At a board meeting last Tuesday, Oxford’s board of education publicly answered nearly 40 questions for clarification which had been posed by Oxford Township resident and board of education candidate Kallie Roesner.

Roesner had sent the questions via email October 18, regarding the finances of Oxford Schools Early College (OSEC), Oxford Virtual Academy (OVA), and the Oxford International Program. The questions had been directed to Superintendent of Business and Operations Sam Barna and Director of Oxford Virtual Academy Andrew Hulbert.

These questions followed Roesner’s review of the district’s 2014-2015 and preliminary 2015-2016 financial statements, which she obtained through a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request filed August 29.

Under the Board of Education’s previous administration, Roesner spearheaded a local group called TEAM 20, in 2015 to challenge district officials on several issues, following a denial of a FOIA request for certain documents.

According to district officials, Roesner and other members of TEAM 20 have filed approximately 37 FOIA requests against the district over the last 18 months.

On October 27, Roesner posted the questions and answers presented at the board meeting on her campaign Facebook Page, “Kallie Roesner for Oxford School Board.”

After thanking the board for their answers, Roesner said during the public comment portion of the meeting, “I saw a lot of finances and expenditures on things that just really don’t seem like they’re helpful to the district and (I think) there are ways that you could cut costs to provide more money for playgrounds and certain things,” Roesner told the board.

Roesner listed her disagreement with the expense of an annual administrative “welcome back” retreat held at Devil’s Ridge last August for $1,350 and with the district’s use of Title III federal grant funds towards students in Oxford’s international program as two examples.

Title III is the part of the No Child Left Behind Act that authorizes funds for English-language-acquisition programs, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

“You’re taking money out of our educational pool and you’re educating foreign students with it. Me, personally, I have a problem with that,” said Roesner.

Several members of the community expressed their disagreement with Roesner during the meeting and shared personal success stories of their children’s involvement with Oxford Schools’ programs, such as the Oxford International Program and OSEC.

Jennifer Guthrie, another Oxford Board of Education candidate who previously served as an afternoon ESL teacher and substitute teacher at Oxford Schools, disagreed with Roesner’s view that the international program provides no benefit to Oxford students.

“I watched the students work together and learn from each other and interact with each other and I know that they do this in this in the hallways… We are a global school and that is something that I’m so proud of… We’re giving (foreign students) an opportunity too, but it’s a give and a take.”

One Oxford resident in the audience, Dawn Campbell, thanked the board members for their innovation in creating programs like Oxford Virtual Academy and the international program.

“I would like to say that I thank you for your transparency… I think you’re more than forthcoming with all of the information that you’ve provided and I thank you for that,” said Campbell.

“It is a colossal waste of our district resources to have to deal with these types of inquiries. It’s ridiculous,” Campbell continued. “We rely on the superintendent, who is a man of integrity. We rely on the board (members), who we elect, to provide a district that is transparent in its spending and provides a quality education of our students. I think (the board) does (that) and I applaud you for it.”

According to Barna, the district spent nearly $17,000 in legal fees from May 2015 and May 2016 to respond to FOIA requests made by Roesner and other members of TEAM 20.

“I’ve been fed up with the FOIA’s for a long time,” Board Trustee Jim Reis told Roesner, “But the biggest thing that I’m tired of is going through this for 18 months and you don’t like the answers that you get. We follow all state laws, all federal laws regarding (our response).

“You’ve called the FBI, homeland security has been here to visit us… and all I can think of is it’s like a child that’s having a tantrum that does not get the right answer… you throw your tantrum and your tantrum has cost the district (nearly) $20,000 that could be spent on playgrounds or interventionists for third-grade reading or any number of things, but I’m fed up with it.”

Reis went on to assure Roesner that the district undergoes regular audits to verify Oxford’s finances and its use of state and federal funds.

“The state looks over (our) shoulder all the time making sure everything’s counted… There are so many checks and balances in this. But the biggest thing is there’s trust. There has to be trust when you run a district like this and we trust (each other). I’m just proud to be a part of this district and I’m happy my kids went through this district.”

Schweig took a different stance than many on Roesner’s questioning of the board, stating he thought previous administration, whose transparency was largely questioned by the Oxford community, has led to inquiries such as Roesner’s.

“I don’t feel that this was in any way a waste of time… this was an investment… I think it’s part of the healing process of our district to hear (what) parents and people say and taxpayers say (about) how far we’ve come… this is a very transparent and sharing of information (from the) school board and school district… That’s what we’re about and that’s what we’ve been about for over a year and a half now and that’s where I want to see our board continue.”