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By John Higgins
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 10:50 p.m. EST, Jan 30, 2009
Gov. Ted Strickland's proposals for the state to shoulder more of the burden for school funding don't change the immediate realities facing five local districts that will be asking for property tax increases in Tuesday's special election.
Jackson, Lake, Minerva and Northwest school districts in Stark County, and Field in Portage County are asking voters for new money.
Summit, Medina and Wayne counties do not have school issues for the February election, other than the few precincts that overlap into the five districts on the ballot.
Lake, which includes Hartville and Uniontown in northern Stark County, hopes to take advantage of state money already available to help local districts build schools.
The $71 million project would replace Hartville Elementary and Lake Elementary, and expand Uniontown Elementary and the middle and high school buildings.
The state would fund $41 million of the project. Lake must raise the rest with a bond issue plus a 0.5-mill permanent improvement levy to ensure the new buildings are properly maintained.
The bond issue would raise almost $30 million over 28 years and would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an additional $150 a year.
The 1922 Hartville Elementary's ancient utilities are costly to repair, school officials said.
The district has added about 500 children in the past 10 years and the school has become so cramped that the only space available for children to get one-on-one attention is under the stairwell, where teachers have stashed a small table and chairs.
The building also is not accessible to children who use wheelchairs or have other mobility problems, so those children must go to Uniontown Elementary.
Superintendent Jeff Wendorf said expansion is not an option. The only question is whether the district can get state money or shoulder the expense without it.
Lake can try again in May and August, but after that, the state will move on to the next district on its list if Lake hasn't raised its share of the project.
The other four districts on Tuesday's ballot are looking for additional operating funds.
Jackson, in northwestern Stark County, is making its fifth request for new money, seeking an emergency levy that would raise about $6.1 million a year for five years.
Millage will vary, depending on what's required to raise that amount annually, but it appears on the ballot as a 4.9-mill levy that would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an additional $150 a year.
After Jackson failed to pass a 3.9-mill levy in November, the district stopped high school busing and restricted middle school busing to students living farther than two miles from school. Passing the levy would allow the district to resume busing.
Jackson also faces a nearly $6 million deficit in the 2010-11 school year, according to its financial forecast.
Its neighboring district, Northwest, is trying to pass a 12.8-mill emergency operating levy that would raise about $3.4 million a year for 10 years and cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $392 more in annual taxes.
Northwest ended the last school year with a $1.1 million deficit, prompting the Ohio Department of Education to place the district in fiscal caution.
If it cannot operate in the black by 2010, the district could slip into fiscal watch or emergency.
Northwest made $1.5 million in cuts at the end of the last school year, but it needs an additional $1.3 million reduction to remain in the black in the future if it cannot pass the levy.
''The state is telling us we have to cut, because you can't end the year in the red and they're not sending us any more money,'' Superintendent William Stetler said.
The Canal Fulton-area district, which includes parts of Wayne and Summit counties, has not passed an operating levy for new taxes in 16 years. Voters have rejected the past seven levy requests, plus a district income tax.
Stetler said Strickland's proposed funding reforms are visionary, but that's about the future. He must deal with Northwest's present situation.
''That's reality. That's today,'' Stetler said.
The superintendent in Minerva, in southeastern Stark County, also liked Strickland's speech, which included a proposal for the state to provide universal all-day kindergarten.
Minerva wants to do that now by passing a 5.6-mill emergency operating levy, which would be the first new money since 1993.
The district, like many in Ohio, provides half-day kindergarten. Superintendent Doug Marrah wants to offer full-day — because it's the right thing to do for parents and because the district loses children through open enrollment to other districts that do provide all-day kindergarten, he said.
''That is our No. 1 thing that we feel we need to do,'' he said.
Marrah said he doesn't want to wait to see whether the governor's proposal becomes a reality.
''There's a difference between that and actually funding it,'' Marrah said.
Funding it in Minerva would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $171 annually in additional taxes. The levy would raise $1.1 million a year for five years.
In Portage County, Field again will try to replenish its operating funds with a replacement levy that would add 0.7 mill in new taxes so that the levy once again collects at 7.3 mills. The additional tax would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an extra $21 a year.
John Higgins can be reached at 330-996-3792 or jhiggins@thebeaconjournal.com.
