Loveland, Ohio – Loveland City School District has been awarded nearly a half million dollars in the latest round of the Ohio K-12 School Safety Grant program. The state funding will support improvements to safety security upgrades across the district.
“The safety of our students is our greatest responsibility, and receiving state support for our efforts will help tremendously. We appreciate Governor DeWine and the General Assembly’s dedication to the Ohio K-12 School Safety Grant program,” Superintendent Mike Broadwater said in a news release from the District.
Loveland Superintendent Mike Broadwater
The grant provides $461,250 to pay for security system improvements across the district. This grant will allow for the installation of additional security cameras and equipment. The grant will also provide funds for new safety technology on all district school buses according to the release.
This is the fourth round of the Ohio K-12 School Safety Grant program. Of all school districts in Hamilton County, Loveland received the fourth-highest grant funding in this current round. Loveland also received $100,000 in the second round of the program, which was used to replace the public address system at Loveland Primary and Loveland Elementary Schools.
• Loveland Early Childhood Center is earmarked for $65,225 in this latest round.
• Loveland Elementary is earmarked for $50,000 in this latest round.
• Loveland High School is earmarked for $100.000 in this latest round.
• Loveland Intermediate School is earmarked for $97,625 in this latest round.
• Loveland Middle School is earmarked for $98,400 in this latest round.
• Loveland Primary School is earmarked for $50,000 in this latest round
The Goshen Local School District received $400,000 in the latest round of school safety grants. The Great Oaks Career Campus in Clermont County received $100,000.
There is a “Round Five” to be recommended in the coming weeks according to Governor Mike DeWine Ohio as part of the General Assembly’s House Bill 45.
Indian Hill Exempted Village School District had previously been awarded $299,714, Sycamore Community Schools $93,824, and Little Miami Local Schools $200,000.
Attend one of our open houses in-person or virtually and prepare to go places! The best way to find out whether a Great Oaks program is right for you is to see for yourself. To ensure that all our visitors stay safe and healthy, open houses at the campuses are a bit different this year. Click on one of our campuses to learn more.
Current sophomores can now apply for any of 30 programs at a Great Oaks Career Campus for the 2021-2022 school year.
Students in the 36 southwest Ohio school districts served by Great Oaks can attend during their junior and senior year, earning college credit and professional credentials while still in high school. Four campuses serve the region: Diamond Oaks in Dent, Laurel Oaks in Wilmington, Live Oaks in Milford, and Scarlet Oaks in Sharonville.
Career program options range from automotive technology to welding, from culinary arts to practical nursing, firefighting, advanced manufacturing, robotics, and more. Complete information about available paths can be found at greatoaks.com.
Students should apply by February 9 in order to get priority consideration for available spots. The application is available at application.greatoaks.com.
If you do not attend school or reside in one of our affiliate school districts, click the following link for procedures on how to apply as an out of district student.
You must have your parent’s approval to complete this application
Most of our programs are designed for juniors and seniors in high school.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the programs or applying for Great Oaks programs, contact one of the career specialists below:
Great Oaks specializes in career and technical education for both high school students and adults. At four campuses, Great Oaks high school students prepare for careers and college, and adults get training and certification to begin a new career or advance in a current career.
Over 30 career programs are available for high school students living in 36 area school districts.
Adults can choose from a dozen full-time programs as well as part-time career certification classes and short-term classes for enjoyment and lifelong learning.
Welcome to Great Oaks Online Application for Sophomores. The following are instructions regarding the completion of this application:
You must be a high school student to apply. If you are not a high school student, please see adult education programs
If you do not attend school or reside in one of our affiliate school districts, click the following link for procedures on how to apply as an out of district student.
You must have your parent’s approval to complete this application
Most of our programs are designed for juniors and seniors in high school.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding our programs or applying for Great Oaks programs, contact one of the career specialists below:
Parents play a critical role in helping their children plan for the future. With the right knowledge, they can prepare their children to find careers that interest them and education that leads to those careers.
To give parents effective tools, Great Oaks Career Campuses is sponsoring a free Career Exploration Workshop for middle schoolers and parents. At this workshop, parents will learn tips and gain resources to help teens explore their interests and set career goals. Meanwhile, students will take career interest surveys and learn to interpret the results in order to set goals for high school, college, and beyond.
