GIRARD State senator urges voters to support levy

Marc Dann asked voters to help local schools in the short term.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- Local school districts, including Girard City Schools, have found a friend in the state Legislature.
State Sen. Marc Dann of Liberty, D-32nd, spoke to voters this morning at an informational breakfast hosted by the Girard City Schools Levy Committee at the Multi-Generational Center. Dann urged support of the 7.4-mill operating levy on the March 2 ballot.
"We in the Legislature have let down all 609 school districts in the state," Dann said.
As state and federal governments continue to place underfunded and unfunded mandates on school districts, officials are forced to rely on local taxpayers to foot the bill, he said.
In the case of Girard, he said, school officials and educators have managed to do more with less better than most other districts in the state, but new money is needed to keep the schools and the students competitive, he said.
"We can't let a generation of children slip away," he said.
Need taxpayers' help
Dann also noted that while legislators at the state level are working to fix a school funding system that relies on property taxes like no other state in the country, voters at the local level need to help their schools in the short term.
Girard schools' operating levy, if approved, would generate more than $1 million annually and would be the first operating levy passed in the district since 1988. To the owner of a $50,000 house, it would mean an additional $113 in property taxes each year.
Though the voters in recent years did pass a bond levy, money generated from that went toward construction of the Girard Intermediate School and renovations of other buildings in the district.
Bond levy money cannot be used for operating expenses, which include buying textbooks and supplies, providing busing, paying utilities and insurance and paying salaries.
Improving the community
Dann also said passing the levy would not only mean a better school system, but also a better community.
"School funding is not just about the schools," he said. "It's about economic development, about keeping our children here in the area, about getting businesses to locate here."
Communities need strong schools in order to attract businesses, which are looking for a strong, well-educated work force, he said.
For more information on the Girard school levy, check the Web site at www.girardschoolslevy.org.
slshaulis@vindy.com