I am a retired senior citizen. I moved to the Ontario School District in 1977.
During these past 42 years, I have seen and experienced the best and worst of times for the city of Ontario, all of which in some way or another have impacted our school system.
As I review the past performance of the school’s Superintendents, Administrative Staff, and School Boards over this long span of years, I see a school system that has flourished with sound fiscal management and many achievements in both maintaining and progressing a strong course curriculum to provide it’s students with a quality education and the opportunity to pursue their dreams in today’s complex economy.
As both a parent and grandparent of Ontario graduates and current students, I would like to see our school district maintain the current course curriculum and the associated programs which make our school district one of the best in the state.
The sound fiscal management of our school district has resulted in the avoidance of placing any new school levies on the ballot since 2006 (13 years since the last new levy!). The closure of the General Motors plant a few years back resulted in the loss of $2.85 million of tangible personal property taxes.
Our state government was supposed to replace most of this lost revenue through the State formula for allocating school funds, but the State discontinued the old formula and the new formula places a cap on the amount that they would fund.
In the 2017-18 school year, only 8 schools (out of 607) had LESS money available to spend per pupil than Ontario.
Thankfully, the superintendent and her administration had the foresight to start the open enrollment program. Without the revenue from the open enrollment program, a levy would have been on the ballot seven years ago.
Unfortunately the school’s building capacity is topped out which means that our open enrollment capacity and revenue is maxed out.
The long and short of it is that the state government has let us down and any relief may not come until the state’s next budget cycle in July, 2021.
Therefore, a levy is necessary to avoid severe cost reductions (e.g. manpower reductions, suspension of bus transportation, facility closures (swimming pool) as well as potential wage decreases.
The levy’s cost impact to residents is modest. If the tax value of your home is $100,000, your taxes will only go up by $20 per month ($240 per year or 66 cents per day). Keep in the mind that the school is only asking for enough to maintain the status quo.
I have witnessed the continual improvement in our school system and have seen many of our high school graduates enjoy successful careers. As a senior citizen, I choose to pay it forward for our children and I am asking for your support in joining me with a YES vote for the Ontario School Levy.
John Kurtz
Ontario, Ohio
