Another reminder to get your child registered for kindergarten next year! Today is one of our designated registration dates. Registering now allows us to plan appropriately for next school year.
Thank you!
This is a reminder that we will not be having school on Friday, March 14.
We’ve seen firsthand how unpredictable school funding can be in the past. Years ago, our district saved money instead of spending it all, knowing that funding could change. Now, with an $800,000 funding cut coming, that foresight is helping—but we still face tough decisions ahead.
Imagine if we didn’t have that cushion. We’d be scrambling to figure out how to pay our staff and maintain programs.
The bottom line: This funding cut is significant. It’s not sustainable, and it’s not fair to our students.
Stay tuned for what we can do to stand up for public schools.
#WapakonetaSchools #FairFunding
Kindergarten registration is here! Today (March 10) is the first day, and we will have the second opportunity on March 14. We look forward to welcoming the class of 2038!
In 2022, Ohio implemented the Fair School Funding Plan, designed to accurately determine the cost of educating a child and how much a community can afford to pay.
But here’s the problem: Only half of the formula is being updated.
📌 The state is recalculating property values & income (which makes Wapakoneta look "wealthier"), but they are NOT updating the cost of educating a student.
What does this mean?
🔻 Wapakoneta City Schools' state funding will drop by $842,311 in FY 26 and $835,301 in FY 27.
🔻 Our state share of funding will drop from 53.54% in FY 2022 to just 38.1% in FY 2027.
Even though your income may not have increased, the state assumes our community can cover the gap. That’s not how fair funding should work.
This imbalance is putting a strain on public schools. We must demand that legislators update both sides of the formula.
#SupportPublicSchools #FairFunding
As you may have heard, our school system will be taking over the majority of the county-run Special Education Units across the district. This is something we have considered for years, and after careful planning, we believe next school year is the right time to move forward.
This transition aligns with previous steps we’ve taken, such as hiring our own speech pathologists, paraeducators, and managing the Opportunity School. While we have always funded these services, bringing them in-house allows us to directly hire staff, ensure quality, and control costs—ultimately benefiting both our students and the district.
Over the past several months, Our Superintendent, Special Education Director, our building administrators, and treasurer have evaluated the need for special education instructors, paraeducators, and the financial impact on the district. Our goals are twofold:
To manage and supervise all Special Education Units—after all, these are our students in the classrooms.
To be as cost-effective as possible while maintaining high-quality services.
We have just posted several Special Education Positions that includes:
4 Multiage Classrooms at WES
3 Multiage Classrooms at Cridersville
2 Multiage Classrooms at the Middle School
1 Multiage Classroom at the High School
Each classroom will have one full-time special education instructor, one full-time paraeducator, and one part-time paraeducator—with additional paraeducators assigned as needed based on individual student support requirements.
We will be interviewing current county personnel who apply, as well as other interested individuals. Due to retirements and the creation of new positions, all openings will be posted and filled according to Wapakoneta City Schools’ negotiated contracts.
If you are wondering about potential budget cuts to Special Education based on the proposed budget bill...so are we! However, we hope that this move helps us to be be good stewards of the money that we receive regardless.
We are excited about this transition and look forward to continuing to serve our students with excellence!
Are you interested in applying? https://www.wapak.org/page/employment
We usually avoid political posts, but this issue is too important to ignore. Governor DeWine’s proposed budget for the next two years is NOT kind to public education.
📉 Key Funding Cuts for Public Schools:
Base Cost Funding: Drops 17.5% by FY 27
Special Education Aid: Down 9.4% in FY 26, another 8.5% in FY 27
Gifted, English Learner, and Career-Tech Education: Also facing cuts
Transportation Aid: Slight increase, but with a cut to the guarantee
Meanwhile, community and STEM schools, vocational districts, and private school scholarships (vouchers) are seeing major funding increases.
This is not just a Wapakoneta issue—this impacts 90% of Ohio’s students who attend public schools. We’ll share more details in the next post, but we need to take action. Public schools matter!
#OhioEducation #FundOurSchools
Kindergarten registration is quickly approaching. Please mark you calendars for March 10 and 14. We look forward to welcoming the class of 2038!
Congratulations to our girls' bowling team on their district championship!
We are excited to congratulate Braydon Hower and his family on his signing to continue his football and educational career at Bluffton University. He will be majoring in education, and we want to express how proud we are of the young man Braydon has become. Wapakoneta City schools is confident that Braydon will do great things in his life. Go Redskins and Go Beavers!
We are excited to congratulate Braydon Hower and his family on his signing to continue his football and educational career at Bluffton University. He will be majoring in education, and we want to express how proud we are of the young man Bradon has become. Wapakoneta City schools is confident that Braydon will do great things in his life. Go Redskins and Go Beavers!
One of the practices at Wapakoneta City Schools is to do "walkthroughs" of our classrooms as an administrative team. We get the opportunity to see our kids engaged in unique learning activities and our teachers doing what they do best. Today I had the opportunity to get into some of our high school classrooms. Our young people were learning about cellular processes, performing CPR, working through problems in Algebra, studying the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's, reading and analyzing British Literature, discussing French culture, and much more. We are privileged to have an outstanding staff across the district, and we are fortunate to have excellent students in our classrooms!
Wapakoneta City Schools will be having school today after the delay.
Wapakoneta City Schools will be operating on a 2 Hour Delay on Friday, February 21.
WCS: We will be closed on Thursday, Feb 20 due to road conditions.
Wapakoneta City Schools will be operating on a 2 hour delay on Thursday, Feb 20 due to road conditions.
WCS: We will be closed on Thursday, February 13 due to icy road conditions. This will be a virtual day for all students. Assignments will be posted by 10 AM. Elementary students will have choice boards or assignments sent home by staff.
Wapakoneta City Schools will be on a 2 hour delay on Thursday , February 13.
Wapakoneta Boys' basketball game vs Kalida this evening has been cancelled due to weather.
Parents,
As you may be aware, we have now used five calamity days this school year. On our sixth cancellation day we will begin using our virtual learning days. These activities will look different for students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade. Some of our students will use Google Classroom, our younger students will have choice boards sent home by their classroom teachers, and many students will be able to watch recorded lessons. All assignments will be posted or shared with young people by 10 AM on the cancellation day. Technology and experience have allowed us to improve our methods of virtual learning over the last few years. I am confident that our staff will be able to provide our students with valuable learning activities if we do have to cancel in the future.
If you have specific questions about your child's virtual learning you can contact their classroom teacher or the building administrators.
Have a great weekend and Go Redskins!
Aaron Rex
