Q & A
Do you have a question about the levy? Have you heard a rumor that needs to be addressed? This is the place to get the facts. Submit your question in the “comments” box below. Reliable answers will be posted on this page. The most recent questions will appear near the top. Replies will be posted below each question. To avoid offensive spamming or content, submissions will be screened by a blog administrator. If you are having trouble submitting your question via the “comments” box, please email it to us at prideblog@gmail.com.
Thank you for taking the time to submit a question.
28 Comments
leave one →
So I read in a letter to the Tallmadge Express dated September 27, 2009 stating Rep. Stephen Dyer “unequivocally” reports that the funding to Tallmadge City Schools for the coming year was actually increased. Yet the schools started with 55 less employees, what gives? Who is correct?
Mr. Sisak,
You are not the only person who may have questions after reading the letter in the Express. Mr. Ferguson’s answer to your question, as well as the initial question posed in the Express, has been posted on the home page of this website under the heading “Superintendent Responds to Question.”
As a Board member I can assure you that this Board and Administration remain committed to open and honest communication with the community. There is no hidden agenda or smokescreen intended to mislead anyone.
It’s important that voters have reliable information when they go to the polls on November 3rd.
Thank you for your question.
How much money is being allocated to sports for the 2009-2010 school year? Does this allocation also cover the operational cost of the facilities and the salaries of the staff that have to maintain the fields/courts? What is the percentage of students for K-12 that participate in a school sponsored sport? Are there any revenues generated from sports within the district?
The Athletic Department budget is about 80,000 dollars next year. That does not include salaries. The salaries for the coaching staff will be about 200,000 dollars next year.The transportation costs average about 45,000 dollars per year. This year we had 978 participants in athletics grades 7-12 which would represent a little over one third of our total enrollment (k-12) of 2605.
This year our Athletic department gate revenue was about 66,128 dollars and the pay to participate generated 216,500 dollars or a total of 282,678 dollars in revenue. We also received about 50,000 dollars in support from the Tallmadge Athletic boosters for equipment and uniforms. Thank you for your question.
Our daughter is away at college and won’t be returning until late May. This situation is not unique to us, and I believe there are many votes out there that could be had with a bit of effort. I’m not clear on the procedure, but if I were to: A. Go to the Board of Elections and ask for an absentee ballot request form. B. Have her fill it in when we see her over Easter. C. Return to the Board of Elections and exchange it for a ballot. D. Snail mail it to her. E. Have her snail mail it back to the Board of Elections- will this work?
Absentee voting has never been easier. Yes, the process you outlined in your question will work. But even easier is the online/download and application process. Your daughter can go directly to to the Summit County Board of Elections website. The link to the website can also be found under the “Links” Heading on the top right side of this blog page. The completed application can be mailed to the Board of Elections. Once it has been received, the ballot will be mailed directly to the address provided on the application. The Board must receive the completed ballot by Election Day, may 5, 2009. A stamp is needed to mail the application.
The other option for absentee voting is to walk into the Board of Elections office (470 Grant St., Akron), ask for an application, fill it out, and turn it right back in. They will immediately give you a ballot and you can vote right then and there. This is a great option for individuals who live locally and don’t want to wait until May 5 to vote.
Thanks for your question.
We’ve all heard how the Governor’s proposal will be the “fix” for schools. I’d like to hear from Treasurer of our schools..What are your thoughts?
I think that is the question on everyone’s mind. Let me first say that no, the Governor’s plan, HB 1 (which is the State’s biennium budget bill) will not fix school funding. While it is a complete overhaul of the way schools are funded, and takes some positive steps, there are still many challenges in formula. When details of the proposal first became public everyone focused on what additional revenue districts would receive. Tallmadge Schools was projected to receive slight increases over the next two years. These increases amount to roughly ½ and ¾ mill for this district. Certainly not nearly enough to fix our financial challenges. However, roughly 1/3 of the districts in the state will receive nothing the first year and are cut the 2nd year. This has caused an uproar in the education community.
