(upbeat music) (title pops) - Hello, and welcome to "The Journal".

I'm Steve Kendall.

Bowling Green City Schools and the community are welcoming a new superintendent as the school year begins.

What are the challenges?

What are his plans?

We're joined by Dr. Ted Haselman, the new Superintendent, Bowling Green City Schools.

Welcome Dr. Haselman.

Thank you for being here on "The Journal".

- Yes, thank you for the opportunity.

I'm really, happy to be here today.

- Good, good, and for just for folks who might not know, a little background on where you're coming from, you're coming from Pike-Delta-York, but, obviously, your career is bigger than that and longer than that.

- Yeah, yeah, so I've been in education for...

This is my 27th year.

[Steve] Ah, okay.

- I started out as a...

I was a middle school computer teacher, Perrysburg Schools, and then from there, I became the Middle School Principal in Swanton, Ohio, and the last eight years, I've served Pike-Delta-York as their superintendent, so been in three different spots.

This is my fourth stop in education so I'm really excited to be here.

- Yeah, and you've seen it from the teaching side, and you've seen it now from the administrative side and then from the superintendent side, and all of those have their unique perspectives on what goes on in the school system.

As you were moving through that process, why did you decide you wanted to be a superintendent?

'Cause you started out as a teacher, obviously, what was the impetus that, hey, you know what?

I think I'd like to go into administration and then become a superintendent?

- Yeah, so it's actually kind of a interesting story.

I really had no desire to become an administrator.

However, back in 2009, 2010, when I was teaching at Perrysburg Schools, they had some pretty heavy financial... [Steve] Oh, okay.

- Cuts that were coming.

And with that, I found myself on the RIF list.

[Steve] Oh, okay.

- And with that, I thought, you know, I gotta...

I need something to be able to- [Steve] Come up with a new plan.

- Exactly.

- I needed a new plan.

[Steve] A backup plan, a new plan.

Yeah, a big plan.

[Ted] So I got into... My mom always told me that I should get into administration, and so I guess that was somebody telling me, somebody much, much bigger than I telling me I need to get into administration.

So I started going down the path of the course work.

Ended up not getting RIF.

[Steve] Uh-hmm, yeah.

- They changed some things that were happening in the district, but I continued and got my administrative license, and then I was fortunate enough to get my first admin job at Swanton Middle School.

So, you know, I haven't second guessed getting into administration.

It's very rewarding and very challenging, and different, but I'm still a teacher.

[Steve] Yeah, oh, yeah.

- You know, I'm still a teacher at heart so.

[Steve] Yeah, because superintendents, you know, you're around the students, you're around the district, you're meeting parents, you're doing all those things that teachers do as well, and you're just educating in a different way to some degree.

You mentioned your mother.

Was she in education?

[Ted] She worked for the schools.

[Steve] Okay, all right.

[Ted] In the treasurer's department.

[Steve] Ah, okay, so she saw the administrative side of it.

[Ted] She did.

[Steve] Yeah, when you look at Pike-Delta-York, okay, and, obviously, a smaller district than Bowling Green, similarities and differences, if there are any, I mean, what do you think might be different about Bowling Green or have you sensed anything different about Bowling Green versus your experience at Pike-Delta-York in the week you've sort of been on... You've only been on the job four or five days.

[Ted] Yeah.

- Technically, in Bowling Green.

[Ted] Yeah, officially, this is my fifth day on the job.

[Steve] Okay, all right.

- But I spent more time... [Steve] Sure.

- In the district prior to August 1st, but, yeah, obviously, you know, Bowling Green City Schools is much larger than Pike-Delta-York with the number of students and staff and so forth, but there's a lot of similarities as well.

You know, all school districts have the exact same work that we need to do.

You know, I've met with every single administrator on staff at Bowling Green City Schools, and part of that conversation was talking about how all schools are the same, and we all have the same buckets of work, and part of the conversation with each of those administrators was to find out who on the administrative team oversaw each of those buckets.

[Steve] Okay.

- So we all have the same work to do.

We just have, you know, it's made up a little bit different.

Like you said, Bowling Green City Schools is much larger in the sense of students and staff, and the community is much larger, but we all have the same work to do.

We're here to educate kids and provide great experience and opportunity for those that attend our schools.

- Yeah, now, one of the things, obviously, is coming in there are challenges, opportunities, like they're all in new districts and coming into a new position.

What do you see as the biggest thing you need to accomplish?

First off, I mean, there's a million things, obviously, you're working on right now, but what's the one thing you've focused on so far that you feel is the most important?

