community meeting july 2012 - cincinnatiwaldorfschool.org...in madisonville, .5 miles from...

Community Meeting July 2012

1Tuesday, July 10, 12

Imbue thyself with the power of imagination.

Have courage for the truth.Sharpen thy feeling for responsibility of soul.

- Rudolf Steiner


Meeting Agenda

1. Some Exciting News !

2. Some context for the need for a CWS move

3. Decision-making structure, bodies & process

4. Property Search process

5. Mariemont Dale Park School

6. Update on this Property’s process to date

7. Open up floor to questions and comments


Exciting News!


“Congratulations on your accomplishment of becoming a full member school of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America! We have con=irmation from your Leadership Council Representative, Colleen Everhart, that your school’s regional circle of Delegates recognized and decided that the caliber of your school quali=ies as a full member school in our community of Waldorf schools ready to represent Waldorf Education in the world...”“...This moment of achieving full membership in AWSNA is a very moving one for all at AWSNA. We cannot emphasize enough our gratitude to your faculty, staff, board, and parent body for the considerable work necessary for this to be achieved....”“Welcome to Cincinnati Waldorf School in the robust community of full member Waldorf schools and the striving souls in them serving children and Waldorf Education! The addition of your school to that community represents a milestone in the advancement of AWSNA.”

! ! !Frances Kane!! ! ! ! ! Patrice Maynard!

AWSNA Leader of Administration!! AWSNA Leader of Outreach & Development


More news!


Applied for and have been offered a grant from the Schott Foundation for Meshewa EC program expansion


CollegeLC

LeadershipCouncil

• Representation of Faculty

Responsible for:• Pedagogy• Curriculum• Mission focus

• Representation of Parents, Faculty, PA and othersResponsible for:• Finance• Legal• Strategic Direction• Shared oversight in accomplishment of CWS mission

• Staff roles of Admin Team Lead, Business Mgr, Enrollment Dir, Office Mgr, Admin Asst.Responsible for:

• Daily Operations• Schoolwide

communication• Physical space

• Planning• Faculty HR

• Business Mgmt

• Representation of College,

Early Childhood, Grades, Board

and Admin• Cross-body coordination

• Handles Parent concerns

• Takes first pass at issues before they go to

ind. bodies

CWS Representative Leadership Model

Board Admin Team


Near Term Goals for CWS

• Better Faculty support

• Utilizing and Strengthening Meshewa

• Strengthening Our Presence in the Tri-State Area

• Owning Our First home for CWS

• Better Balance of our Revenue to take better care of our community


Better Faculty SupportRecent Steps:

• In 2012-2013, CWS will be paying for more teacher professional development than ever before

• Through the Faculty and Administration’s diligent multi-year effort we have received full AWSNA accreditation


Recent Steps:• In 2012-2013, CWS will be paying for more teacher professional development than ever before

• Through the Faculty and Administration’s diligent multi-year effort we have received full AWSNA accreditation

In-Process:• Creating a new Faculty compensation structure based on level of education and years of Waldorf experience

Priority:• Increasing our Faculty and Administration’s salaries to a more competitive level**

Better Faculty Support


Recent Steps:• Focused Meshewa early childhood programs have experienced exanded enrollment and interest has consistently increased

• Feedback from participants in existing programming has been extremely positive

• Meshewa Task Force has been built and has built phased plans of feasibility

• Revitalized discussion with Turner Farm and Indian Hill about possible Meshewa utilization

Utilizing and Strengthening Meshewa


Recent Steps:• Focused Meshewa early childhood programs have experienced exanded enrollment and interest has consistently increased

• Feedback from participants in existing programming has been extremely positive

• Meshewa Task Force has been built and has built phased plans of feasibility

• Revitalized discussion with Turner Farm and Indian Hill about possible Meshewa utilization

In-Process:• Plan for expanded full early childhood campus supported by potential grant money from the Schott Foundation

• Increase conversion of Meshewa early childhood families into the main campus grades program

Utilizing and Strengthening Meshewa


Strengthening our presence in the Tri-state

Recent Steps:• Greatly increased local presence of CWS with more focused print advertising, two local TV Interviews, a great Business Courier article and a much stronger Social Media presence this past school year.


Strengthening our presence in the Tri-stateRecent Steps:• Greatly increased local presence of CWS with more focused print advertising, two local TV Interviews, a great Business Courier article and a much stronger Social Media presence this past school year. In-Process:• Due to our stable financial situation we are finally able to purchase our first CWS owned school facility, making our presence more established

• Providing better physical access to a broader swath of the Tri-State area (our present location has been a deterrent to new prospective family enrollment)


And the main focus for tonight... Owning Our First Home for CWS


The Why’s of Owning Our first home for CWS

• Stability: We have been a renter for almost 40 years which makes CWS appear nomadic or unstable to potential families

• Our financial house is finally in good order which provides us with the option to purchase our first home

• Invest and grow in a permanent facility rather than pack and move at the whim of the property owner

• A permanent home is a selling point for private schools. Other schools regularly cite their longevity at their location in print and radio advertising (New School - 41 years in the historic Mitchell mansion)

• Present non-central, non-permanent location is regularly articulated by potential families as a deterrent to enrollment


• Clifton- Resor Dr.• Clifton- Ravine Ave.