What hasn’t been talked about enough is that along with being a complete overhaul of school funding, it also changes the education side of the equation. There are new mandates in HB 1 that will cost districts millions of dollars to implement such as class size requirements, extended school year, adding positions not currently on staff, and many others too detailed to discuss here. All of these issues have caused lawmakers to take a closer look at many of the components of HB 1.
We are currently waiting to see what changes will be proposed by the House before it heads to the Senate for more scrutiny. What the final bill will look like once all the dust settles is unknown at this point. What is known is that at best, it is an 8 year plan that is intended to increase the State’s share of funding schools. It will not eliminate the reliance on local property taxes for districts to pay their share of funding schools.
For more details on this and other school funding issues join me April 29th at 6:00 p.m. in the community room at the new high school.
In the letters section of the March 29 Tallmadge Express, I read a confusing statement from the President of the Tallmadge PTA council. ” I want to remind our community that this $100,000 value refers to the tax value of the home. ” I have always been under the impression that it refers to the appraised value. This is huge in one way or the other. The owner of a $250,000 home with a tax value of $87,000 would pay $180 per year for 6.9 mills, very reasonable. That same home owner paying on the appraised value would pay $520 per year, not as affordable but a solid investment. If it is true that this levy is on taxable value I think the public needs to know this ASAP, if not, shame on this peson for misleading our community. If the levy is on the appraised value is there any possibility of using taxable value for seniors and dissabled as this is the biggest sticking point of the issue, I know because I have many customers in Tallmadge that are seniors on fixed income. On a $100,000 home that would be a differance of about $11.33 a month, not much to some of us but with an income of $850 a month SSI it could mean the chosing between medications and food.
The issue of market value vs taxable value can be confusing. Taxable value is determined by taking the market/appraised value and multiplying by 35%. The taxable value is then used to determine what the increase in millage would cost the property owner. In the example of a property with a $100,000 market value the taxable value would be $35,000. The resulting increase in tax (after homestead & amp; rollback credit) would be $211 per year. A link to the tax calculator can be found under the “Links” heading on the right side of this page. Simply enter the market value of your own property to determine the increase in tax for the 6.9 mill levy.
For a resident who is over 65 and has applied for the additional exemption the increase would be $158 per year. The application for the Senior Citizen Tax Relief Application is also under the “Links” heading on the right side ofthis page.
Teachers at Munroe were told that if the levy does not pass in May, Munroe students will have to ride the bus with middle school students and the start time will change to 7:45. Will you inform the community about this change before the levy? This could change some no votes to yes votes. I think this is a good money saving idea.
Could this also impact Dunbar and Overdale start time changes? With such a time gap?
Thanks.
If the Levy does not pass in May, We will look to further consolidate bus runs. We will run the same start and end time for Munroe and the Middle School. I t would mean the students of both buildings get picked up by one bus in a given neighborhood. We are currently looking at the start and end times for both buildings and will adjust them accordingly. As we finalize the schedule ,it will have to be an earlier start time for Munroe. I will be reporting to the Board of Education the changes to the District from last Spring’s cuts and then the changes we face if it fails in May. It will be discussed at the Special Meeting on Wednesday,April 1 at 6:00 in the Community room of the High School. Thank you for your question.
Could you please explain how busing of private school children works within the public school system? At what cost is it to the school district, and why continue it in these tough ecomonic times? I heard that it is state mandated, and the school district is fiscally responsible for this.
Under the State guidelines for transportation, private school children are entitled to the same level of bus service as the children of the Tallmadge city schools. When we eliminated High School busing last spring in the first wave of cuts, it included private high schoolers. We continue to adhere to the requirements of the transporting elementry children including private school children. It can be costly and inefficient due to the small number of children spread over a large geographic area.We could have one child on the west side of Akron and two others in Cuyahoga Falls.It would require two busses to get the children to the destination on time. Thank you for your question.