- Yeah, what I've focused on so far is getting to know not only the district, but, also, the community.

I mentioned the interviews with the administrative team.

You know, I've spent, you know, an hour to an hour and a half with each one of those individuals, and I've met with many people in the community, met with business leaders, met with individuals from the Bowling Green State University, met with government officials.

I've met with community individuals that have reached out or I was given their name, and I reached out to them, and had breakfast, lunch, dinner, some just, you know, a meeting like this.

[Steve] Sure.

- Where we sit down and talk, and I ask a lot of questions and do a lot of listening to hear what their thoughts are, what we can improve on Bowling Green City Schools, and some of the great things that we do as well, and so just getting to learn the district, learn the community, and where, you know, some focus needs to be and, and so forth.

The biggest challenge is when you go to a new job, a new community, just, you know, get immersed, and so that's the first thing that I'm working on, you know, building those relationships and so forth, and, you know, a challenge coming up, we all know... [Steve] Uh-hmm, yeah.

- In the community, we've got a levy on a ballot in November, so, you know, that's a challenge of the district, a hurdle that we need to jump over, and see what happens in November.

- Yeah, and I know that, you know, it's a sensitive area.

You know, the district has struggled with, especially when it comes to building, because, obviously, infrastructure, some of the buildings are older than people would like them to be.

That's a bridge that, obviously, is at the top of your list because there's been dissension, there's been unhappiness with the projects along the line, and, consequently, some of them haven't passed.

Obviously, it's important that it some point that happens.

So that, obviously, is, I'm sure when you're out talking, that question does come up about the infrastructure and what do we do with these buildings.

There's the middle schools, the newest of the buildings, but everything else is a little bit older than that.

So that's one of the things you're probably hearing a lot about.

- Yeah, correct, and building those relationships and hear why individuals believe we either need a new facility or the reasonings why we don't.

- Yeah, yeah, now, and one of the things that, again, it's probably overblown, maybe it's not, when you look in the media, see the letters to the newspapers, that sort of thing, there seems to be a little bit of a separation between the rural part of the district and the city, whether it's as dramatic as it appears, because, obviously, we're seeing a small sample when someone writes a letter to a newspaper or comments.

Does that discussion come up when you've been talking with people about...

There seems to be a little bit of us versus them, it's maybe not that dynamic, but that is, there's a feeling like that a little bit it seems.

- Yeah, that's come up.

It has come up and I've met with individuals from all aspects of our community, you know, those in the city, and I've met with a number of people outside in that rural community as well, and I welcome those conversations, and, you know, my experience at Pike-Delta-York, you know, we had a large... [Steve] Sure.

- Rural constituency there.

[Steve] Sure.

- And I understand their concerns and the thought process with the real estate tax and the different type of taxes and so forth.

[Steve] Sure.

- So, yeah, I've met with, with all walks of life.

[Steve] Yup.

- Per se, and have listened, and want to get their perspective, and take everything into account.

[Steve] Yeah, because they're...

The idea is you're all part of this one entity, and hopefully- - We are one community.

[Steve] Yeah, yeah.

- We really are.

We all, you know, have one thing in mind, and that's, we want our schools to be the best.

[Steve] Sure.

- We may just have different ideas of What that looks like.

- How to get there and what that looks like, yeah.

When we come back, obviously there are other things that, external to the district, the state, obviously, weighs in heavily on local education.

So we can talk about some of the things that that's going, because, obviously, state funding levels, some of the other things that have happened over the last year that will impact every school district state including Bowling Green City Schools.

[Ted] That is correct.

- So we'll be back in just a moment.

Our guest is Dr. Ted Haselman, the new Superintendent at Bowling Green City Schools.

Back in just a moment here on "The Journal".

- Thank you for staying with us here on "The Journal".

Our guest is Dr. Ted Haselman, Superintendent, Bowling Green City Schools.

Obviously, a lot going on in the schools, what are some of the academic initiatives, things like that, that people need to know about the schools that are going on that will reinforce that positive feel for their school system?

- Yeah, yeah, so we've got a lot of things going on.

You know, one thing I'll talk about here in a second will be how we're gonna communicate that out to our community, you know, is with a communication plan that I plan to implement, but one of the things, academically, that we've got going on, it's a continuation from previous years, it's called the Letters Program.

[Steve] Oh, okay.

- And that program is, actually, it's a professional development for teachers to learn how the brain works and how students learn to read.

[Steve] Oh, oh, okay.

- So the staff is taught how the brain works so that they can better service our students, those early learners.

[Steve] Sure.

