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Eastern Hosts Introduction of Appalachian Accelerated House Bill 733

Nick Dettwiller

November 8, 2022

On October 24th Eastern Local hosted the introduction of bill 733 (the Appalachian accelerated bill).  Representatives Jay Edwards and Shane Wilkin introduced the legislation that would create an Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) program for school districts in our region.  This program will impact 38 schools across 18 Appalachian counties including Eastern to be set up to be taught in new or improved school buildings.  

Representatives Edwards and Wilkin have proposed 600 million dollars be appropriated to begin the Appalachian Accelerated program.  The program also includes a community levy incentive of a 20% reduction in local share for facilities levies passed on their first try.  This legislation is similar to a program known as the Urban accelerated that passed in 2000 and has led to a huge discrepancy in spending on urban students compared to Appalachian students.  For every dollar spent per student in Appalachian schools on facilities there were $10,000 spent per student in urban schools in Ohio on facilities.  This bill will hopefully start to correct this injustice.      

This legislation is something that a group of superintendents from the Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools Legislative Committee including myself have worked on for over a year.  We are extremely excited to be a part of this introduction.  There were superintendents, treasurers, board members, and community members in attendance to support the legislation.  

I wanted to thank all the people who came and our National Honor Society students for helping with the event.  We as a district tried not to make it a political event, but an advocacy event for our students and community and I think it went extremely well.  As always the biggest compliments I got from other superintendents, media, and legislators was how great our kids were.  They proved once again what great students we have.    

We as a district have a lot to be proud of including our students, families, and communities.  This bill introduction and advocacy is just a step in helping our students get more opportunities and reach their full potential.

If you have any questions about the legislation, what it means for us, or how you can help please reach out to me.      

Nick Dettwiller 

Superintendent 
Eastern Local School District 
740-667-6079
ndettwiller@easternlocal.net
Stronger Together 

Appalachian Accelerated Bill 733 News Sources 

Gongwer