The Future of Schools: Tipp City and Bethel

Representatives from Tipp City and Bethel schools addressed a group of citizens at Coldwater Café at noon on Friday, Feb. 29.

The bottom line: both school districts face challenges, but quite different ones, at least in the short term.

Tipp City School Treasurer David Stevens spoke for Tipp schools (Superintendent Moran had a prior engagement). Stevens began by saying that Superintendent Moran “is all about the students,” and he agrees. Stevens then listed some of the good things for students going on in Tipp schools: more resource officers in schools (policemen), new instructional coaches, and vocational and technical training (not everyone goes to college). Also, new language, theater, and leadership classes at the Middle School.

Stevens then showed an “Affordability Cost Comparison” graph of surrounding school districts. Tipp City ranked the lowest of all surrounding districts, making “Tipp schools a good value,” remarked Stevens.   

So, the future seems bright for Tipp students, but Stevens commented that Tipp Schools face two major challenges in the next three years or so.

Challenge one is completing a two-phased project for replacing Tipp’s aging and deteriorating elementary school buildings. Phase one involves passing the PK-8, $87M, 8.68 mills school bond issue in March, which will cost both residents and businesses $304 per $100,000 of assessed property value. If the bond passes, designing and constructing the new school will be completed in time to welcome students in the Fall of 2027. The design phase will take about a year, then Nevin Coppock must be demolished before construction can begin. Nevin Coppock’s 320 kids will be temporarily placed in Broadway (PK-2) and L.T. Ball (3-5). Note that even if the bond Issue is defeated, Nevin Coppock could be abandoned due to its small size and deteriorating roof ($750,000 to replace). The Middle School will eventually be demolished in phase one. 

In phase two of the project, the state will reimburse Tipp schools $30M, which will be used to demolish Broadway and do some upgrades to L.T. Ball and the high school. Any unused money will be used to pay down the remaining bond amount.  

The second major challenge for Tipp Schools is its monthly, ongoing $2.5M operating deficit. The deficit is being offset each month with cash reserves, but the reserves won’t last forever and will gone in 2027. Stevens said that he and Superintendent Moran are working on improving operational efficiencies and will begin taking action next school year (2024-2025).

Stevens also mentioned that in general, “revenues are trending down and costs are trending up,” so it’s a challenging time.

Superintendent Matthew (Matt) Chrispin, at Bethel for a year and a half, then shared his perspective on Bethel schools’ future.

The good news: Bethel has a new High School (2017), a new K-5 building and stadium (2023), and according to Chrispin, “a very supportive community.” Chrispin repeated what Tipp City’s Stevens had said, that in Bethel, “it’s all about the kids.”

Bethel schools also face two major challenges, although quite different from those of Tipp Schools: ongoing growth and changing demographics. Bethel has been the second fastest-growing school district in the state, growing from 948 to 2,002 students in a few short years. The demographic of the new students is that 16% require English language classes and 10% are economically disadvantaged.

So, Bethel has rapidly gone from a small school district to a large school district, requiring a significant expansion of administrators, teachers, supporting staff, and new classes. But says Chrispin, “we still want to feel like a small school district,” with all Bethel’s rural and historic identity.

Bethel also lost about 50% of its teaching staff and some of its administrators last year.

Superintendent Chrispin then remarked, “We’ve got some work to do…but we’ll do it!”

Chrispin closed his presentation by reminding everyone that new buildings, deficits, rapid growth, and other issues are important, but we need to keep asking “What’s happening in the classroom?” That is, how are our students doing? Most districts’ test scores have dropped since COVID, especially in the elementary schools. That’s another big challenge for everyone.