MANSFIELD — Voters in the Mansfield City School District rejected a new operating levy at the polls Tuesday.
The ballot measure failed with 69.32 percent of electors voting against it, according to final, unofficial vote totals from the Richland County Board of Elections.
Almost 60 percent of registered voters in the district weighed in on the levy, with a total of 12,643 votes cast.
The proposed levy would have enacted a 1-percent tax on earned income and a 5.6-mill property tax for five years.
It would have generated an additional $7.8 million in new operating money for the district, including $3 million from property tax and $4.8 million from income tax.
Supt. Stan Jefferson called the results a “setback,” but said the district remains committed to providing a quality education for students.
“While the election results did not turn out as we had hoped, we respect the decision of our voters,” Supt. Stan Jefferson said.
“Without these funds we will need to carefully assess our options moving forward and explore how we can best continue serving our students. We appreciate the ongoing support as we work through these challenges together and we will continue to communicate openly with our school community as we consider our next steps.”
This was the first time Mansfield City Schools has had a new operating levy on the ballot since 2013, according to the district’s levy committee co-chair Teana Sykes.
The district has carried an operating deficit for several years, despite steps to reduce costs.
These cost-saving measures include closing two buildings (Prospect Elementary School in 2022 and Brinkerhoff in 2024) and shutting down the Tyger Digital Academy, a pandemic-era virtual learning option that cost the district more than $2 million each year.
In July, district treasurer Barb Donohue told Richland Source the district had implemented $1.2 million in budget cuts for the 2024-2025 school year, including 16-percent reductions across department and building budgets.
“While we are disappointed by the outcome of this election, we remain deeply grateful for the support we received and the efforts of everyone who worked tirelessly to champion our students,” said levy committee co-chair Dawn Kitchen.
Kitchen said levy supporters are committed to regrouping, reorganizing and working harder to engage with voters.
“We acknowledge that we may not have done enough to fully convey the incredible achievements of our Tyger students, both in the classroom and beyond,” she said.
“As a committee, we recognize the need to engage more directly, perhaps through more door-to-door outreach and clearer communication about the vital role this levy plays in securing the future of Mansfield City Schools.”
Sykes said she will continue to support the district in any way she can.
“It appears that we still have work to do,” she said. “The community has spoken, but what the vote doesn’t tell us is what was the barrier to voting in favor of the levy.”
Jefferson declined to say whether or not the district would go back to the voters with another levy proposal.
“We will need to get with our board and find out where we are going in that direction,” he said. “From those conversations, we can then proceed from there.”
