Ohio | Imamother

amother

Dimgray

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 5:17 pm

Hi kiwi
I live here in CH.
Great community, terrible public schools.

Like you said, Beachwood is the right dstrict for public schools, but we know you don't want to live there for other reasons.

Akron Canton have no frum community. Rabbi AJ kushner is rabbi there. But he is a rebbi in yihi and like someone mentioned, lives in ch and goes away for shabbos

The other frum communities in ohio are Columbus and Cincinnati. Cincinnati is a larger community. Don't know that much more about them

amother

Carnation

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 7:34 pm

doctorima wrote:

Akron actually does have a shul called Anshe Sfard that has minyan 3 times a day, so there must be some Orthodox Jews living there. I only saw the shul from the outside when DH went in to daven, but it looked quite grand. Check out: https://www.akronshul.com. I don't know about Jewish schools there though.

Not always is there a minyan, their is very little there as far as frum life. The rav is Chabbad but most of the families who go to the shul are not frum.
My grandparents lived there until a few years ago and it was very hit or miss to get a minyan.

Kiwi13

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 8:14 pm

Okay, I spent some time on this today. Looks like the options are Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati? Am I missing anything?

I'd be okay with Cincinnati, potentially. It's got excellent health care, including specialized treatment for the genetic syndrome my son and I have (I almost got insurance clearance to take him there before a spot opened up in Rochester, where we were living at the time). Community is great, but public schools aren't. Housing market seems to be in a massively expensive deadlock (although that's true in a lot of places right now). Not sure it's practical for housing and school reasons, but I'm still gathering info before ruling it out.

Kiwi13

Thu, Feb 02 2023, 1:02 am

Everywhere is hard to live without driving. Ohio is insane with their epilepsy/driving laws compared to other states, but it's doable after 6 months seizure free. You "just" have to provide paperwork from your doctor, swear under oath that you're seizure free (seriously, Ohio?!), and provide paperwork from your doctor every 6 months for 5 years. And you get a restricted license. But you can still drive.

New Jersey doesn't make you swear under oath, but they're similar to Ohio in all the other requirements, plus they make your doctor report your condition to the DMV. (California, Delaware, and a few other states do this too.) New Jersey also makes you undergo a review by their Neurological Disorders Committee before they determine if you get a license. Lots of medical documentation required.

Indiana has no set waiting period, no mandated doctor reporting, but your doctor has to attest that you're taking meds and are seizure free while taking meds. You get a restricted or unrestricted license at their discretion.

New York makes you wait 12 months and provide paperwork one time.

Florida makes you wait 6 months and provide paperwork, unless it's been 2 years. After 2 years you don't need paperwork. But they can request updated paperwork at their discretion.

I looked up all the states I'm considering even a little bit. They're basically all variations of these. Some states have 3 month or 90-day requirements. Some require new evals at 6 months, or 1 year, or ongoing for 3 or 5 years... it's all within these approximate limits.

The way things are going now, it shouldn't be a problem. I was hospitalized (scheduled admission) for epilepsy monitoring and med change for 7 days and got home about a week ago. I'm neurologically stable now, BH BH BH, no signs of seizure activity anymore. No symptoms, no auras, no need for the rescue med, nothing. I'm seriously grateful. They detected some other issues while I was there, so I'm being sent to a cardiologist soon, but the seizures are completely under control now, as far as anyone can tell. They said stress can bring on seizures (one of the biggest triggers, is what they told me), and the way I figure, if I'm not having seizures NOW, I should be in the clear forever!

For anyone curious, I started on Trileptal (Oxcarbazepine). Doesn't mean it'll work for you, but it's working wonders for me. Thank You, Hashem.

amother

Cerulean

Thu, Feb 02 2023, 2:26 am

BH

I am so happy to hear that your seizures are under control. Wink

I do know that my cousin is leaving Cincinnati because the frum schools can not accommodate her daughters disability, and she does not want her in public schools forever.
Especially because they are not the greatest public schools and she was not ok with some of the language and ideas about gangs and drugs that her dd was hearing about. Her dd was being mainstreamed though - maybe if you are in a self contained class you are better off.
Otherwise it may be a good fit.

amother

Gray

Thu, Feb 02 2023, 6:38 am

CH mom of teens here. Kids grow up fast and they need to have likeminded friends, schools, etc. especially when they’re teens. Cleveland has much more to offer than Columbus or Cincinnati. Both of those communities are small and have limited Jewish infrastructure. I think if there’s any way you can make Cleveland work, you should.

I work in special ed and have been impressed by South Euclid’s sped classes for elementary. I don’t have experience with the older sped classes so can’t comment on that. I think in your shoes I would consider buying a small home in SE that’s walking distance to Heights Jewish Center. Great OOT-feeling shul. There’s also a cluster of Lubavitchers settling on Belvoir, I believe, with a minyan and lots of down to earth friendly socializing.