GIRARD School board decides to put levy on ballot

A $35,459 grant will pay for an after-school reading intervention program.
By ANGELA WOODHULL
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
GIRARD -- The school board agreed Wednesday to place a 7.4-mill operating levy on the March primary ballot.
A 5.9-mill levy was rejected by about a 300-vote margin Nov. 4.
In the wake of that defeat, Superintendent Marty Santillo said the board is determined to gain public support by providing more detailed, accurate information on the need for the money.
The 7.4-mill levy would generate about $840,000 annually, officials said.
Meanwhile, the board will take measures to make more operating cuts, though specific reductions have not been determined.
Santillo emphasized that Girard schools are educational leaders with such unique programs as computer technology, robotics, distance learning, land laboratories for science classes at Girard lakes and the Mahoning Valley River Project.
"We will state our case better to the public," Santillo told the board Wednesday.
Santillo also emphasized that the district serves more than 300 children, ages 3 to 20, who have special needs.
Sending a message
Board member Jamie DeVore agreed that a more aggressive message needs to be delivered to gain the public support for the upcoming levy.
DeVore said anyone living in a $200,000 home should be willing to pay an additional $1.25 per day for the public education of Girard children.
"Otherwise, when it comes time to resell that $200,000 property, the value of the home will diminish if there is not an outstanding or even an operating school system," DeVore said.
The board approved employment of 14 part-time after-school teachers for a new reading intervention program funded by a $35,459 grant from the Student Reading Intervention Federal Grant Program.
Reaction to the proposed 7.4-mill levy request on the March ballot was positive from a small group known as the Girard Concerned Citizens.
"We are not anti-levy. We know there is a need there," said Julie Tammaro, a co-leader of the group.
"I'm not against the levy because the children and teachers of Girard need the operating levy," group founder Cathy Ross explained.
The group, which formed in 2000, has not met officially for more than a year, according to Tammaro. "If the need arises, we meet in someone's home," she said.