- On how they read, because, obviously, we know that learning to read is so imperative to further education down the road, and so getting that skill to our young youngest readers.

So the Letters Program is something that we'll continue this year with our reading specialist and our intervention specialist, and we'll continue to expand that program.

So that's one thing that we'll be continuing, and then, you know, as I mentioned, we do so many great things at Bowling Green City Schools.

The longer I'm here, the more I'm talking to people, the more I learn about the initiatives and the day to day that just happens, you know, within our school buildings that are so great, and I firmly believe that, in general, schools do a poor job of sharing the great things that we do.

[Steve] Communicating that so people know.

[Ted] Correct.

- Because, yeah, you always, typically, sometimes, you only hear when something might not be exactly right, but all of those, for that, there's like a hundred other thousand things that go that are working fine and, actually, you know, providing this incredible education for students.

- Correct, so, you know, like I said, that's not, you know, strictly at Bowling Green City Schools.

[Steve] Sure.

- I think it's nationwide, but one of the things that an initiative that's gonna take some time, it's not something that we snap our fingers, and it's in place, but I'm really looking forward to implementing a communication plan.

[Steve] Sure.

- That will, you know, encompass social media, newsprint, some radio, potentially, you know, things like this.

[Steve] Yeah, well, you're always welcome to come on here and talk.

[Ted] Yeah.

[Steve] So keep that in mind.

[Ted] Yeah.

[Steve] Make that part of your plan.

We'll be glad to have you.

[Ted] Yeah, we'll take you up on that so.

[Steve] Okay, all right.

- But really getting that word out to our community, you know, through a quality profile, for example, on the, you know, different areas of the district, you know, our student services, our, you know, finances, academics, the arts, all the areas that encompass a school, and providing that information out so they know that we're doing great things.

For example, you know, this school year, we're going to have some therapists, mental health therapist in each one of our buildings.

That'll be new this year.

[Steve] Yeah.

- Those are things that many people do not know that schools offer to our students.

So we're much more than reading and writing and arithmetic, yeah.

[Steve] And arithmetic, yeah, yeah.

Well, and one of the things you, well, you just look at the recent Wood County Fair at the Bowling Green FFA Group, obviously, you know, a big part of the school system, just one of those areas that people know is there, but they don't give it maybe the full credit that it deserves sometimes.

When you're out talking to people, do they say to you, "Communicate better with me"?

Because people will say, "You know, you need to communicate better," but then when you ask them, "Well, what do you mean by that?"

Sometimes, it's difficult for them to articulate what they mean.

Well, how do you want me to stop by and drop a note in your door?

Do you want me to write you a letter once a month?

Do you want me to do whatever on social media?

So what are some of the tools you're gonna use in terms of, maybe, when people say, "You need to get the word out more"?

Ted] Yeah.

[Steve] Do they give you specifics about suggestions on how to do it?

[Ted] They, typically, don't.

They just say We need to communicate better.

[Steve] Okay.

- Which is broad.

[Steve] Sure.

- And I do, you know, I've shared with people that I believe that communication is also listening.

So having coffee chats, and I plan to have coffee chats, you know, every other month for folks to come in at different coffee shops here in town and speak with me and share, you know, whatever thoughts they have and so forth, but, yeah, communication has come up, but they haven't given me any real hard... [Steve] Sure, yeah.

- Ways of how they wanna see that communication.

[Steve] Sure.

- But, you know, my experience has been to use all different mediums and means to share out information.

Some people are on social media, some people are not.

[Steve] Right.

- So we need to make sure that we're hitting all of our folks where they're at.

- Yeah, and even difficult, even something as simple as email, people don't like to have their email boxes filled with things.

So even though you think you're trying to reach out in a positive way, it's like, "Oh, good, another email."

[Ted] Yeah.

- When you've talk, obviously, you've been out with the community and that sort of thing, have you had much contact with the students in terms of, because I know, obviously, it's summer, they're not all in the buildings, that kind of thing, but there are things going on in the summer with students.

[Ted] Yeah.

- Have you had a chance to mingle with them a little bit?

[Ted] I'm mingled with a few.

[Steve] Yeah, okay.

[Ted] Not nearly as many students as adults.

[Steve] Sure, uh-hmm.

[Ted] But the few that I have had a chance to talk with are amazing individuals.

[Steve] Yeah.

[Ted] And they got bright futures ahead.

[Steve] Yeah.

[Ted] And one of the activities we did was we shot a promo for our upcoming fall seasons, and so I got to meet one of our students that play soccer and is also in the orchestra, another volleyball player, and so some different individuals like that.

