SIDNEY — For the third time in 2016, Sidney City Schools District voters are being asked to approve a 3-mill, five-year permanent improvement levy for the district.
The new levy, which if approved, would generate approximately $1.4 million per year. A homeowner with property valued at $100,000 would pay $105 in new property taxes annually.
Funds from a PI levy, said Superintendent John Scheu, can be used for anything that has a “shelf life of five years or more.”
Items which would be included under PI fund purchases could be computer, buses, doors, parking lot repairs, textbooks, carpeting, desks, roofs and boiler replacement.
“PI levy monies cannot be used for salaries or benefits,” said Sheu.
Scheu said the levy committee, which includes co-chairs Tom Boecker and Bill Warner, Scheu, Tiffany (Wildermuth) Rank, the district’s communication coordinator, SCS Treasurer Mike Watkins, Sidney Middle School Principal Diane Vorst and Jayne Smith, felt there needed to be more direct contact with the district’s residents for the upcoming election. Smith serves as the levy committee treasurer. The group has been meeting once a week on Fridays to discuss the levy.
“We have done that via a mailing to residents in the district,” said Scheu. “We have sent information to the parents of our students. The district newsletter will have levy information in it. That’s coming out this week and all district residents will receive it.”
Scheu said the committee has looked at the results of the elections in March and August to determine voting trends of the district’s registered voters. He said it is important to reach every voter before Election Day so they understand the needs of the district.
People who requested an absentee ballot, said Rank, received a chase mailing reminding them to send in their ballot.
“The Board of Elections provides data on who requested absentee ballots,” said Rank. “We sent a postcard to those people who received them (absentee ballot).”
Levy signs can be seen throughout the district urging support of the levy.
“I am very confident in saying that the Sidney City Schools has done a very good job in being frugal with the taxpayers’s money,” said Scheu. “We have watched every penny we’ve spent.
“Even with a healthy carryover balance, starting in fiscal year 2017 we start to see deficit spending. We’re spending more than we’re bringing in. One of the reasons this is happening is because our state funding is uncertain.”
The district’s five-year forecast continues to show that the revenues for the district are not keeping up with the expenditures.
“We are taking money out of the general fund to pay for expenses and unexpected permanent improvement projects. That is draining our balance,” said Scheu.
“The rising costs of unfunded mandates, such as the special education scholarships, is also affecting us,” said Rank.
Scheu said there are four examples of unfunded mandates which have to come out of the district’s coffers.
“Ten years ago, the state paid for 50 percent of new school buses,” said Scheu. “Today, they pay zero percent. We pay $100,000 for a new bus. We have several buses with over 200,000 miles on them. The longer you wait to replace them, the more expense it gets. You want to get into a route of replacing them.”
A second mandate deals with the College Credit Plus program.
“This is a great thing,” said Scheu. “Students can take classes here at Sidney High School or Edison State Community College. Most stay here because we have staff who are accredited to teach the college classes. When the students graduate high school, they graduate with a two-year associate degree.
“But,” said Scheu, “this program isn’t free. The district pays for it. The CCP costs are estimated at $75,000, which includes cost of text books SCS has to pay for. Thus, SCS pays, through no choice of ours, close to $5,000,000 annually for these unfunded mandates.”
The district, he said, is required to pay for each credit hour the student is enrolled in.
“Even if the student stays here, we’re paying for tuition. If they go to Edison, it costs the district more,” said Scheu. “It’s a great program and I strongly support it. But it’s an unfunded mandate and the school district shouldn’t have to pay for this.”
With the dual enrollment program, which the CCP program replaced, the district didn’t pay for tuition, the parent did, said Scheu.
Another unfunded mandate deals with the John Peterson Scholarship and Autism Scholarship. Students with special needs can apply for these scholarships. If the student doesn’t attend Sidney City Schools, $27,000 a year follows the student to where they are attending school.
“These are services we can provide,” said Rank. “And usually they are equal service if not better services they will receive elsewhere.”
It’s projected that $180,000 will leave the district with these two scholarships. There are 40 students who receive the John Peterson Scholarship, while three students receive the Autism Scholarship.
Another drain on the district’s general fund is open enrollment.
“We lose $3.4 million a year on open enrollment,” said Scheu. “This year we lost 617 to open enrollment. Both state and local monies leave the district when the student leaves. We have 100 kids who come in the district so our net loss is 517 students at $6,000 per student.
“We also lose students to community schools and private schools,” he said. For open enrollment and Community Schools, we lose $6,000 ( state and local share) per student but those students who remain in Sidney we only receive approximately $3,300 (state funding). Many school districts losing open enrollment students make the point that only the state share and not local share should go with the students since the taxpayers voted to keep that money in the district, not to leave with students choosing another public school.”
With the unfunded mandates and increasing cost of maintaining the district’s buildings all cause the general fund to decrease.
The district also has to address the need for additional computers, said Scheu.
“The need for computers is something the state is pushing through their requirement that students take their tests online,” said Scheu. “More computers will be needed for online testing. But there has been a push back by school districts who say the grades are not as good online as the the paper tests.”
The district has 1,300 personal computers, 1,100 Chrome books and 500 iPads. The items are only used in class and don’t go home with the students.
“A PI levy would help with the drain on the general fund,” said Scheu. “We are asking voters to approve it for a five-year period of time. At the end of the five years, they can decide if we used the money wisely.”
“Three of our schools are 65 to 66 years old,” said Rank. “Northwood was build in 1957. And what everyone calls the new high school was built in 1960. Our newest building is 12 years old (Sidney Middle School).
“I don’t think people realize the age of the buildings because they are so well maintained. We want to keep it that way until it’s time for new schools.”
“At some point in time, we will need to address our facility needs,” said Scheu. “but now is not the time. We’re concerned with the building maintenance of what we have.
“Piqua, which is the most similar district to Sidney, recently spent $50 million-plus to build two new schools,” he said. “That’s a lot more money than we’re asking for with the PI levy. We’re trying not to ask for the starts but we do realize that we need to address our aging buildings.”
Scheu said in the future there will be a conversation with the Ohio Schools Facility Commission about the district’s buildings.
“We dodged a financial tsunami six years ago,” said Scheu. “I don’t want to see the district to return to a time like that when we had to lay off staff, do salary reductions. There was low moral among the staff members and the confidence in the district was in the dumps.”
In 2015, said Scheu, the district reduced the millage for Sidney Middle School by $1.2 million.
“We have tried to reduce the tax burden on the community,” said Scheu. “We’re paying off the board of education building this year which will save money for the district by paying it off early.”
Monies from the PI levy, if it’s approved will be an investment in the future of the district’s children, said Scheu.
The levy was first placed on the ballot in March. It was defeated by 1,127 votes as 2,678 residents cast a yes vote, while 3,805 voted no.
During a special election in August, the levy was defeated by 267 votes. There were 1,472 votes for the levy and 1,739 votes against it.
The district has been without a PI levy since 2009 when the board of education made a decision to allow a .8-mill PI levy to expire. It had been placed on the ballot numerous times and failed each time.
