The voters have spoken: Issue 5 has been rejected.
Tonight’s results mark the third levy failure in the last 10 months for the Woodridge Local Schools.
The next move is to focus on passing a levy identical to Issue 5 in November.
If passed, the five-year, 6.83-mill levy would generate $15 million in revenue and cost homeowners $209 per year for every $100,000 in valuation, said Woodridge Local Schools Superintendent Walter Davis.
In the event the November issue fails, the Woodridge Board of Education will need to approve seven-figure cuts ($1.2 million in personnel, $600,000 in employee benefits) to keep the budget balanced and in the black through 2015, said Woodridge School treasurer Deanna Levenger.
If approved by the board, the next round of cuts would go into effect on July 1, 2013.
These are the final unofficial results from the Summit County Board of Elections:
|
Issue |
For the Levy* |
Against the Levy* |
|
Issue 5 |
1,625 |
1,715 |
*Unofficial results
If you're a Stow resident with students in the Woodridge Local Schools district, tell us what you think about tonight's decision.
Michael L Battaglia
11:53 am on Saturday, August 11, 2012
I am providing a copy of this to Ms Levenger with the request that she forward a copy to Mr Davis.
Let's all stipulate that we ALL love our kids, community and schools.
Here are some of my concerns about Woodridge LSD:
I understand as a small school district, we are unable to achieve many of the economies of scale that would be available to larger district. I have had a hard time verifying the precise "dollar-per-student" expenditures by the district. I continue to emphasize the comparison with The Elms, Cuyahoga Christian Academy and Walsh Jesuit.
Here is what I DO know:
Superintendent Davis stated to the West Side Leader that the 6.83 Mill Levy was intended to raise $3 million annually.
2011-2012 Fiscal year ended $1.65 million in the Red
2015-2016 Budget is projected the be $4.74 million in the red with a cumulative shortfall of $8.4 million
Superintendent Davis stated to the West Side Leader "...District is going to enter negotiations with...union this year"...would you think
When the budget shortfall was forecast five years ago would it not have been prudent to review expenses and determine what might be done to bring that budget in balance?