Hello Worthington! Here's your recap of what happened at the April 13, 2026 Board of Education meeting. Below are brief summaries of the most significant discussions.
The regular meeting on April 13 took up four items of business before the board recessed into a work session: a first reading of the 2027-2028 school calendar, the hiring of a new Assistant Superintendent for Academics, two labor agreements, and the adoption of a new middle school English language arts curriculum.
First reading of the 2027-2028 school calendar. The board got its first look at the proposed calendar for the 2027-2028 school year. Assistant Superintendent Jeff Maddox walked through the process: the district drafts calendar options in partnership with the Worthington Education Association (WEA, the teachers' association), then opens a two-week vote to teachers, support staff (WESP — Worthington Education Support Professionals), administrators, and the broader community.
Under the winning option (Option C):
- Teachers return August 16, 2027 and students start August 18, 2027.
- Winter break runs December 20, 2027 through January 3, 2028.
- Spring break runs March 27 through April 3, 2028.
- The last day for students is May 25, 2028 (teachers May 26), ending the school year before Memorial Day on May 29.
Jennifer Korn approved as Assistant Superintendent for Academics. Korn's hiring was approved as part of the evening's consent agenda — the block of routine items (personnel actions, donations, and other non-controversial business) that the board votes on in a single motion. Any board member can pull an item out for separate discussion, but on April 13 the full slate passed unanimously.
Korn joins Worthington from Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools, where she worked in K-12 student services. Before that, she was director of student services at Jonathan Alder Schools and director of special education at Northridge Schools.
New three-year Worthington Leadership Agreement approved. Also on the consent agenda, the board approved a new three-year agreement with administrative staff. Superintendent Trent Bowers noted the agreement aligns with the WEA contract and the later WESP agreement considered the same evening.
Worthington Education Support Professionals (WESP) agreement ratified. The board approved the negotiated collective bargaining agreement covering more than 400 support staff. Superintendent Bowers described the process as "a win-win" and said the membership "overwhelmingly" voted to support it.
Amplify ELA curriculum adopted for grades 6-8. Following a teacher pilot and student testimony at multiple board meetings, the board approved the Amplify English Language Arts curriculum for middle school. This is a blended core curriculum for grades 6–8 that immerses middle school students in complex texts to build reading, vocabulary, knowledge, and critical thinking skills.
Superintendent Bowers acknowledged "there's no perfect curriculum" and said leadership and teachers will keep modifying the program to fit Worthington students. The board emphasized that feedback will continue to be taken from students, staff, and administration about this and other programs. [Editor's note: Visitor-comment audio is missing between roughly 0:05:26 and 0:10:22 in the video; the identification of the speakers as students addressing the curriculum is inferred from later board discussion, not directly captured.]
Upcoming Dates
- April 27, 2026 — Next Board of Education meeting; final vote on the 2027-2028 school calendar
Thanks for reading this summary of the Board of Education meeting, you can watch the original full video here