43
South Range schools ask for operating levy funds
By ROBERT CONNELLY
NORTH LIMA
South Range voters have another operating levy vote before of them.
“It definitely will be a larger challenge for us to continue to keep this district going into the direction it’s going without the additional operating funds,” said Dennis Dunham, superintendent of South Range schools. “It’s an absolute necessity, and we hope our community will support us.”
The May 5 levy varies from the failed November 2014 and 2013 levies, both in millage and duration. Now before voters in Green and Beaver townships is a three-year, 4.9-mill operating levy that would generate $931,838 annually for three years and cost the owner of a $100,000 home $171.50 a year. The district will spend about $10,000 to $12,000 for the primary election because there are no other items on the ballot in those townships.
Next school year, the 2015-16 academic year, is the last projected year for the district to be in the black. Beginning with the 2016-17 school year, there is a projected deficit that multiplies from there. District Treasurer Jim Phillips has noted that a district cannot operate in a deficit, and further cuts would be made if the May 5 levy fails.
At the Feb. 16 South Range Board of Education meeting, the board unanimously approved suspending the contracts of two full-time teachers and one part-time teacher. If the levy fails, those three will be the first phase of cost-reduction measures the district will implement to reduce costs.
Those teachers are Dana Veneskey, an elementary-school music teacher; Mark Giesy, a middle-school industrial technology, or Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), teacher; and Christine Yukech, a part-time science teacher.
The Citizens for South Range levy committee is having small in-home visits with families and school administrators such as Dunham and/or a board member. Dunham said the last time this approach was tried was in the lead-up to the bonds for the new school construction.
“I’ve been able to sit down” with residents “and try to talk through the misinformation that’s out there so [we] present people with more factual information and that’s been a positive thing for us,” Dunham said.
Board president Ralph Wince said those in-home visits have been going on for a few weeks and will continue until the election.
“Different people have different questions and concerns, and it’s been well received,” Wince said.
On the other side, ACT Now for South Range Schools has been formed and has had weekly meetings in the old South Range high school. ACT stands for Accountability, Clarity and Transparency. A pamphlet states the group is asking for a performance audit of the schools by the Ohio Auditor of State’s Office, a “comprehensive and detailed plan” on the five-year plan for the district and for the district to participate in the state treasurer’s Open Checkbook program.
That group’s spokesman is Taylor Christian, 18, and a valedictorian when he graduated from South Range schools in 2014. He is collecting signatures to run for one of the three openings — two full terms and one special term, on the South Range Board of Education in November.
“We are not against the kids, and if they do prove that they do need money, then they need money, and I would be fine with passing a levy personally,” Christian said. “I’m hoping [the board] will look at this. ... They’ll help us out, and they will hopefully just give us a plan and do that open checkbook to see exactly what the money is being spent on.”
If the levy does not pass in May, the district will begin evaluating programs for phase two of cuts.
“If you want your district to continue to look like what it does today, then it becomes a necessity to continue the programs. Eventually, we cannot spend any more money,” Wince said, listing off programs that are not mandated by the state, such as the arts. “If we want to continue to be looked at as a school district that is on the cutting edge and forefront in this area, then the levy becomes a necessity.”