Yellow Springs can be a supportive town for black youth to grow up in, according to a group of 10 current Yellow Springs High School students and recent graduates in recent interviews. But the village is not immune to the issues that tend to divide the community by color and burden some African-American families disproportionately. Instances of discrimination are very subtle, and can be unintentional, but they do occur here, the youth said, and they pose obstacles both of perception and in actual practice that young people of color are challenged to overcome.

When Joyce McCurdy accepted a teaching position in the Yellow Springs School District, there was a black chief of police, a black member of Council, and a black member of school board. The principal of the high school was black, and three of McCurdy’s colleagues were also black — and actively involved in the social issues of the day. The year was 1965.

Part of the village’s strong arts identity lies in the depth and breadth of its musical heritage. Now, a group of parents, community members and teachers have organized to ensure this strong musical tradition — and the skills that ground it — carry forward through further generations.

To clarify what administrators fear might be villagers’ misperceptions regarding math performance at Yellow Springs High School and McKinney School, Principal John Gudgel and Interim Superintendent Tony Armocida presented information on the district’s five-year-old math initiative at the Nov. 12 school board meeting.

At the regular Dec. 10 school board meeting, board members considered the attributes they will seek in their upcoming search to hire several top administrators. At that meeting, longtime Yellow Springs High School Principal John Gudgel officially announced his retirement at the end of this school year, and 10-year District Treasurer Joy Kitzmiller, who has accepted a position with Cedar Cliff schools, announced her resignation. Kitzmiller will also stay until the end of the year.

Completing the Yellow Springs school district’s administrative sweep, YSHS Principal John Gudgel is retiring at the end of this school year after three decades as an educator, guidance counselor, coach and principal in the district. In addition, Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer Joy Kitzmiller has resigned her post in order to manage the financial affairs of her home district, Cedar Cliff, starting next school year.

The board is also seeking replacements for former Superintendent Norm Glismann and former Mills Lawn Principal Christine Hatton.

More must be done to address issues in the special education program in the Yellow Springs schools, especially in the upper levels, according to approximately 10 parents who came to a special meeting held on Wednesday, Dec. 2. The meeting was the second convened by school administrators to address the results of the special education parent survey the district conducted last summer.

The second stage of the community visioning process kicks off this Saturday morning, Dec. 12, at 10 a.m. in the Yellow Springs High School gym, and it is not a meeting to miss, according to organizers. The 855 ideas generated by community members in the first round of public workshops stand sorted into 14 topic categories. Now, villagers and Miami Township residents are invited to help discern goals from these raw ideas that everyone can agree to move forward with.

The “deafening” and “brain rattling” sensation of an F-16 jet veering near town on a training mission is, some villagers say, an “assault on the nervous system”— an inescapable sensation that “penetrates the body” and sometimes rattles windows.

Other villagers find the occasional low flyover to be a mere annoyance, or even a curiosity to count with the kids.

At their Oct. 8 meeting, school board members discussed the updated five-year financial forecast in the light of current economic difficulties.

District Treasurer Joy Kitzmiller and Interim Superintendent Tony Armocida are recommending that the district seek a levy renewal in May 2010, at the same level as the current levy, which according to Kitzmiller, has remained constant for 10 years.