The Lima Rotary Club hosts a panel discussion with school superintendents.
Superintendents from all of Allen County's public high schools joined us Monday for a panel discussion about education. Funding, staffing, enrollment, AI and career preparation were the main topics under discussion. "Just this past spring I did a budget reduction of just under $2 million," Lima City School Superintendent Andrew Rudolph told us. "I am already looking at this upcoming spring, additional reductions. The needs continue to increase while the funding decreases." Regarding AI, Delphos School Superintendent Jeff Hobbs told us, "AI is not going to take over your job. It's going to help your job. People who understand it and can use it are the ones that are going to thrive. So one of our focuses is to try to make that something that we're really trying to drive home to our kids is the proper uses of AI." The superintendents also told us that they are having problems recruiting teachers, athletic trainers and support staff. Elida School Superintendent Joel Mengerink said, "“Ten years ago we might have a third grade opening, we might have gotten 75 to 100 applicants, and now we're getting 10-15 applicants." Shawnee School Superintendent Don Diglia summed it up well, "The focus that you see at this table, while each of our communities is a little bit different, every one of them cares greatly about their community. We do a great job, and you have every reason to be proud of these superintendents up here, of their teachers and the students."
We also welcomed four new members at Monday's meeting: Ryan Warenecke - Attorney at Smith, Warnecke, Meredith & Clark, Drew Cano - Superintendent at Bath Local School District., Grace Shirk - District Manager of Junior Achievement, and Tyler Turner - Superintendent at Perry Local School District .Please make them welcome! Also, congratulations to Stephanie Williams who received her blue badge!