Gov. Ted Strickland's proposals for the state to shoulder more of the burden for school funding don't change the immediate realities facing five local districts that will be asking for property tax increases in Tuesday's special election.
Jackson, Lake, Minerva and Northwest school districts in Stark County, and Field in Portage County are asking voters for new money.
Summit, Medina and Wayne counties do not have school issues for the February election, other than the few precincts that overlap into the five districts on the ballot.
Lake, which includes Hartville and Uniontown in northern Stark County, hopes to take advantage of state money already available to help local districts build schools.
The $71 million project would replace Hartville Elementary and Lake Elementary, and expand Uniontown Elementary and the middle and high school buildings.
The state would fund $41 million of the project. Lake must raise the rest with a bond issue plus a 0.5-mill permanent improvement levy to ensure the new buildings are properly maintained.
The bond issue would raise almost $30 million over 28 years and would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an additional $150 a year.
The 1922 Hartville Elementary's ancient utilities are costly to repair, school officials said.
The district has added about 500 children in the past 10 years and the school has become so cramped that the only space available for children to get one-on-one attention is under the stairwell, where teachers have stashed a small table and chairs.
The building also is not accessible to children who use wheelchairs or have other mobility problems, so those children must go to Uniontown Elementary.
Superintendent Jeff Wendorf said expansion is not an option. The only question is whether the district can get state money or shoulder the expense without it.
Lake can try again in May and August, but after that, the state will move on to the next district on its list if Lake hasn't raised its share of the project.
The other four districts on Tuesday's ballot are looking for additional operating funds.
Jackson, in northwestern Stark County, is making its fifth request for new money, seeking an emergency levy that would raise about $6.1 million a year for five years.
Millage will vary, depending on what's required to raise that amount annually, but it appears on the ballot as a 4.9-mill levy that would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an additional $150 a year.
After Jackson failed to pass a 3.9-mill levy in November, the district stopped high school busing and restricted middle school busing to students living farther than two miles from school. Passing the levy would allow the district to resume busing.
Jackson also faces a nearly $6 million deficit in the 2010-11 school year, according to its financial forecast.
Its neighboring district, Northwest, is trying to pass a 12.8-mill emergency operating levy that would raise about $3.4 million a year for 10 years and cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $392 more in annual taxes.
Northwest ended the last school year with a $1.1 million deficit, prompting the Ohio Department of Education to place the district in fiscal caution.
If it cannot operate in the black by 2010, the district could slip into fiscal watch or emergency.
Northwest made $1.5 million in cuts at the end of the last school year, but it needs an additional $1.3 million reduction to remain in the black in the future if it cannot pass the levy.
''The state is telling us we have to cut, because you can't end the year in the red and they're not sending us any more money,'' Superintendent William Stetler said.
The Canal Fulton-area district, which includes parts of Wayne and Summit counties, has not passed an operating levy for new taxes in 16 years. Voters have rejected the past seven levy requests, plus a district income tax.
Stetler said Strickland's proposed funding reforms are visionary, but that's about the future. He must deal with Northwest's present situation.
''That's reality. That's today,'' Stetler said.
The superintendent in Minerva, in southeastern Stark County, also liked Strickland's speech, which included a proposal for the state to provide universal all-day kindergarten.
Minerva wants to do that now by passing a 5.6-mill emergency operating levy, which would be the first new money since 1993.
The district, like many in Ohio, provides half-day kindergarten. Superintendent Doug Marrah wants to offer full-day — because it's the right thing to do for parents and because the district loses children through open enrollment to other districts that do provide all-day kindergarten, he said.
''That is our No. 1 thing that we feel we need to do,'' he said.
Marrah said he doesn't want to wait to see whether the governor's proposal becomes a reality.
''There's a difference between that and actually funding it,'' Marrah said.
Funding it in Minerva would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $171 annually in additional taxes. The levy would raise $1.1 million a year for five years.
In Portage County, Field again will try to replenish its operating funds with a replacement levy that would add 0.7 mill in new taxes so that the levy once again collects at 7.3 mills. The additional tax would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an extra $21 a year.
John Higgins can be reached at 330-996-3792 or jhiggins@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
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akron, oh
Posted 05:17 PM, 01/31/2009
Hey Northwest, take a pay freeze--I did once to forgo a levy.