The free session will be held at each of the four Great Oaks Career Campuses:
Wednesday, November 20 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Live Oaks Career Campus, 5956 Buckwheat Road, Milford 45150
Thursday, November 14 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Laurel Oaks Career Campus, 300 Oak Drive, Wilmington 45177
“Being successful in college and in life isn’t an accident,” said Great Oaks Career Exploration Specialist Sarah Taylor. “It takes thought, research and planning—and planning now will put you on the path to success.”
Summer camps are back in June at Great Oaks! Spend a week getting hands-on experience in a career!
(Summer camps are open to students living in a Great Oaks-affiliated
school district and who will enter the 9th or 10th grade in fall 2019.)
Complete class list coming soon!
Comments from parents:
Outstanding job by all instructors – enthusiasm and great student interaction!
Thank you for this incredible opportunity!! School can be a very hard place for my son and this gave him another perspective. Every kid can be successful…they just need to explore and find their passion! We’re on our way!!
Thanks for all you time and effort this week. My daughter had a great experience and it has left us both with an amazing impression of the opportunities available through Great Oaks!
Diamond Oaks
Start your Engines – Automotive Careers Camp (June 3-7)
Do you look at cars with beautiful body work and wonder how it is done? Do you enjoy figuring out how cars can run their best? Learn from ASE Master Certified Technician and ICAR Auto Body Specialist to operate the technology and tools used in their daily work. Explore the many career pathways within the high tech automotive industry. **For safety purposes this camp recommends students to wear jeans, and steel toe boots**
Heavy Metals – Welding & Machining Careers Camp (June 3-7)
Are you interested in designing and building with metal? Then come join us for an insider’s look to the world of welding and precision machining. Learn how automated advanced manufacturing machines are programmed and controlled by computer numerical control (CNC). Get basic MIG welding experience while creating something artistic or practical to take with you. Experienced professional machinists and welders will guide you through hands on projects as you learn to create iron art. Spark your interest in these hot career pathways while exploring the amazing opportunities out there in this high tech, fast paced industry. **For safety purposes this camp requires students to wear cotton shirts, jeans, and steel toe boots**
Fun with Raspberry Pi! – Web Applications Careers Camp (June 3-7)
In this coding camp you will investigate and play retro games on the RPi. Use the RPi for making games with MIT Scratch (block-based programming) and Python, learn coding GPIO. Explore web design through HTML5 and CSS 3. Sign up for this camp run by a Microsoft certified educator to learn new languages that will take your programming skills to the next level.
Mini Makeover – Cosmetology Careers Camp (June 3-7)
Do you enjoy helping people look their best? Whether you would like a mini makeover or want to learn professional techniques of hair styling, manicures, and more. Sign up for this camp run by licensed cosmetologists, each with 30+ years of experience, to learn basic beauty salon procedures for hair, skin, and nail care as you explore careers in cosmetology. Learn to take care of yourself and look your best!
Laurel Oaks
Start your Engines – Automotive Careers Camp (June 3-7)
Do you look at cars with beautiful body work and wonder how it is done? Do you enjoy figuring out how cars can run their best? Learn from ASE Master Certified Technician and ICAR Auto Body Specialist to operate the technology and tools used in their daily work. Explore the many career pathways within the high tech automotive industry. **For safety purposes this camp recommends students to wear jeans, and steel toe boots**
Communicate with Art – Design & Art Careers Camp (June 3-7)
Are you creative? Ever wonder what art and creativity look like as a career? Creative careers do exist and this design camp will introduce you to the elements used in art professions. Spend the week with professional graphic artists to unlock your imagination.
I Built That – Construction & Heavy Equipment Careers Camp (June 3-7)
If you like to build and are interested in how roads, building sites, and neighborhoods are prepared, come to this camp. From small hand tools to large earthmoving equipment, you’ll learn the basics of construction and site preparation from construction industry professionals with 46 years of combined experience.
Live Oaks
Start your Engines – Automotive Careers Camp (June 10-14) Do you look at cars with beautiful body work and wonder how it is done? Do you enjoy figuring out how cars can run their best? Learn from ASE Master Certified Technician and ICAR Auto Body Specialist to operate the technology and tools used in their daily work. Explore the many career pathways within the high tech automotive industry. **For safety purposes this camp recommends students to wear jeans, and steel toe boots**
Communicate with Art – Art & Design Careers Camp (June 10-14) Are you creative? Ever wonder what art and creativity look like as a career? Creative careers do exist and this design camp will introduce you to the elements used in art professions. Spend the week with professional graphic artists to unlock your imagination.