In an article posted today online at tallmadgeexpress.com you are quoted as stating “We’re not terminating anyone’s employment,” We’re suspending their contract for the next school year.” What is the difference? When the levy passes will these staff reductions be reinstated?
I am not sure of the quote or the article but I can explain the suspension of teaching contracts in Ohio. Public school districts in Ohio can only reduce staff for two reasons. One is for financial reasons and the other is decreased enrollment. We currently will be reducing staff for financial reasons as a result of the failed levy this past November. These teachers are placed on a RIF list (reduction in force) for the 2009-2010 school year. If the levy passes in May, we would begin to look at all the cuts we have made and bring back the ones we could afford. We will look at a balanced approach of returning direct instruction and support service to our children. I will be reporting to the Board of Education on Wednesday, April 1 at 6:00 in the community room of the High School on this very topic. They have asked me to review the impact of the failed levies on the District and what it will be should we fail again in May. I would encourage you to attend the meeting. The Board will also provide the community oppotunities to ask questions.
Q: I heard that all day kindergarten is coming back next year and that parents won’t have to pay for it. Is that true? How can our Tallmadge school district afford to re-instate Full Day Kindergarten and yet ask our community to pass another levy?
The Governor of the State of Ohio has included all day kindergarten as a requirement of all public schools in House Bill 1. He has also proposed to change the current funding system to include fully funding kindergarten. The current system only funds it as a half day program. If we do not offer the prgram and neighboring districts do offer it,we could lose students to those districts. When a student leaves our district , the funding for that student leaves with them. Districts with declining enrollment suffer significant losses in funding. Thank you for your question.
What are the class sizes now compared to class sizes prior to last year’s cuts? What are the class size projections for next year if the levy does not pass?
Class sizes vary by grade level but let’s use the elementary grades as one example. Prior to the first cuts one year ago, an average elementary grade was 21-22 students. Today after the cuts , an average grade is 23-24 students per class. If the levy fails in May , we will be looking at class sizes that could average 25 – 27 students in the elementary grades. Thank you for your question.
Why are you putting a levy on the ballot this Spring? Why not wait until after we see what happens with Governor Strickland’s education plan?
The Governor’s budget bill is being debated in the House of Representatives right now. We have been given our final dollar amount prior to the potential cuts by the House and The Senate. Our best case scenario is an increase of less than a mill. Our current need is 6.9 mills. The Governor’s plan also has potential mandates that could cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars to implement. Although the ballot issue is voted on in May , it will not be collected until 2010. The passage of the issue in May enables us to budget next school year accordingly.
I’ve heard that the old middle school property is going up for auction this spring. If it sells, how will the proceeds from this sale be used?
The Old Middle School will be sold at auction in late April. We are currently working with the auctioneer finalizing the details of the auction. School Districts have very strict guidelines to follow in the sale of a fixed asset such as property. The proceeds from the sale must be deposited into the Permanent Improvement fund. The money can not be used for the day to day operation of the district. Thank you for the question .
If the levy passes in May, will any of the cut programs be reinstated; Such as high school busing and eliminating pay to play?
Although the tax will not be collected until 2010,the Board made the decision to go on the ballot this May in order to bring back some of the eliminated services and programs for next school year.The return of high school busing and the elimination of “pay to participate” would be two examples . The passage of the levy this May will result in a return of high school busing and the elimination of “pay to participate”. Thank you for your question.
There is a rumor that if the May levy does not pass, that Middle School and Freshmen sports may be eliminated.
Is that contigency on the table or does that scenario have a chance at playing out?
We intend to offer freshman and Middle School sports next school year. Our entire school funding structure is influenced greatly by student enrollment so we must weigh out the savings of an elimination with the loss of families and children to our district. When students decide to leave the district, the funding goes with them. Thank you for your question.