ASHLAND — The Ashland City School Board listened to a presentation Monday by Ashland City Schools software manager Tony Bunt regarding branding and social media guidelines.
Bunt was hired earlier this year, and part of his role is to enhance the school district’s social media presence.
Bunt also worked on implementing Ashland’s new communication platform for parents, students, staff and educators, Parent Square, which launched in July. He said nearly all parents in the district are contactable via Parent Square.
So far, he has helped create and maintain some school accounts, but he believes it’s imperative the school district creates a social media policy for all school employees.
“The goal is to lead by example, right? So with our staff, we want to encourage them to set that example and teach that example to the students,” Bunt said. “I think I think it’s important to note, we can’t just expect them to pick it up on their own.”
His recommendations for a policy include:
- Defining appropriate material for staff and educators to post on their social media accounts.
- Designating Bunt as the administrator for all social media accounts.
- Expanding audience reach through student-led content creation.
Bunt said he wants to work with staff and educators to create digital citizenship lessons for students, which would teach them how to be safe on social media, understand the permanency of posts and more.
“Be careful of what you post; it follows you,” Bunt said.
He shared that, so far, the social media accounts have been popular, citing the district’s 100,000 Facebook views as an example.
Board member Pamela Mowry thanked Bunt for his work and said she wants to ensure staff and educators have the chance to review social media guidelines prior to board approval.
Bunt’s presentation also included guidance about branding, which he said has not always been consistent. He created an outline of guidelines for branding and brand usage, but he recommends the board approve the final edition.
Funding and taxation report
Supt. Steve Paramore thanked voters for passing the school’s renewal levy on Nov. 4, and urged them to understand all the entities funded through property taxes. He listed road maintenance, public education, fire departments and police departments.
“We are looking, right now, at some really rough waters,” Paramore said, alluding to the potential abolishment of property taxes that could be on the November 2026 ballot.
His worry stems from a group that said it has collected over 100,000 signatures to abolish property tax in Ohio, which is not yet enough to put the measure on the ballot, according to an Ohio Capital Journal article.
Paramore reminded voters that property taxes fund 60% of the school district, with the other 40% coming from state and federal funding. He also said the money coming from the state, which was laid out in the biennial budget this summer, is not enough.
“We have north of 450 students with disabilities in Ashland City Schools. The state is not acknowledging that it costs more money collectively to educate those particular children,” Paramore said.
He will continue to urge representatives to reconsider supporting the abolishment of property taxes.
Students of the month honored
The board honored the students of the month, who are:
- Mayla Hickey, first grade, Reagan Elementary.
- Magnolia Cook, second grade, Edison Elementary.
- Lena Reep, fifth grade, Taft Intermediate.
- Christian Knapp, Encore, Ashland Middle School.
- Rony Mejia, sixth grade, Ashland Middle School.
- Tyler West, seventh grade, Ashland Middle School.
- Elyn Rusiska, eighth grade, Ashland Middle School.
- Lamar Abushra, ninth grade, Ashland High School.
- Kaley Stoffer, 10th grade, Ashland High School.
- Rodrigo Costa Braga De Sousa, 11th grade, Ashland High School.
- Nate Oblinger, 12th grade, Ashland High School.
