Members of the Akron Board of Education took a final vote Monday to put a pair of levies on the ballot this November.
They’re asking voters to approve two measures: one levy that will pay for a new North High School and another that will help cover operating expenses for the district in the coming years.
The move comes weeks after school board members agreed to $24 million in cuts, something school board president Diana Autry described as a show of good faith before they asked voters to agree to spend more money on education.
District officials also agreed to suspend for another year a requirement that Kindergarteners through eighth graders be required to wear uniforms.
Levies needed to build new high school, pay for operations
If passed, the cost of the combined levies for homeowners will be $315 per year for each $100,000 in assessed value, said Steve Thompson, the Akron Public Schools’ chief financial officer and treasurer. That’s slightly higher than previous estimates for the 1.3 mill bond levy and 7.6 mill operating levy.
Autry said she’s already begun to schedule meetings to educate voters about the levies and their importance to the community. She said she understood that the expense would be a stretch for some, but that it was long overdue.
The district has not asked voters to approve a levy in 12 years.
“I understand why everybody’s budgets are tight, but what’s more important than our children and our future?” Autry asked. “I’m happy to have gotten to a place to make this tough ask of the community.”
The approval comes after months of debate. If passed this fall, the operating levy will raise $26 million annually for the schools. Thompson called it “critical” for the future of the school district to pass the measure because, starting next year, Akron schools will be in deficit spending.
Still, Thompson said, Akron has a history of defeating levies the first time they are on the ballot. If that happens, he added, “then we come back again.”
“We don’t have a choice,” he said. “It’s not an option to not pass a levy.”
The district plans to raise $100,000 to inform people about the fact that the tax proposal will be on the ballot this fall. Thompson said the effort is just in the beginning stages. Earlier this year, Akron Mayor Shammas Malik and others pledged to help the school district in its efforts to ensure passage.
With inflation and interest rates still stubbornly high, eating into people’s budgets, Thompson said he knows “we have our work cut out for us” on the way to getting the levy approved. But he said it shouldn’t be difficult to convince voters of the importance of public school.
“There’s no more road to kick the can down,” Autry said. “This is a decision about our collective future. … Is it a priority or not? For me, it’s that simple.”
Education helps reduce violence
Board members reiterated the need for solid educational options as they lamented a shooting last weekend that killed one and injured 27, as well as other deaths in the community.
Barbara Sykes, a school board member, said investing in the city’s children by helping them achieve a good education will help keep them from making bad choices later in life.
“As we look at what we can do to have hope in our community, the answer is school,” she said. “The best investment we can make is supporting our children.”
The sentiment was echoed by Vice President Carla Jackson, who said the entire city will feel the effect of Akron’s educational system.
“What you feed is what will grow,” Jackson said. “We all will have to reap what is being sown in the lives of these children.”
No uniforms for another year
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, APS has suspended a requirement that students wear uniforms. In response to a recent survey of students, families and school leadership, the board agreed to continue that suspension for Kindergarteners through eighth graders for another year.
More than 2,000 people responded to the survey, agreeing by a two-to-one margin that they would rather not have a uniform requirement.
The suspension of the requirement means students can choose what they want to wear to school.
In the coming months, school board members are due to update the dress code policy, leading to discussions about the future of the uniform requirement.
