Middletown Schools Land Dispute with Franklin

We are writing in response to the recent article about the land dispute between Middletown City Schools and the Franklin City Schools.  From the positions we sat in years ago when this began we found the struggle intriguing; one school system wanting land that had never been theirs, willing to go to court to take it from another.   Now that we are no longer Superintendent’s of neighboring districts but actually in the positions of the Superintendent and Business Manager of the Franklin City Schools we feel compelled to comment.  Franklin City Schools stands to lose millions of dollars in tax revenue if Middletown prevails. This lost revenue would most certainly be shifted onto the already over- burdened property owners in Franklin. Fortunately, for Franklin, the State Board of Education has decided in their favor.  Likewise, the Franklin County court has upheld the decision of the State board of Education.  In the words of one member of the State Board, “this is clearly a tax grab by the Middletown Board.”

The argument offered up by Middletown is that if land is in a city, children living in that area should attend the city school district regardless of long established school district boundaries.  The reality is that many school districts across the state have boundary lines that don’t follow municipal borders.  There are several local examples; there are areas in Trenton that residents attend Madison Schools rather than Edgewood. Hamilton residents attend Talawanda. There are areas of Monroe that attend Lakota. The list goes on. Cities grow, municipal lines change with that growth.

 In the recent article in the Middletown Journal there was a quote from Dr. Price saying that he believed it to be the right thing to do to fight for those students who live in the disputed area to attend the Middletown City Schools.  We want the readers to know that Middletown accepts open enrollment students from neighboring districts and if those students wanted to attend Middletown they could enroll as open enrollment students. Middletown would then get all state funding for those students. There are approximately 29 students in the disputed area.  On the other hand, there are about 55 Middletown students who choose to attend Madison through the Open-Enrollment Option, and about 123 Middletown students who choose to attend Monroe and about 38 Middletown students who choose to attend Franklin.  Approximately 225 students choose to attend those three school districts and take with them about $1.3 million in State funding. It makes us wonder why these students choose to attend neighboring schools rather than their home district.  Additionally it would appear that if protecting a student’s right to attend Middletown City Schools is the mission, the nearly $300,000 in legal fees spent by the Middletown Board would be better invested in trying to keep the kids already there.

This entire case is a sad commentary not only on The Middletown Schools and their leadership but also on the plight of public schools in Ohio.  Schools have been struggling for nearly 30 years to keep afloat without the need to go to voters repeatedly. We have tried to work together as districts though out the state to accomplish this. How credible is our effort to the observer when a district with much more in resources takes a “predator approach” to take away from another? The Franklin City Schools have struggled financially and remain in a tenuous position for much needed dollars. Yet with these struggles Franklin City Schools achieved the distinction of “EXCELLENT” on the State Report Card for the first time this year. During a time of economic hardship for everyone, the effort by Middletown Schools is simply disappointing .

Arnol Elam, Superintendent Franklin City Schools                                                             

Tom York Business Manager, Franklin City Schools

By Marcia Andrew