Levy committee has provided facts

Levy committee has provided facts

Recently there have been some letters to the editor and postings on Vindy.com that are filled with inaccuracies about the need for the school levy in Canfield. As one of the co-chairs of the Canfield School Levy Committee, I wanted to make sure that we published all of the available facts and information for every available source. These include the Ohio Department of Education website, past and current school budgets, as well as information from similar districts. The information our committee gathered and published clearly documents that the Canfield Local School District is run efficiently, provides high quality educational programs, and spends less than other districts while getting excellent results.

In light of recent opinions offered by others, I feel compelled to counter them with the following facts that we have published: 1) the last levy was passed nine years ago and state funding has decreased significantly since; 2) Federal stimulus money was substituted to supplant state funding for the last two years (the state is not replacing those funds); 3) the Tangible Personal Property Replacement Fund was supposed to be phased out starting in 2013 and the subsequent six years; however, that has been accelerated to be phased out in two years; 4) the funds from this operating levy will assist in meeting the increased operational costs of the district (example: the district paid $2.52 per gallon of diesel fuel in September 2010 and in early April 2011 the cost has increased to $3.64 per gallon; other costs that are part of the operations of the district include the usual and customary financial expenses of other businesses (utilities, materials, employee compensation, supplies, auditing fees, equipment, maintenance, transportation fleet, etc.).

More facts to consider about costs and our community: 1) the 6.8 mill operating levy will cost $13.01 per month for a $100,000 home with the Homestead Exemption or $17.35 per month without the Homestead Exemption; 2) comparative studies conducted by the state and private firms document the cost effectiveness and the high achievement of the school district; 3) strong schools contribute to making a community that people find desirable; 4) the quality of schools help maintain property values for all residents, and most importantly; 5) our children must be offered a competitive curriculum.

Armed with the facts, my fellow levy co-chairs and I we are confident that the residents of Canfield will make the educated and responsible choice to support our schools which will in turn keep Canfield the special community that we are proud to live in.

Bob Ward, Canfield

A perfect day to support schools

National Teacher Appreci- ation Day is Tuesday, May 3. It is also the day that Poland residents vote on two school levies. I cannot think of a better way to let the teachers know how much they are appreciated than by voting yes.

It takes effort by both parents and teachers for Poland schools to be rated Excellent with Distinction and for the high school to be designated a Blue Ribbon School. On May 3 it is up to the parents of the 2,253 students to approve the funding necessary to maintain our great schools. Please take a few minutes out of your day and vote yes for Poland schools.

Julie Liddle, Poland

Preserve McDonald with a vote

Please consider voting yes on the McDonald school levy. Our McDonald schools are at a crossroads with a levy. They can fail and have our homes be worth a big zero or they can continue to give children an excellent education. My children and many of yours have received that education and went on to college or other successful endeavors. When they were educated, the majority of seniors at that time passed every school levy (like now, it was sometimes financially difficult).

The blame game is long passed, who knew, what they knew, when they knew, doesn’t matter. The students and excellent teachers are not responsible; so don’t punish them. Please vote yes on the school levy. It will save our schools and the wonderful village of McDonald.

Thank you and God bless you.

Patricia Fedyski, McDonald

The source of Canfield pride

When asked the simple question, “Why did you move to Canfield?” the number one answer is, “I moved to Canfield to provide my children with the best quality education.”

I, for one, can attest to this as my wife and I moved from Youngstown to Canfield in 1983 when our first child was about to enter kindergarten. Having had three children enrolled in the Canfield school system over the course of a total of 16 years, our lives (other than employment and family) were predominantly consumed by activities surrounding and involving Canfield schools. Whether it was the numerous teacher/parent conferences, school concerts, sports activities, awards events, or academic competitions, Canfield school events were largely responsible for instilling a sense of community pride in all of us. This sense of pride has lasted long after our children’s graduation and continues today.

Over this same time period, the country experienced economic upswings and lows. Who could forget the recession during the late 80’s or the out of control inflation in 1990? Yet a stable life in Canfield continued and we all survived, as did our parents during the Great Depression.

I for one feel extremely fortunate to have three successful, happy children who were able to reap the academic and social benefits of the Canfield school system. In retrospect, I can say with certainty that I made the right choice in supporting the Canfield school system, throughout the years, and by making Canfield home for my family and myself over the past 28 years.

Joseph Warino, Canfield

The writer is city manager of Canfield.

Getting the numbers right

Kent State-Salem’s new, vo- cationally oriented insurance studies curriculum sounds like a good way of giving more students at least a glimpse of actuarial fundamentals, which lie in mathematics.

Why is knowledge of insurance fundamentals important? Consider that the debate over Obamacare and all collective bargaining are conducted by medically insured folks who don’t actually know what America’s unique group health insurance is. Lacking technical skills and incentive, politicians and policy makers are unable to draw distinctions between workers, families and the “groups” of group health insurance.

That’s why all health care debate sounds like the blind men of Hindustan at a gabfest, all dead sure of themselves, and all dead wrong about the elephant they’d examined.

That’s why the goal of health care debate must be to reveal the existence of the “groups” of America’s unique group health insurance, and what those “groups” mean.

Jack Labusch, Niles