North Olmsted City Schools starts community dialogue sessions regarding new-money issue

NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio — Weeks after announcing its plan to return to the ballot on May 3 with a new-money issue addressing financial and facility needs, North Olmsted City Schools recently held two community question-and-answer sessions.

“The biggest thing we learned was this community wants to support education and just wants to learn more about what’s taken place in the past, what’s going on now and the plan moving forward,” said North Olmsted City Schools Superintendent David J. Brand, who noted the district also talked to teachers, staff and administration members about the combined new-money levy.

“Overall, most questions were around finances and how schools are funded. People are shocked about House Bill 920 and the flat-funding concept.”

Passed 46 years ago, HB920 finds the amount of money raised by a district-related levy remaining the same despite any increase in property values. If a tax increase passed in, say, 1980 brought in $2 million, that’s the same amount of revenue earned today.

The superintendent said next up for the district is putting together a FAQ document on not only how schools are funded but also including any other pertinent information related to the combined new-money issue that if passed — costing a $100,000 homeowner $22.90 per month — will fund operations and the construction of a new PreK-5 building at the current Pine Elementary site.

The need for the tax increase is tied to the district suffering through decreased enrollment and a looming financial deficit.

Brand said there are also more public meetings expected to be announced by mid-February.

“We’ll do a series, which we’re working on right now,” Brand said. “It’ll start by sharing information and getting feedback of what people like and don’t like. We’ll get questions, and those that we can’t answer we’ll do so at the next meeting.”

The elephant in the room for the combined new-money issue is whether the community, which last spring voted down an 8.5-mill operating levy, will change its mind.

That job belongs to the district’s political action committee’s grassroots efforts.

“What it takes is knocking on doors, neighbors talking to neighbors and friends talking to friends,” Brand said. “We as a district need to equip people with the facts and knowledge so they can share with others.

“A lot of residents don’t know about the district need. They’re not connected. They don’t have children in school anymore, so we need to give everything we can to ensure we reach every community member.”

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