Aurora’s superintendent praises district successes while looking to the future

In his first year as head of the Aurora City School District, Superintendent Paul Milcetich spoke about “The Green Standard,” the district’s commitment to ensuring that its youth thrive not only academically, but also athletically, artistically and socially, as leaders and as human beings.

“Success today demands more than content knowledge alone,” he said to the audience at the 2026 State of the City event on Feb. 25. “It requires the root competencies of collaboration, empathy, innovation, resilience, balance and critical thinking. These are not skills taught from a textbook. They are cultivated through experiences, relationships and environments intentionally designed to help students grow in line with our strategic vision and our mantra of ensuring Aurora learners are future ready.”

That being said, Aurora schools have and continue to perform at an exceptional academic level, he said. For the fourth consecutive year, the district earned an overall five-star rating on the state’s report card. The recognition affirms that Aurora students are exceeding state expectations across academics, progress or growth, and readiness.

U.S. News & World Report has once again ranked Aurora High School as one of the top high schools in Ohio and in the nation, Milcetich said. To develop its ranking, the publication evaluates 903 Ohio high schools and more than 24,000 nationwide.

College Board, a nonprofit organization that helps students navigate the path from high school to college, ranked AHS as an AP School Honor Roll Platinum school for the first time. This, Milcetich said, reflects the district’s efforts to enroll more students in advanced placement courses while supporting them as they head to college.

AHS is more than academics. Milcetich noted that AHS’s boys and girls cross country, girls volleyball and boys soccer teams were among the best in the state in their respective divisions. The boys soccer team made sports headlines when it showed up as the state runner-up.

Then, a well-deserved shout-out: “During this year’s Super Bowl LX, proud Aurora alumni AJ Barner chose to recognize his Greenmen roots in his introduction and represented the 44202 as he had an excellent performance, including the first touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter to lead his Seattle Seahawks to the coveted Super Bowl championship!” Milcetich said amid resounding applause.

Student musicians also scored honors this past year. Some competed individually and as groups at regional Ohio Music Education Association competitions, earning the highest possible ratings for their performances. The full AHS orchestra earned the top rating of “Outstanding” at a recent OMEA Adjudicated State event.

AHS artists earned gold and silver awards at the regional Scholastic Art Awards show, with the gold medal winners receiving an automatic invitation to enter the national adjudication this spring in New York City.

“Truly impressive, but I want to be clear: these results are not the goal. They are the outcome. They are the byproduct of a district that focuses first on strong learning environments, meaningful relationships and opportunities for students to grow in authentic ways. That growth extends well beyond the classroom,” Milcetich said.

Changing tone, he said the schools must evolve along with the city.

“Over time, we have reached a point where incremental fixes are no longer enough. Aging infrastructure, limited space and temporary solutions, such as classroom trailers, signal that we need to think more comprehensively about how we serve students now and into the future,” Milcetich said.

“The Essential Plan,” so named and outlined on the district’s website, is a long-term strategy to design growth and sustainability. Its three-fold goals are to create viable space in which students can learn and grow, improve the safety and functionality of district facilities and maintain fiscal responsibility.

Plans include building a new grade 1-3 elementary school on the existing Craddock property, building an addition onto Miller Elementary and reconfiguring Leighton Elementary to serve grades 4 and 5. The goal is to eliminate the classroom trailers while creating room for slow, steady enrollment growth, he said.

Also on The Essential Plan’s radar are projects that include repaving parking lots and Greenman Way, replacing roofs, updating HVAC systems, modernizing kitchen equipment, constructing a school board office and building a new transportation facility.

“These are not simply cosmetic or aesthetic upgrades: they are necessary investments to ensure our schools remain safe, efficient and functional for decades to come,” he said.

The Essential Plan is not written in stone, he said. Starting in April, the district will hold in-person meetings to share concepts, gather community feedback and ensure transparency.

To pay for it all, Milcetich said Aurora schools anticipate asking voters to approve a levy next fall. City schools are only 18% state-funded, meaning local property owners shoulder the lion’s share, he said. More to the point for The Essential Plan, the state is only holding itself responsible for 14% of the total project cost.

Then, echoing sentiments his predecessor Mike Roberto expressed in his final 2025 State of the Schools address, Milcetich expressed concern at Ohio’s universal school vouchers program. Vouchers are public funds that help parents pay for private school tuition.

Originally meant to allow children in low-performing schools to enroll in participating private schools, the universal voucher system allows all students, regardless of their parents’ income and their home school’s performance, to obtain a publicly funded voucher.

Each dollar directed to a private school is one less for public schools.

“Billions of tax dollars are being redirected away from public schools statewide through universal vouchers,” Milcetich said. “Regardless of where one stands philosophically, the reality is that these decisions have fiscal implications for predominantly locally funded school districts like ours.”

Knowing that every dollar the district does get carries great responsibility, Milcetich underscored his commitment to accountability, transparency and stewardship.