By Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall
The news from the Mentor Public Schools keeps getting bleaker. In my opinion, there needs to be serious changes made in the school district in order to return it to its former glory.
In summary:
-teacher is arrested in an Internet sting for crimes against children.
– it is acceptable to have pornographic books in the Mentor school library,
– boys are allowed in the girls’ bathroom,
– only 40% of students taking the SAT’s have a chance a get a C in college math,
– taxpayers will see an increase in their property taxes in 2025 without even getting to vote on a levy.
Is it just me, or do others believe that there are problems in the school district?
Please read the rest of the article to get the sordid details.
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A message from MENTOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Orchard Hollow parents and guardians,
Unfortunately, I am writing to share that we were made aware today that one of our teachers, Tim Tatko (Orchard Hollow), was arrested as part of a sting operation by the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, where undercover officers were posing as minors. We are still in the process of gathering information related to specific details of the situation. However, at this point in time, the District has not received any information indicating that any Mentor student was involved in the circumstances leading to the arrest.
The District immediately placed Mr. Tatko on administrative leave and instructed him not to have any contact with anyone in our school community pending the results of the District’s investigation. We are taking the allegations very seriously and we will fully cooperate with law enforcement officials working on this case. Keeping our students safe is our number one priority and we will do everything we can to protect them. We will provide updated information when it becomes available.
Sincerely,
Craig Heath
Superintendent
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From the Concerned Mentor Taxpayers group:
This teacher [Mr. Tanko] was principal at Brentmoor Elementary from 1997-2012. He was then “demoted” to classroom teacher. No explanations were given. This is why we need Rose Ioppolo and Gil Martello elected to the Mentor School Board. They are for transparency, parental rights, ridding the schools of ALL explicit sexual content materials, and keeping ALL students safe. Please make sure to get out and vote. Get your neighbors, your friends, your family out and VOTE FOR THE O’s.
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LFC Comments: We have previously written about trying to remove, in our opinion, the pornographic book, Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, from the Mentor School District.
Superintendent Heath decided that the book should not be part of the curriculum, but was unsure at the time of the video about removing it from the school’s library.
Subsequently, Superintendent Heath decided to keep it in the library. The two Board members, Annie Payne and Tom Tuttle, staunch defenders of morality and protecting all students did not agree with Heath. They requested a vote by the School Board.
That vote was taken recently to remove the Bluest Eye from the school district, thereby. reversing Superintendent Heath’s decision.
Unfortunately, Maggie Cook and Virginia Jeschelnig agreed with Superintendent Heath to keep the pornographic book, Bluest Eye, in the school district. Mary Bryner, the fifth board member, has, for some reason, opted out of attending the Board meetings. Bryner is not running for her school board seat on November 7th.
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LFC Comments: We recently have been made aware of the results of the college entrance exams known as the SAT’s for Mentor public schools. Rather than inundate our readers with statistics, let’s point out an obvious trend.
% that Met Benchmarks
Both ERW Math None
SAT performance for 2018 77% 95% 78% 4%
SAT performance for 2022 38% 66% 40% 33%
“The SAT Math benchmark is the section score associate with a 75% chance of earning at least a C in first semester, credit bearing, college-level courses in algebra, statistics, precalculus or calculus.”
“The SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (ERW) benchmark is associated with a 75% chance of earning at least a C in first-semester, credit-bearing, college-level courses in history, literature, social science, or writing.”
Honestly, if I were associated with the school I would be embarrassed by those results.
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However, boys in the girls’ bathrooms is acceptable at Mentor High School.
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The Ohio Revised Code’s mandatory sexennial revaluation, to take place in 2024 with property taxes collected in 2025, will increase the property tax for every taxpayer in the Mentor School District without a vote of the people because the revaluation will impact the inside [non-voted] millage. The 30% estimated increase in property values will generate approximately $2.3 million for the school district, and cost taxpayers approximately $47 per year, per $100,000 of market (true) value.
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Categories: Lake County Cities & Townships, Mentor, Uncategorized