They're all well-rounded young folks that have have a bright future in front of them.

- Yeah, yeah, now, one of the things, too, obviously, you deal with the teachers then, obviously, the teachers are a collective bargaining group, and, of course, one of the things, I guess, that happened as you deal with that, obviously, the recovery from the pandemic has changed education the way we know it.

May never go back to exactly the way it was.

Is there a thought on how now to recover that lost time?

Because, obviously, the studies are showing that students fell behind no matter, despite everyone's best efforts, there was a drop, there was a regression, because that for a lot, maybe not everybody, for a lot of students, what's the thought on that on how to... Is there a way to recapture that, quote, unquote, lost time?

- Yeah, yeah, we are seeing some declining scores on state tests, which state tests are just, they're a snapshot in time.

[Steve] They're a snapshot, yeah.

- But we are seeing some... We have seen some declines in those areas.

They're starting to move back in the positive direction.

So we'll continue to, you know, provide supports, and push in those areas to get kids caught back up.

You know, outta the pandemic though, I will say, you know, as terrible as it was, there are some new things that have come out that, you know, I think we utilize some, you know, many different aspects of education in a different way.

[Steve] Uh-hmm.

- You know, it forced us out of our shell... [Steve] Right, - To do some different things, but that slide is still apparent, and we're still working to get back to where we need to be, and, you know, the teachers I've spoke with and have met at Bowling Green City Schools, and there's been a number of them, they're fantastic individuals, and I've heard nothing but great things.

- [Steve] Right.

- I mentioned the meetings that I've had with our administrative staff over the last couple of weeks, and when I asked them some of the, you know, the great things that we do at Bowling Green City Schools, you know, without a doubt, they all mention our great staff.

So I'm very confident that we've got some really good people doing some great work.

- Okay, good, when we come back, we'll touch on some of the other things you have to do because, obviously, there are other entities that weigh in on how education is done in the state of Ohio that are somewhat not in anyone's control, but the people who are impacting the district.

So back in just a moment, Dr. Ted Haselman, Superintendent, Bowling Green City Schools here on "The Journal".

- You're with us here on "The Journal".

Our guest is Dr. Ted Haselman, Superintendent, Bowling Green City Schools.

We've talked a lot about the things you can deal with within the district that are sort of under your control to some degree, but, obviously, the state of Ohio is a big partner in local education.

So one of the biggest things is EdChoice.

Used to be a somewhat limited program, now, it's pretty much as broad as a program can theoretically be.

What does that mean for a district like Bowling Green, and are you seeing the impact of the widened EdChoice program already?

- Yeah, well, yes, it's definitely a challenge for public schools.

You know, back in fiscal year '22, you know, BG Schools, and we lost, you know, a little over $340,000 to EdChoice, and that number's gonna continue to grow.

[Steve] Right.

- Specifically, now, that it's on family, you know, that it's based on family income versus, you know, the performance of your local public school.

[Steve] Yeah, because back then if your district wasn't performing to what the state believed was the appropriate standard, then people could choose to leave under that circumstance, but, now, as you said, it's much more than that now.

[Ted] It's much broad.

[Steve] Yeah.

[Ted] Much more broad now, and if a student, you know, attends a private school, that money, you know, can be withdrawn from our foundation funds for a public school, and so that 340,000 plus, we know is going to grow, and that's a big challenge for schools because we still have to service the students that we have, and, you know, for us to operate, we have to pass levies.

[Steve] Right.

- We have to ask our community to dig deep into their pockets and, you know, fund our schools and, you know, there's a lot of unfunded mandates from the state... [Steve] Sure.

- That come down that cost money, and- [Steve] Yeah, and it's just up to you to find the money locally.

[Ted] Correct.

[Steve] Yeah.

Within your general fund or your budget, yeah.

[Ted] Correct, yeah, so it's definitely a challenge.

[Steve] Right.

[Ted] And we don't know how that really is going to impact us with this new, the openness of this now.

[Steve] Right.

- Because that's just getting going.

[Steve] It's unchartered territory right now.

[Ted] We do know that it's not gonna decrease.

- Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Now, the other thing is, too, obviously, you mentioned foundation money, and I know, it is not a simple way to describe it, but how does the money come from the state or how does the money come back to you at the Bowling Green City Schools that the state collects, and, of course, obviously, the legislature provides some, a foundation for some of that?

Is there a simple way to explain where the money comes from beside the local levies that you do at Bowling Green City Schools?

- Yeah, so the state, the money from the state for each school district is based upon wealth.

