School funding issues warrant voter support; change could be coming
Until a different system is adopted to finance public education in Ohio, property taxes will remain the main source of revenue for school districts. Educators and school board members are well aware that voters have reached the breaking point and are no longer swayed by appeals to their sense of community.
They want straight talk and also want proof that their support of school funding issues will have a positive effect on the education of this region's young people.
Three school districts in Mahoning and Trumbull counties are going before the voters on May 8 with issues that we believe are worthy of support. Two are designed to secure millions of dollars in state funding, while the third is a renewal levy that would not cost taxpayers any additional money.
Before we provide details of the issues, it is important to point out that there are serious discussions in Columbus and elsewhere in the state pertaining to the Ohio Supreme Court's opinion that the current system of funding kindergarten through 12th grade is unconstitutional.
The court ruled that overreliance on property taxes violates the constitutional mandate that every child in Ohio receive a thorough and efficient education.
Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, says that he intends to explore alternatives to the current system, while the Republican dominated General Assembly contends that the billions of dollars from the state earmarked for school construction projects are designed to respond to the court's findings.
Meanwhile, a grassroots organization is current circulating petitions to place on the November general election ballot a constitutional amendment that would place a ceiling on property taxes for school districts and require most of the per student funding to come from the state.
Voters have the opportunity to express their opinions to the governor, the leadership of the Ohio House and Senate and even members of the Campaign For Ohio's Future.
That said, school districts will remain dependent on the goodwill of their residents until those in positions to respond to the Supreme Court's ruling do so.
Therefore, we urge voters in the Jackson-Milton and South Range school districts in Mahoning County and in the Girard School District in Trumbull County to set aside whatever negative feelings they may have about paying for education and give the ultimate recipients of their taxes, the students, the benefit of the doubt.
South Range School District
When the board of education voted unanimously in January to seek approval of a 20.4 million, 28-year bond issue for the construction of a new school building and a 0.5-mill property tax for a continuing period, Superintendent Dennis Dunham offered the following observation:
"This is a big step, and we, the board, myself and the treasurer, have been living, breathing this. We don't sleep. This project is what has become priority for us. We want to make all the right decisions."
Implicit in that statement is the fact that everyone involved in the push for the levy's passage has been working hard to prove to the voters that they will be good guardians of the public treasury.
The bond issue, which translates to a 7.4-mill levy, would represent 48 percent of the 38.6 million cost of constructing a new kindergarten through 12-grade school complex on a 60-acre site owned by the district. The site is along state Route 46 and Green Beaver Road.
The 0.5-mill additional levy for a continuing period would generate 83,284 a year to be used to maintain facilities in the bond issue project.
Jackson-Milton School District
The 6.2-mill, five-year emergency renewal levy will generate 988,485 a year. The money would go toward employee salaries, utilities, technological updates and other operating expenses.
Passage of the levy will not mean new taxes for residents.
Girard School District
A new junior-senior high school has been proposed with a price tag of 26 million, of which 80 percent would come from the state.
In February, the board of education voted to place a 3.8-mill bond issue on the May ballot, which would enable the system to pay 9 million for the demolition of the current school on North Ward Avenue and the construction of a new facility on undeveloped land.
The Ohio School Facilities Commission has agreed to pay the 17.4 million cost of the new school for grades 7 through 12.
Voters are also being asked to approve an additional 0.5-mill levy for 23 years to pay the cost of maintaining the classroom facilities included in the project. The levy would raise 1.6 million.