Around Randolph: Waterloo starts a 'Digital Diet'
- Sandy Engle. Due to a desire to increase focusing, and social interaction skills, this fall all students and staff at Waterloo School District will be undergoing a 'Digital Diet.'
Schools
Ravenna looks to put elementary school, high school on same property
- Savana Capp. In addition to the closures of West Park and West Main elementaries, Ravenna City Schools might be introducing another building change.
Kent schools continue to investigate two gun-related incidents, bomb threat
- Adriana Gasiewski. After the Kent City School District was informed that a student was suspected of having a gun and Longcoy Elementary School was placed under lockdown, the police are investigating the situation.
Community, school leaders ponder next steps after tax failures at the ballot
- Wendy DiAlesandro. Disappointed by May’s primary election results, school and city officials across Portage County know they have work to do before November.
Kent State cancels trial agreement with Flock Safety after pushback
- Wendy DiAlesandro. Kent State University’s administration and police had intended to use license plate readers on campus, but reversed themselves after public outcry became apparent.
Kent asks voters for levy approval amid financial challenges
- Wendy DiAlesandro. Kent City School District leaders hope voters will approve a 9.8-mill continuing levy in May. If approved, Issue 1 will generate $8,522,335 annually for the district’s general operating budget.
Longtime Suffield Elementary School principal prepares for retirement
- Adriana Gasiewski. When the Suffield Elementary School principal job opened up in 1999, Shawn Bookman was hesitant to apply. At that time, Bookman was a fifth grader teacher in the Springfield City School District with two young children.
Documenters: Maplewood Career Center Board of Education meeting for April 16, 2026
- Julie Erickson. The featured program for the meeting was a walk-through of the Applied Engineering and Machining lab, which has been led by Mark Hamilton for the past 14 years.
Bill could push school districts into more frequent levy votes
- Amanda Smith. A proposed Ohio bill would push school districts back onto the ballot more often, reversing years of work in some districts to stabilize funding and reduce voter fatigue. At the same time, recently passed laws mean schools are already dealing with changes to how revenue grows over time and how much taxes can grow in relation to property valuations.
County roundup: Data centers still top of mind; Aurora, Ravenna, Shalersville and Streetsboro news
- Roger Gordon. The planning commission forwarded a resolution to Streetsboro City Council to put a 12-month moratorium on accepting applications for data centers and/or cryptocurrency centers.
Election preview: A look at the races, issues on the ballot in May 2026
- Wendy DiAlesandro. May primaries are just around the corner, and Portage County voters will see a number of familiar names in dozens of uncontested races, as well as a few contested ones. On the ballot are candidates for state representative of Ohio’s 72nd district, Portage County commissioner, Portage County Common Pleas Court judges and Portage County auditor.
Documenters: Field Board of Education meeting for March 9, 2026
- Noell Wolfgram Evans. “We’re in an interesting place in terms of enrollment,” Heflinger said. He said that the district doesn’t have room in Brimfield to grow, adding that “if kindergarten enrollment goes up, we will be scrambling.”
Aurora’s superintendent praises district successes while looking to the future
- Wendy DiAlesandro. 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.
How the closure of West Main Elementary will affect Ravenna students
- Savana Capp. Ravenna City Schools announced the plan for housing the district's students next school year following the closure of West Main Elementary. Ravenna City Schools will have its K-12 students in three buildings next year: K-2 at Willyard Elementary, 3-6 at Brown Middle School and 7-12 at Ravenna High School.
Village of Mantua, Crestwood Local Schools clash over school resource officer hire
- Wendy DiAlesandro. The Village of Mantua has been saying for months that it has hired a full-time school resource officer for Crestwood Local Schools, but school officials aren’t on board.
Crestwood schools stop livestreams in light of AI
- Wendy DiAlesandro. Citing concerns about artificial intelligence, Crestwood’s Board of Education has pulled the plug on its livestreams.
Documenters: Streetsboro City Schools Board of Education meeting for Feb. 12, 2026
- Julie Erickson. Brett McCann provided a district report card update. In two years, 2022 and 2023, the district closed the gap of -9% to state average math scores.
Icy start to the school year in Kent
- Wendy DiAlesandro. Facebook's "You Know You're From Kent If/When" page lit up Jan. 5, when residents complained about the school district's response — or lack thereof — to the New Year's Eve snowstorm.