It’s known as the 5 of 8 rule -- for every 1000 students, districts must hire 5 service personnel from a list of 8. That includes art teachers, music teachers, librarians, nurses and counselors. the school board spent Monday listening to testimony, including the Wadsworth superintendent asked for the freedom to make his own personnel choices.
Former board chairman Debe Terhar backed up that argument saying it was all about local control.
"We, this board, this body is not taking away anything. You are providing flexibility to districts to be able to make their staffing decisions.”
But board member Bob Hagan asked, if it’s all about local control “why do we have a state school board?”
“What’s our responsibility? Have we just given it all up?”
In the end, even with three new Board members -- all Democrats -- the Republican majority voted to eliminate the 5 of 8 standard.