Another levy attempt may follow first cuts
By Jeff Gallatin
North Olmsted
Published Nov. 15, 2006

            School Superintendent Kurt Stanic is hoping voters will give the district a February valentine.

            After voters last week rejected for the fourth consecutive time the district’s request for a new operating levy, Stanic said he will recommend to the school board the district put the same 6.5 mil operating levy request on the ballot in February.

            “To me, that’s the best course of action,” Stanic said. “We will be implementing the first round of cuts Jan. 1. These will have an impact on the educational system.”

            District officials said the Jan. 1 non-personnel cuts will save an estimated $722,000.

            Unofficial final board of election tallies showed 7,006 votes or 54 percent against the levy and 6,084 or 46 percent against.

            “We made incremental progress,” Stanic said, noting the nay votes were closer to 60 percent in the other recent defeats.

            Stanic said trying a special election in February gives the  district the potential option of not having to cut school busing to state minimum levels, three district administrative positions and their support positions and another 30 to 50 district jobs in the next round of budget cuts if the operating levy passes. In the budget plan passed at an Oct. 30 school board meeting, the busing would be cut April 1 and the administrative positions plus their staff would go Aug. 1. Stanic’s administration would have to present a final plan on which 30 to 50 jobs to cut by March. The plan also approved eliminating sports programs, other extra-curricular activities and closing school buildings by 4 p.m.

            “We would have to notify people in March and April that those positions would be eliminated,” Stanic said. “It’s not something we want to do but we’re going to have to take some action if a levy doesn’t get passed.”

            He declined to cite specific positions or areas which would be cut in the administrative posts or the other 30 to 50 jobs, saying only that could come through retirements while others would have to be eliminated from the budget.

            “We could have some positions come open that we just won’t fill,” Stanic said. “But others will have to go to come up with these positions. This is not something we want to do because these cuts will have an impact on the educational program we have set up. We really do believe that the vote is a referendum on the excellent ranking we received from the state. People wanted us to improve our academic programs and we did. We really don’t want to disassemble the programs that we put in place over several years to do that.”

            He said district officials stopped short of setting specific times at the October meeting for cutting the 30 to 50 jobs and athletic programs so they could possibly fall back to a February special election.

            “Those are very serious moves,” Stanic said. “We want people to understand that the vote has consequences for all of us in the community. We don’t like the education funding system that is in place right now either, but until it’s replaced, we still have to pay for our educational programs with what we have.”

            Even though the district would not be able to collect any funds from a levy passage until 2008, Stanic said he believes the district should try to keep the levy amount at 6.5 mils.

            “We know people are straining,” Stanic said. “We just hope they understand we are too.”

            If approved, the later job and program cuts would go into place for the 2007-08 academic year.

            Stanic said the school board decides to move on getting another levy on the February ballot.

            “We’ll have to move fairly quickly,” Stanic said. “There would have to be two board meetings and votes by Nov. 24 to get it to the (Cuyahoga County) Board of Elections in time for the February ballot.”