Mini Makeover – Cosmetology Careers Camp (June 10-14)
Do you enjoy helping people look their best? Whether you would like a mini makeover or want to learn professional techniques of hair styling, manicures, and more. Sign up for this camp run by licensed cosmetologists, each with 30+ years of experience, to learn basic beauty salon procedures for hair, skin, and nail care as you explore careers in cosmetology. Learn to take care of yourself and look your best!
Scarlet Oaks
Mission Medical – Exercise Science & Dental Careers Camp (June 10-14) Explore the medical field in this interactive camp. Learn medical terminology, vital signs, infection control, fitness testing, nutrition, practice bandaging and wound care, and so much more. A certified athletic trainer and professional dental assistant will explore with you the amazing careers available in the health science career pathway. By the end of the week you can earn ECSI lifesaving training certification in AED, CPR, and First Aid.
Camp Broken Bone –Health and Surgical Technology Careers Camp (June 10-14) Interested in a medical career? This camp will teach the skeletal system, different fractures that occur and how they are fixed. Focus will be on orthopedic instruments, learning what they are and how they are used. You will also learn to make splints and how to apply a cast. Help prepare yourself for a career in orthopedic surgery by stepping into the Surgical Technology lab with professionals for the week.
Be a Teacher -Early Childhood Education Careers Camp (June 10-14)
Remember your favorite book that you made your parent read over and over again to you? How much fun would it have been to have games to go with that book? Learn to enhance a story through exploration and areas of learning such as math, science, and writing. In this camp, you will learn teaching strategies, go on field trips, and plan activities to bring a story to life for children. Teachers with 20 + years of experience will guide you through exploring careers in education. Learn what is needed to teach the future.
Wired for Success – Electrical & Construction Careers Camp (June 10-14) Like to watch DIY or HGTV renovation shows? With this camp you will learn skills to help avoid DIY disasters. A licensed electrician and construction professionals with over 35 years of design, architectural, and building experience will introduce you to safety and construction skills. You will learn the basics of how to remodel and wire electrical circuits using the tools and tips of the professionals. Get enlightened about the amazing careers in the construction trades.
Kitchen Creations – Culinary Careers Camp (June 10-14) If you like watching the Food Network and love to create, prepare and serve beautiful delicious food, this camp is for you. You will learn how to properly use and maintain kitchen and baking equipment used by professional chefs to master new baking and cooking skills to impress your friends and family. Discover the secrets of our experienced American Culinary Federation Executive Chef through hands on instruction in cooking basics, kitchen safety, and nutrition while creating and tasting delicious recipes. Plus you will get a recipe book of the week’s creations.
Mini Makeover – Cosmetology Careers Camp (June 10-14) Do you enjoy helping people look their best? Whether you would like a mini makeover or want to learn professional techniques of hair styling, manicures, and more. Sign up for this camp run by licensed cosmetologists, each with 30+ years of experience, to learn basic beauty salon procedures for hair, skin, and nail care as you explore careers in cosmetology. Learn to take care of yourself and look your best!
Milford, Ohio – On September 9, the Clermont County Port Authority approved issuing $30 million in lease revenue bonds to finance the cost of building a training facility and youth academy in Milford for the professional soccer team, FC Cincinnati.
Chris Hicks
Self-described “Taxpayer Watchdog” and candidate for Clermont County Auditor, Chris Hicks told Loveland Magazine, “This deal is pure crony capitalism. It raises taxes, the hotel tax, specifically to support one private, for-profit, company. It buys land using tax dollars for that company. It then has the government issue bonds to finance it all for the private company and then has the government own the land and buildings so the private, for-profit, company never pays property tax.” Hicks also says that the City of Milford gets no new infrastructure such as road or sidewalk improvements. and it actually makes the citizens of Milford liable for $43,000 to 47,000 per year for 20 years, to pay for the land.
Under the arrangement between Milford, Clermont County, and the Port Authority, construction materials will be also be exempted from paying Ohio sales tax, estimated to be $1 million.
A recent increase in the Clermont County lodging tax will also provide $223,000 a year to support the project.
Because the Port Authority is tax exempt, FC Cincinnati will not have to pay property taxes. It has negotiated annual payments with the Milford School District to help compensate for what they might otherwise lose, however, other public agencies whose funding derives from property taxes will not be made whole.
