JACKSON-MILTON SCHOOLS Board gives 2nd reading to renewal levy issue

Signs will promote open enrollment in the district.
NORTH JACKSON -- The Jackson-Milton Board of Education has given a second reading to a resolution that would place another five-year emergency renewal levy on the Aug. 3 ballot.
The 2.7-mill levy would generate about $383,088 in operating expenses annually for the district.
In other business at Thursday's board meeting, Superintendent Buck Palmer announced several signs promoting open enrollment were finished and ready to be posted. The signs, he said, would be placed on state Routes 45 and 18, as well as a few other busy areas in the township, to promote the district and encourage people to send their pupils to school there.
Project Chalkboard
Palmer also said that the district is considering becoming part of Project Chalkboard, sponsored by the Summit County-based Fair Taxation and Equal Education Task Force. The project is set up to put pressure on Gov. Bob Taft and state legislators to fix an unconstitutional school funding system, as well as raise awareness of an over-reliance on property taxes for school funding.
About 12 large chalkboards will be placed on the back of pickup trucks and moved to various locations over a seven- to 10-day period, and school officials and community members will provide school funding information and conduct news conferences at each stop.
So far, about 70 of Ohio's 612 districts have joined, Palmer noted.
The activity will end May 5 in Columbus, where a Statehouse event on funding issues will take place.