• Norwood- Holy Trinity• Winton Place- St. Bernard’s

• Mt. Airy- Little Flower

Leasing for almost 40 years.


Criteria for a new home

❏ affordable (including necessary repairs to move in)❏ ample space for our pedagogical needs❏ location more accessible to more Tristate families (more central on map- more toward 71 corridor)❏ ability to own not lease again❏ ability to control our campus facilities usage❏ enough green space for pedagogical needs❏ closer to Meshewa❏ safe neighborhood


Results from 2010 survey (given in consideration of Bramble School purchase

in Madisonville, .5 miles from Mariemont)

• around 160-170 responses

• 95% of responders stated that it is important (somewhat to extremely) that CWS have a permanent home-defined in the survey to mean "building and grounds owned by CWS"

• 60% of responders stated that it is important that the CWS building be located near Meshewa to better incorporate it into the curriculum

• 60% of responders stated that it is important that CWS is located near an organic farm

• 99.4% of responders stated that it is important that there be green space immediately adjacent to the CWS building

• 100% of responders stated that it is important that CWS has garden space at the school

• 22% of responders stated that a move to the I-71 corridor would negatively impact enrollment


Results from 2010 survey (given in consideration of Bramble School purchase

in Madisonville, .5 miles from Mariemont)

VeryUnlikely Unlikely Neutral Likely Very likely

WesternCincinnati 5.6% (9) 9.9% (16) 22.8% (37) 24.7% (40) 37% (60)

CentralCincinnati 4.3% (7) 1.2% (2) 16.7% (27) 22.8% (37) 54.9% (89)

EasternCincinnati 13.7% (22) 14.3% (23) 13.7% (22) 19.3% (31) 39.1% (63)

How likely is it that your family would stay enrolled in CWS if we were located in:


Desire to reach more of Greater Cincinnati Area


At Little Flower now:64% of us have commute longer than 10 min

36% have less than 10 min commute11% have 5 min commute


Current drive time from Little Flower to Meshewa 18.3 Miles/ 27 Minutes, which means...

• Can only utilize it for field trips/special events a few times per yearvs. • Utilizing Meshewa as part of the CWS grades program throughout the year

Getting our Grades closer to Meshewa property for regular programming


WestEastKentucky

WestEastKentucky

WestEastKentuckyIndiana

WestEastKentucky

WestEast

Current Prospective Students List

WestEastKentucky

’08-’09 School Year

’09-‘10 School Year





New Student Enrollment by Year


• Tuition only covers part of our basic operating expenses

• A permanent home in the right location allows CWS to attract a broader spectrum of students and improve our ability to raise money from outside sources, creating stability

We need to balance our revenue to take better care of our community

85% Tuition10% Annual Fundraising5% Other

43% Full Tuition38% Ed Choice29% Write-off


1. Find property2. Walk through, cursory meeting of criteria3. If promising, faculty & board invited to view4. Get Faculty and Administration input5. Run financials about affordability6. Board discussion of each criteria7. Pursue

New Campus search Process


Next campus purchase Decision

BoardCollege AdminLC

LeadershipCouncil

Weighs in on:• Pedagogy

• Curriculum• Mission focus

Makes final decision and carries process

with input from other bodies• Finance• Legal

• Oversight in accomplishment of CWS

mission

Weighs in on input regarding:

• Daily Operations• Physical space

• Planning• Business Mgmt


• Over-the-Rhine• Reading• Amberly Village/Roselawn• Madisonville• Eastern Avenue/Riverside• Walnut Hills• West End• East End• Finneytown• Bond Hill• Sharonville• Clifton

Where we’ve looked so far:


toward Owning Our First home for CWS

Steps so far:• Administration, Board, Parent body and Realtors have been actively searching for and touring potential permanent homes for the past seven years

• Engaging with Cincinnati Public Schools and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati to purchase one of their several decommissioned school facilities

• Many of the potential facilities did not meet many of our basic requirements or were too expensive to purchase or maintain

• We’ve gotten close- a school in Madisonville last year, then in May exploring partnership with Community Development Leaders about a possibility in Walnut Hills


toward Owning Our First home for CWS

In process:• We’ve found a match which meets most of our criteria beautifully, could be well within our budget for tremendous value, and gets us closer to Meshewa. It’s got some challenges we need to solve together, yet are pursuing it.

• We met with Cincinnati officials today (Councilman Chris Seelbach, the Asst. City Manager and a lead from the Economic Development office) to talk about our search. They’d like to help us find a building in Cincinnati, and possibly offer incentives to us as well in doing so. We explained what we’re looking for, and they’ll start looking right away. Maybe they can open some doors or find some amazing opportunities we haven’t been able to!


