May 3rd Ballot Issue - FAQs
How much is this issue for and how long will it last?
How did you pick the millage? The millage for Issue 2 is the smallest amount that still allows us to provide students with the educational resources needed to succeed. The district is making millions in cuts to keep millage as low as possible and has made cuts to keep the issue off the ballot for an additional year. We have to spend and sustain what we have now so when the economy improves we are still strong. Why is the district seeking additional funding now? The district made the last operating levy stretch an extra year by making tough cuts, a staff-wide salary freeze and reducing benefits. This cuts can only do so much. A levy is a necessity to keep the district viable. The levy is part of a long term fiscal plan that keeps education strong and our community moving forward. It seems like you were just on the ballot. Why do you keep asking for additional funding? What happens if this levy fails? How will pay-to-play be implemented? Why is it just sports? You are building all new elementary schools. Is this issue on the ballot because you need more to operate new facilities? The facilities plan is on time and on budget. The cost of the new facilities are not a part of this levy and these levy funds cannot be used to build facilities. When the facilities plan is complete the new buildings will reduce operating costs through efficiencies and consolidated of elementary schools.
Please remember to vote on May 3rd.
Issue 2 is a 6.9 mill, ten-year operating issue and costs the owner of an $80,000 home just over $14 per month. But with $1.2 million a year in school taxes ending, the net increase will be just over $11 a month.
How will the district use these funds?
Issue 2 will improve education and our community by providing essential programs, teachers, technology and textbooks students need to succeed. These are basic teaching necessities.
The district has already cut $3.7 million from their budget. Even with levy passage, targeted cuts of $2.4 million will continue. This will include fewer teachers, administrators and staff, beginning pay-to-participate in sports up to $250 per family, increasing class sizes and some education programs won’t be offered to students.
We appreciate Euclid’s residents’ consistent support for the schools. We have worked to make our requests for funding reasonable and our voters have been generous with their investment in sustaining Euclid’s stability and protecting its future. About $7 million dollars of state funding for the schools are redirected to charter schools and vouchers, which increases our need for additional funding. Continual state cuts, with more to come make a levy a necessity. We worked to keep the millage as low and reasonable as possible for this issue, but additional funding is needed to protect education.
Our district will be a shell of what our students need and what our community deserves if the levy fails. An additional $1.5 million will be cut from the budget making it a total of $7.6 million in cuts through the next school year. Programs, teachers, textbooks, and technology will dramatically reduced. Busing will be reduced. The community will have less access to our facilities. Extracurricular programs that keep children connected to school will be chopped. We will no longer have the education and preparation that children deserve and need to compete in this world. Our employees will continue to go the extra mile, but we won’t have critical resources.
The limit per family will be $250 but the board is still deciding specific costs for the different levels of athletics at the middle school and high school levels. Right now this is limited to athletics but could be expanded into other activities in the future.