MEDINA, Ohio — It's back to the drawing board for some school districts after voters across Northeast Ohio voted down several school levies on Tuesday.
Whether they were new levies or renewals of existing ones, voters in districts such as Medina, Strongsville, Brunswick, Ravenna, Richmond Heights, Garfield Heights and more now must look for new solutions after unofficial results from their board of elections show voters narrowly rejecting school taxes.
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In Brunswick's case, the operating levy had been in place since 1994 and contributed $3.2 million annually to "essential educational operations, including curriculum development, student services, and compensating day-to-day staff members."
"I’m tired of the taxes on the school," he said. "Inflation is up, prices have gone skyrocketing and people are having a hard time paying their bills and making their budget."
Medina City Schools Superintendent Aaron Sable previously told News 5 that the March levy, if passed, would have generated approximately $14 dollars annually and would cost Medina homeowners about $263 for every $100,000 in assessed home valuation every year.
RELATED: Medina City Schools facing cuts, budget deficit, parents hope for March levy passage
"We face the same kind of challenges everybody does across Ohio and across the country with inflation as well as through the pandemic with increased costs, and we need to offset that," Medina City Schools Superintendent Aaron Sable said.
Sable said that even if the March levy was approved by voters, the district would still have to make some cuts through attrition, but the loss of key student programs and services would be avoided.
Sable previously said a March Levy failure would likely result in a wide variety of cuts for students, including but not limited to:
Busing to the State minimum of 2 miles and no busing to Medina High School
Increase in average class size at the elementary level
Increase in Pay-to-Participate fees Reduction of school counseling services
Reduction of gifted services Reduction of middle/high school electives
Reduction in AP course offerings
Elimination of middle school teaming
The result is not necessarily a surprise for Victoria Druley, who pushed for the levy to pass with the parent-led coalition “Kids First Medina.”
"In Medina, we experienced a pretty substantial increase in our property taxes," Druley said.
"As challenging as things might be on the state level and school funding in Ohio, that’s something we can’t take out on the students sitting in our classrooms," Sable added. "We need to pivot. We need to do it with less dollars at hand. We’re going to keep collaborating with our community and staff in order to make that happen even with less resources."
Druley now worries about what this will all look like for the upcoming school year.
"We’re at risk of losing those staff members and those small class sizes and that’s something that’s going to affect my kid and everyone who has a kid in Medina City Schools," she said.
This marks the second straight failed levy for the district after failing last November. Going forward, Sable said he’s not sure if voters will see another this November.