- [Steve] Okay.

- And enrollment.

[Steve] Okay, all right.

- So the wealthier the district, the less state funding, the number of students enrollment, you know, increase or decrease also... [Steve] Yeah, yeah.

[Ted] Changes your foundation, but with the new, you know, the new funding formula where the money is a little different, and that's still in transition to that full fledged... - What it's really gonna look like, yeah, yeah, and Bowling Green, if I'm not mistaken, is considered a wealthier, rather than a less wealthy district.

Is that correct?

So you get penalized if you, penalized might be not the right word, but you get less because the district is wealthy in the eyes of the state school system.

[Ted] That's correct.

[Steve] Yeah.

- Our foundation dollars are less than... [Steve] Yeah.

- I guess, yeah.

- [Steve] Yeah, another school that would they consider not as well endowed, basically.

- Correct.

- You've been around long enough, obviously, know that school funding has been, you know, basically, a ping pong ball for the state since the '90s and before that.

Do you ever see a time when it might actually like level out, and it will be a formula that actually will stick and work for a certain amount of time or we... Because it seems like every new general assembly, every governor has a new plan for how to deal with funding schools or even funding higher education.

The same thing happens there to some degree.

- Yeah, I would like to think so.

- (laughs) Okay, yeah.

- You know, that I would like to think that we could get there, but the state funding is so complex.

- [Steve] Yeah, yeah.

- And as you mentioned with each general assembly, and, you know, those individuals and those folks definitely impact how that looks, and so it will probably continue to fluctuate and ping pong back and forth.

- Yeah, and I know, sometimes, too, people outside the community, they look and say, "Well, why is the school spending money on this?"

Which some people say, "Well, you don't need that.

Take that money and put it over here," and it's not that simple because certain things can be used for specific purposes and not for others, and that's probably a difficult thing for people to understand.

"You've got this big pot of money, just move some from here to pay for this over there."

It's like, well, you can't necessarily do that, at least if you wanna stay out of the state auditors'... [Ted] Correct.

[Steve] You know, cross hairs.

So, yeah, how do you explain that to people?

Say, "Well, yeah, look, we've got money over here, but I can't spend it on that."

- Yeah, certain dollars that we get are earmarked for a specific use only.

[Steve] Yeah.

- So we may have, you know, what some may believe is a influx or, you know, a pile of it here.

[Steve] Right.

- And we need it over here.

We can't necessarily cross- - Move it around.

- Yeah, move it around, and so it's not like your home checkbook.

[Steve] Yeah, where you can decide, yeah, you're on your own, what to do with it.

[Ted] Correct.

[Steve] Yeah, you can say, "Well, I'm gonna spend less over here this month, put some of that money over here."

You're, you're locked in.

There are silos or whatever that money has to stay for that, as you said, encumbered for a specific purpose.

Curriculum changes, we've just got a minute or two, that's another fluid kind of area with the state, and, obviously, there's some new pieces to that this year.

[Ted] Yeah.

[Steve] How do you educate the staff and the administration on how we have to now deal with certain aspects of the curriculum versus maybe just a few months ago, the way we were doing it?

- Yeah, so there's some changes with the third grade reading guarantee.

There's some changes in the Dyslexia Law.

Those are things that we're, you know, gonna be communicating out to staff.

[Steve] Okay.

- So that they're aware, and what professional development needs to come along with that because, typically, when there's a change like that.

[Steve] Yeah.

- We are required to provide professional development to our staff, and I use the word required.

We want them to be up to date.

[Steve] Sure, oh, absolutely.

- But some of these requirements from the curriculum from the state require a certain number of hours for staff members to be certified in the, you know, the dyslexia and so forth.

So, you know, we get that information, we communicate it out in different fashions, you know, from our curriculum department and, you know, the building principles and so forth, and try to work with that collective bargaining unit to make sure that everybody's on the same page and the understanding.

[Steve] Yeah, good, okay, well, Dr. Ted Haselman, thank you so much for being here, Superintendent of Bowling Green City Schools.

Wish you all the best on that, and, again, door's always open, feel free to have your executive assistant, your marketing, your PR person, your media manager get in touch with us or just email me and say, "Wanna be on to talk about something."

[Ted] Absolutely, thank you so much.

[Steve] Yeah.

[Ted] I appreciated it, and I had fun.

[Steve] Yeah, good.

Yeah, you're welcome back anytime.

You can check us out at wbgu.org.

You can watch us every Thursday night at 8:00 pm on WBGU-PBS.

We'll see you again next time on "The Journal".

Good night, and good luck.

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