footprint on that property in the future.
Change is coming, but what will not change is our unwavering commitment to the excellent education of the students of this district. We will continue to live our mission of ensuring all students learn and grow is our collective responsibility.
It was a great year to be a Bulldog! Looking forward to 2025!
Trevor Thomas, Ed.D.
Superintendent, Heath City Schools