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For Summit school levies

The measure of approval? A decent education

Published on Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008

This is not the easiest time, in a very uncertain economy, for school districts to ask voters for money. Yet teachers must be hired, students need textbooks and school buildings must be equipped and maintained. School officials understand well the pressures on family budgets. The reality they face is that they cannot put children's education on hold. The point cannot be made more strongly to support the seven school issues on the Summit County ballot on Tuesday, the first four of which we address below.

Issue 48: Nordonia Hills
Issue 48 is a 22-year bond issue of 0.42 mills to raise $6 million for construction and improvements to the outdoor athletics facilities at the high school.

The district plans to use the revenues to resolve a variety of problems, including poor drainage and erosion on portions of the playing fields, inadequate parking and deteriorating surfaces. Schools are seeing a demand for sporting activities as part of a rounded education. At a time when obesity and weight problems are on the rise among youth, it matters that schools focus on physical health and well-being. Issue 48 will help Nordonia Hills offer better sports facilities and practice areas for band, cheerleading and physical education classes.

We recommend a vote for Issue 48, a modest request that will cost the owner of a $100,000 house a about $1 a month in additional taxes.

Issue 49: Norton
The Norton school district is seeking approval for a new, continuing levy for current expenses. If approved, the 4.9-mill levy will yield about $1.5 million a year to maintain daily operations.

Voters last approved new operating funds in 2004 after rejecting six previous requests. In that period, the district cut expenses and made several changes to save money, including elementary students eating lunch at their desks. School officials have continued to pursue efficient management. Changes to the health insurance plan, for instance, have yielded $3 million in savings in three years. Staffing costs are down more than $600,000. Still, operating expenses have outstripped revenues.

The additional money would be used to keep up the current level of operations. If approved, the levy will add about $12 a month to the property taxes on a $100,000 house. Norton has rated Excellent in academics the past four years. We recommend a vote for Issue 49 to sustain that performance level.

Issue 50: Stow-Munroe Falls
For the fifth time since 2006, the Stow-Munroe Falls district is trying to raise new money for daily operations. Issue 50 is a five-year, 3.17-mill levy request to raise $3 million a year. It would raise the property tax on a $100,000 house an additional $8 a month.

The repeated levy rejections have resulted in cutbacks in teaching positions and pay-to-play measures. Improvement initiatives such as expanding the full-day kindergarten option to all families, smaller class sizes and computer upgrades are out of the question. As it is, officials are pressed for funding at current levels. Without new revenues, the district will face mounting deficits and more reductions.

The question confronting voters is what level of education they deem good enough for students who now have to compete on a global stage. The issue isn't whether Stow-Munroe Falls can function with fewer teachers and larger classes. It is how long the students can stay among the state's top academic performers if the budget squeeze continues.

We recommend a vote for Issue 50.

Issue 51: Tallmadge
If approved, Issue 51, a new five-year levy at 6.9 mills, will generate about $2.8 million a year for the Tallmadge school district, its first new operational funds since 2001. The roughly $18 a month more in property taxes on a $100,000 house will help Tallmadge hold steady its current educational services.

Voters have rejected two school property-tax levies this year. At the same time, operating expenses, including health benefits and transportation, have risen while state funding for Tallmadge has remained flat since 2003. All of which have put Tallmadge under fiscal watch, the state raising the warning flag about the district's finances. School officials already are committed to $500,000 in cuts to school operations. Without Issue 51, officials project a deficit of more than $2 million by 2011 — and more cuts.

We recommend approval of Issue 51.

This is not the easiest time, in a very uncertain economy, for school districts to ask voters for money. Yet teachers must be hired, students need textbooks and school buildings must be equipped and maintained. School officials understand well the pressures on family budgets. The reality they face is that they cannot put children's education on hold. The point cannot be made more strongly to support the seven school issues on the Summit County ballot on Tuesday, the first four of which we address below.

Get the full article here.


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peter

Posted 05:58 AM, 10/29/2008

The Beacon Journal never meet a school levy it did not approve of.

Do you think the ABJ will be satisfied if you signed over the the deed to your house to your local school district -- and teachers union?

Of course not. The schools will eat through that and still "need" more.


Wile E Coyote
Stow, OH

Posted 08:06 AM, 10/29/2008

" Without new revenues, the district will face mounting deficits and more reductions".
If the schools would make the right reductions like high salaried administrators jobs ,instead of low salaried jobs like student teachers and bus drivers the deficits would disappear.But no,the schools would rather try to inflict as much pain on the homeowner/parent as possible by cutting the small little things that makes a parents day run smoothly just so they will vote for their levy and all the salary raises that come with it.