UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Citing laws of diminishing returns for public education coming out of Columbus, the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school board has authorized placement of a 7.9-mill operating levy on the March 17 ballot.
The board voted unanimously Monday (Dec. 9) to forward the necessary paperwork to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.
Aside from having already held off a year on what is generally a triennial levy cycle, school board members noted that the district continues to lose millions of dollars to private school tuition vouchers.
In what is a unique situation, the CH-UH district saw 500 more students use vouchers this year than last, mostly to attend Jewish schools. This increased the district's voucher bill by $3 million, while at the same time the state legislature froze the local funding formula from last year.
“In all, there’s $12.5 million leaving Columbus for our charter schools, and the idea that the funding does not come away from CH-UH is nonsense,” said school board member Dan Heintz. “Vouchers are a money drain on our district that is already operating under an unconstitutional funding formula.”
Board of Education President Jodi Sourini believes that rather than penalizing the home school districts, the funding for vouchers should be a separate state budget item. As for the new levy, she called it a “big ask” of the district’s voters.
"I'm very pleased that we were able to stretch the current levy by an additional year," Sourini said. "And as much as I hate to ask the community for this, I think we have to for the sake of our children."
If passed, the proposed levy would work out to an additional $277 in property taxes per year on a home valued at $100,000, raising over $8 million in new revenues for the district.
An opposition campaign, calling itself “Tiger Nation 4 Lower Taxes,” has already been launched.
While the district is projecting an additional $750,000 in budget cuts for each of the next three fiscal years, Sourini added that if the proposed levy does not pass in the 2020 calendar year, the district will need to cut $5 million from its budget, eliminating more than 60 jobs.
The district's teachers and support staff are already working on a one-year contract that only runs through June, a short-term labor agreement that Cleveland Heights Teachers' Union President Ari Klein said was based on the district's current five-year financial forecast.
“The voucher system is out of control and the state funding remains flat and, for this year, frozen,” Klein said.
This will be Superintendent Elizabeth Kirby’s first levy, having spent 23 years with the Chicago Public Schools before being hired this year.
"I am new to a school system being funded like this, which I think is nuts," said Kirby, who grew up in the Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood and attended Hawken School before graduating from Harvard University. "And the 'state report card system' is also unfair."
School board Vice President Jim Posch called the state report card system “crazy and immoral,” going after the district’s diversity.
In recent years, the CH-UH Schools have received what amounts to an overall "D" grade from the state.
"From Columbus, I've seen a total lack of any regard for public education," Posch said.
School district makes 'A.P.' honor roll
At the same time, the district was recently recognized by the Advanced Placement College Board for "A.P. Honor Roll Distinction" -- one of only 250 nationally, 10 in Ohio and the only one in Cuyahoga County.
“This district provides so much more than the minimum offered by the State of Ohio,” school board member Malia Lewis said. “Public education is the first component of the common good. We can’t cater to a very narrow spectrum of society.”
Sourini said the district has already cut $9 million from its budget, with $750,000 in each of the last two years, $5 million in permanent budget in the 2015-16 school year, then $3.25 million worth of staffing reductions in 2016-17, prior to the passage of the most recent levy.
That was 5.5 mills passed in November 2016, a slightly scaled-down version of a 5.9-mill levy that was voted down in May 2015.
Middle school projects return unused funds
Prior to that, and separate from operating levies, district voters passed a $135 million bond issue in November 2013. This funded renovations at Heights High ($101.6 million), along with Monticello ($19.1 million), Roxboro ($19.3 million) and Wiley middle schools, the last to serve as a "swing school" during both projects.
The “enabling” project to convert Wiley to swing space worked out to nearly $19 million, initially considered part of the cost overruns at Heights High, which was renovated first. This led to some reductions in the scope of renovations at Monticello and Roxboro, which reopened this year.
On Monday, CH-UH Director of Business Services and Operations George Petkac unofficially presented the school board with what could be up to $3.6 million in unused funds -- contingencies and otherwise -- from the middle school projects.
That money will come back to the district’s permanent improvement fund once the “deduct” change orders are finalized through Project Management Consultants and the middle schools contractor, Turner Construction. More details will be provided in a later story.
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