FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Contact: Jeff Ferguson, Superintendent
P: 330-633-3291
E: [email protected]
Tallmadge City School District to Place Operating Levy on May 7 Ballot
TALLMADGE, OHIO, (Jan. 18, 2019): At its Jan. 16 meeting, the Tallmadge City School District Board of Education announced it will move forward with an operating levy on the May 7, 2019, ballot. This comes after the failure of an operating levy in November.
The levy in May will be for the same amount, 7.4 mills.
“The need has not changed,” said Superintendent Jeff Ferguson. “It is now even more urgent and we must move forward. Based on community feedback, the Board determined staying with an operating levy was the best option for our district.”
With the levy failure in November, the district lost a year of funding, meaning there will be some spending cuts for the 2019-2020 school year. If additional funding isn’t secured in 2019, the district faces drastic cuts to programming and staff for the 2020-2021 school year. These cuts will be outlined in a Spending Reduction Plan to be presented at the Feb. 20 Board meeting.
The need for additional funding stems from the loss of $2.5 million in state funding through the phase out of the Tangible Personal Property tax.
“Fiscal responsibility is a priority of the Tallmadge City Schools,” Ferguson said. “In preparation for the loss of the TPP funds, the district implemented several cost saving measures. We have done our best to reduce costs while maintaining high standards of programming for our students; however, the loss of $2.5 million is too large to offset without having to make major reductions to staff and programming. The passage of a levy in 2019 is essential to maintain student programming and services.”
In addition to its regularly scheduled meetings, the Board of Education will host additional work sessions on the first Wednesday of every month (Feb. 6, March 6 and April 3) at 6 p.m. in the community room at Tallmadge High School to provide residents an added opportunity to ask questions and gain a better understanding of district operations. The meetings will be held in a town hall-format, with topics covering school funding, the Spending Reduction Plan, levy information, new buildings and more.