Low district funding stirs parents of students

By Jordan Cohen

The school board answered questions about busing and teacher-student ratios.

NEWTON FALLS — The board of education usually allocates 30 minutes for comments and questions from spectators during its meeting.

It needed an hour Monday night because of a turnout that was anything but usual.

More than 70 people, most of them parents of students along with a few teachers, crammed the meeting room, and the board moved the session to the high school auditorium.

The crowd had been expected after the recently settled teachers strike, but its questions focused more on demands for restoring busing for high school students and improving the ratio of teachers to students rather than the strike.

One comment came from parent Laurie Thompson, who said her daughter, a high school student, isn’t old enough to drive. Thompson said her job keeps her from driving her daughter home from school.

“I don’t want her bumming rides from inexperienced drivers when the weather is bad, so why the cuts?” Thompson said.

The board had eliminated buses for high school students this semester because of reduced finances, which saved $97,000, according to Superintendent David Wilson.

Board President Brenda Koontz said busing will be restored only if the district is able to secure more funding.

“Busing [for high school students] will be our first priority,” Koontz said.

The district hopes to solve some of its problems with a replacement levy in next May’s primary. Though the board has not acted on the levy, Wilson said the millage will not go beyond the expiring levy’s 5.8 mills. The superintendent said the expiring levy only generated revenue for school construction after the 1985 tornado and the replacement would bring in operating revenue.

“This is a difficult time to sell a levy, but there won’t be a tax increase,” Wilson said. “This might be the only real shot for this community.”

Other residents questioned why, with a 28-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio, the board could not hire more teachers.

“The money’s not there,” Koontz replied.

Board member Don Baker said the state is completing a performance audit that reviews the entire operations of the district.

“The state only does these things when a school is believed to be in financial difficulty,” Baker said. “That should tell you where the state thinks we are right now.”

Treasurer Samantha Foy told parents the board has another serious financial challenge.

“We are facing over $700,000 in tax delinquencies,” Foy said. “People aren’t paying their taxes, so schools suffer.”

Despite the recent teachers strike, only one parent criticized the instructors. Jo Greathouse accused one of them of ripping up the homework students turned in during the strike. She called it “disgusting behavior.”

Greathouse was told to discuss the issue with the building principal. There were no other comments critical of the teachers.

At the urging of several parents, several board members agreed to consider public forums to impress the importance of next year’s levy on district voters.