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Canfield board: No school levy on March ballot
CANFIELD
Canfield voters will not see a school levy on the March primary ballot.
In a special meeting Wednesday evening, the district’s school board decided to wait until a later date to again place an operating levy before voters.
“The community has said, three times, ‘No,’” said board member Anthony Peluso. “We need to stand back and take a look at what we want to do or can do.”
Voters rejected 6.8-mill operating levies in November 2010 and May and a 4.9-mill operating levy last month.
The district will receive no new revenue in 2012, and its five-year financial forecast predicts projected deficits through 2016 without additional money.
The board will participate in three or four work sessions throughout December and January.
The goal will be to formulate financial and curriculum plans to direct future expenditure commitments and decide a new millage, said Dante Zambrini, the district’s superintendent.
Board member Craig Olson suggested he and his colleagues rebuild a relationship with the community and ask teachers for input on ways to save money.
Some options presented by Zambrini to the board to help balance the district’s budget included looking to cut down on the number of varsity sports and investigating open enrollment.
“These are only options, not recommendations,” he said.
All board members seemed to be in agreement that academics would be a priority when it came to any cuts.
The Ohio Department of Education ranked the district’s Performance Index No. 51 among the 611 traditional Ohio public schools on a preliminary list.
The ranking combines individual students’ results on the Ohio Achievement Assessment and on 10th-grade Ohio Graduation tests.
The district’s per- pupil expenditure is $8,905, which is more than $2,500 less than the average of the top 51 districts, according to the state.
Revenue from any levy passed in 2012 will not be received by the district until 2013. The district has not had a new operating levy since 2002.