Two Summit County school district superintendents were dealing with frustration on Wednesday, after their levies and bond issues were rejected by voters in the primary election.
“My disappointment is for the students of our district. This isn’t about wants. This is about a real need,” said Jim Robinson, superintendent of New Franklin’s Manchester Local School District. “The need isn’t going away. We need new buildings because the issues of infrastructure, safety and facilities are still with us.”
On Tuesday, voters turned down Issue 18 — Manchester’s 36-year, 8.3-mill bond issue and 0.5-mill levy — which would have raised $30.6 million to construct new elementary and high schools with the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission; to renovate the middle school; and to maintain the buildings. If the community had approved the levy, the state would have contributed $17 million to the construction project.
The district now has one more chance — a special election in August — to go to voters for funding, before the state’s $17 million is taken off the table. Robinson said the board is likely to explore all of its options before a decision is made about another ballot issue.
Voters in the district had previously rejected a similar bond issue in 2009, when the district was eligible for a state match for construction. Tuesday’s defeat was more disheartening because the economy was in better shape than it was seven years ago. Unofficial results show the issue failed Tuesday by 85 votes.
“If we could have convinced just 43 of those voters, the outcome would have been different,” Robinson said. “If we can’t pass an issue while we have access to state money, at some point the community will pay full price. We had a tremendous group of people working to help get this issue passed. We came up a little short and now we will need to discuss what our next step will be.”
Like in the Manchester district, school officials in Norton will draw up a new plan, after the district suffered two levy losses — additional 2.9-mill and 0.4-mill issues. Money generated by the smaller millage levy, which unofficially failed by 905 votes, would have been used for safety and security, including the purchase of cameras and the hiring of a school resource officer. The 2.9-mill issue, which went down by a vote of 2,640 to 1,834, would have generated funds for current operating expenses.
“We went through some significant reductions six or seven years ago and have been very tight in our spending. And we’ve only had a 1.9-mill increase in like 10 years, so we really needed those funds for programs,” said David Dunn, Norton City superintendent. “We will have some additional opportunities to talk about asking voters to approve another levy before we have to start talking about cutting programs, but there are some monetary losses that we know we will not be able to get back, like losses to charter schools and losses from real estate property taxes. Our next step is to dialogue and formulate a plan.”
Officials in Wayne County’s Chippewa School District will also make adjustments, after its five-year, 1.9-mill renewal levy for permanent improvements was defeated by 268 votes. It was the only renewal turned down by area voters in this election.
The six districts where renewals passed were Medina’s Brunswick City; Wayne County’s Triway Local; Stark County’s Canton Local and Summit County’s Green and Springfield (which including some Portage County voters) locals. Northwest Local, which includes voters in Summit, Stark and Wayne counties also enjoyed a renewal victory.
The remaining school issue, Jackson Local’s issue 12, passed by nearly 2,200 votes. The substitute levy means no new taxes for existing property owners and only affects new construction. It will generate nearly $8.6 million for the general fund to pay for operating expenses.
Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com. She can be followed at www.twitter.com/ColetteMJenkins.