Finding and vetting the Dale Park School

• CWS was not looking for a school specifically in Mariemont, but considers all options which look like contenders for our needs

• The Dale Park School became available in this past May. The CWS Board and Faculty made two walk through tours to consider it in meeting our unique programming needs

• We met with the Mariemont mayor early in the process to explore the cultural match with CWS, and have found an open and eager community partner for CWS there

• After several discussions, the Faculty and Board determined that it had good potential to meet our programing needs and opened new opportunity to fully utilize Meshewa for grades


Why the Dale Park School?Strengths✔ affordable (including necessary repairs to move in)✔ ample space for our pedagogical needs✔ 5 minutes from 71✔ ability to own, not lease again✔ ability to hold space without sharing✔ enough green space for pedagogical needs✔ much closer to Meshewa- 12 minute drive✔ safe neighborhood• beautiful historic building, idyllic setting• many opportunities to partner with community in ways we haven’t before

Weaknesses✘ East of central location on Cincinnati map ✘ Far commute for a lot of our current students✘ Shared greenspace with village

Questions❏ How do we ensure that we keep our currently enrolled neighborhoods strong?❏ How do we solve the transportation challenge for our West side students?❏ How will CWS impact Mariemont’s culture and vice versa?


Status of Dale Park School• Mariemont BOE was required to got through the auction process before listing the building for public sale. CWS presented the only bid at the auction. The BOE rejected the auction bid (it was low).

• MBOE listed the school for regular sale. CWS has presented a bid on the property, and is waiting to hear back from the Mariemont BOE

• The CWS board decided to submit a letter of intent and offer to buy based on our budget

• Mariemont BOE has not yet voted on our offer and it is unclear when they will decide on this matter

• If they accept CWS’s offer:1. Sign a contract to purchase2. 60 day evaluation period to perform inspections, resolve issues with the unique shared green space, financing,etc. with now obligation to buy 34Tuesday, July 10, 12

Conditions for Dale Park School

Before a purchase, we’d need to establish the following:❏ inspection of building, assessing real cost of repairs vs. budget❏ agreements with village about designated green space usage to meet our needs❏ transportation options for west side enrollment


CPS and their process

CPS has 2 years from when a building is unoccupied to find a use for it. After that time, they must go through the steps to offload it I've described before of: 1. Send a letter to charter schools to offer it to them (they have 60 days to respond)

2. Hold a public auction3. List it

7/9/2012 4:32 PM

news.cincinnati.com | Printer-friendly article page

Page 1 of 3

http://news.cincinnati.com/print/article/20120706/NEWS/307060095/CPS-reluctantly-sell-buildings

July 6, 2012

CPS to reluctantly sell buildings

By Jessica Brown

This summer Cincinnati Public Schools plans to reluctantly sell at least five closed schools, and possibly

more.

The process, however, isn’t sitting well with some board members.

That’s because Ohio law requires districts to give charter school operators first dibs on buying the

buildings. Some board members think the district should instead be able to sell its assets as it chooses.

“We’ve been elected to be the caretakers of these generations-long investments in public property that

belong to our taxpayers,” said School Board President Eve Bolton. “We are interested in operating in a

free-market system and not being constrained by outside rules.”

The list of for-sale buildings is expected to be approved at tonight’s school board meeting, and may

expand. It includes the old Bloom, Linwood, Losantiville, Herberle, and Sands schools. It also includes

the land on which the old Millvale school used to stand and four other parcels of land, such as

easements that the district no longer needs.

The district has already sent the list to headquarters of the local charter schools, which have 60 days to

respond. Any buildings that aren’t sold through that process will auctioned off.

The Hamilton County Auditor’s Office values the listed properties at $12 million.

The district may also vote to lease the old Heinhold school on Baltimore Avenue in East Westwood to

the Washington, D.C.-based SEED Foundation, which plans to open a public boarding school here in

2013-14.

The schools on the sell-list have been closed for years as the district moved through a decade-long $1.2

billion project to rebuild or renovate its entire building stock. Many schools were permanently closed and

some were demolished to meet the district’s shrinking enrollment. CPS auctioned off its last block of

schools in 2009.

But the process still irks some board members. Charter schools – there are about 30 in Hamilton County

alone – are public schools run by independent organizations. Urban districts, like Cincinnati Public, have

historically seen them as competition for students and state dollars.

Yet Ohio law requires CPS give charter schools first dibs at buying any school buildings that have been

closed at least two years. CPS recently lost an Ohio Supreme Court appeal on the issue. It’s now

considering adding more buildings to the list even before the two-year deadline to prove that its

complying with the court order, Bolton said.

The court case arose when a charter school operator sued because CPS sold him a building, then tried

to block him from opening a school there. The court sided with the charter operator, Roger Conners.

Charter school policy groups welcomed the news.


community meeting july 2012 - cincinnatiwaldorfschool.org...in madisonville, .5 miles from...

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