Under the agreement, the Port Authority will lease the 24 acres of land on U.S. 50 in the City of Milford near Interstate 275, and the facilities to be built, to FC Cincinnati for $1 a year. The bonds will be privately purchased by FC Cincinnati. The Port Authority will receive a one-time fee of $105,000 and an annual average fee of $9,000, most of which will go to support various county levies.
The vote was 4-1. Port Authority Vice Chairman Loretta Rokey the Administrator of Pierce Township; Fiscal Officer Sam DeBonis an Assistant Vice President of Park National Bank, and members Greg DeFisher the President & CEO, Freeman Schwabe Machinery, and Rex Parsons the Administrator of Batavia Township; voted in favor. Member Greg Simpson a Principal with Key Transportation Inc., voted against the resolution.
In a statement released by Clermont County after the vote, Andy Kuchta, Executive Director and Secretary of the Port Authority, offered the following statement:
The structure of the lease answers all of the questions related to what the economic impact will actually be and if it is worth the level of incentives being provided. The Port Authority will have the choice to not renew the lease every 360 days for any reason. This is not a 20-year deal but a 360-day deal, full stop.
Within the next 3-5 years there will be a comprehensive evaluation of the actual economic impacts and benefits once the facility has been constructed and operational for a period of time. If that evaluation determines the economic impacts have not materialized, the Port Authority will be able to substantially renegotiate the terms of these agreements or simply not renew them and return the property to a fully taxable status.
On Aug. 22, Clermont County Commissioners approved an increase in the lodging tax in the county, from 6% to 7%. The revenue generated by the increase in the tax, approximately $223,000 a year, will be used by Milford to pay for the land. Commissioner David Uible said that “As a businessman, I love this deal. Clermont County incentivizes the City of Milford to buy this property for FC with a 1% lodging tax. This will result in $7 million in additional spending each year. The clear winners are the City of Milford, the county as a whole, and all the citizens who call Clermont County home.”
Hicks says that the statement by Uible is misleading because the $7 million figure pertains to all soccer in the region, not from the Milford practice facility. Hicks says in a fact sheet he released on August 29 that even if credible, their own study lists the actual impact at only $1.6 million per year.
Hicks has previously said that the 1% tax increase was not enough to cover the cost of the land. “To fund $3.5 million for land, based on Clermont County Convention & Visitors Bureau estimates, the hotel tax needs to be at least 1.2%, leaving Milford taxpayers holding the bag for $43-47 thousand per year.”
In an analysis of the deals, Hicks says that County agencies that rely on property taxes like library, safety services, developmental disabilities, senior services, mental health, the Park District, Live Oaks, the City of Milford, and the County general fund will all lose the funds they receive now, $1,144,160, because when the FC Cincinnati site is developed there will be zero property taxes assessed. Hicks says that a $30 million development should pay $866,744 per year.
Commissioner David Painter, who voted against the tax increase, said at the time of the vote, “I didn’t think the return was high enough to fully represent the stakeholders of Clermont County, who are the citizens of Clermont County.”
According to the County, the 1% increase in the countywide lodging tax will “sunset” in 2038 or when the balance in the lodging tax account is sufficient to pay off the debt, whichever occurs first.
The $30 million soccer complex is expected to include a 30,000-square-foot training facility and a 6,500-square-foot youth academy. FC Cincinnati said they hope to complete the training facility by next summer.
The Port Authority decision represents the last step before the project can begin. FC Cincinnati also entered into agreements with the City of Milford and the Clermont County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Also according to the press release issued by the County, a study by Sports Facilities Advisory, a sports management consulting group based in Clearwater, Fla., estimated that the FC complex would generate “almost 65,000 visitor days” by out-of-town visitors and result in almost $7 million in direct spending annually. Hicks said, “Go deeper and find an economic study that has been misrepresented. It actually says a paltry $1.6 million in annual benefit will come from this site.” Hicks also claims that the economic study does not mention that FC Cincinnati will be selling “high dollar academy memberships for millions” as opposed to letting locals come and go as they please. “These type of facilities are money makers selling the ‘academy dream’ of your kid on a pro-soccer team,” added Hicks.
You can look at Hick’s August 10 breakdown of the cost of building the Milford facility: Massive incentives.
FC Cincinnati, whose owners were recently granted expansion status by Major League Soccer, will also build an estimated $200 million stadium in the West End of Cincinnati, which is expected to be open for the 2021 season. The team currently plays at Nippert Stadium at the University of Cincinnati. The City of Cincinnati is contributing 35 million dollars of public money to the West End Stadium.
