Conrath: Board now must consider cuts

News photo by Tim Johnson Worthington City School District levy supporters Pam Sturiano (left) and Anita Beck react to election results showing the levy failing last night. Sturiano is the president of the Worthington Classified Association and Beck is a first-grade teacher in the district.

By BRITTINY DUNLAP

No one was digging into the celebratory cake at the Worthington Education Center last night.

As the returns trickled in for the Worthington City School District's levy, campaign supporters grew less and less optimistic. District officials conceded defeat before 10 p.m.

With 32 of 56 precincts reporting last night, 60 percent of voters had cast their votes against the levy, with 40 percent voting for the levy, according to unofficial results from the Franklin County Board of Elections.

"I didn't lose anything, but the children, they are the ones that lost," said Saul Seigel, levy campaign co-chairman.

Issue 5 was a 6.25-mill combined levy request, with 5 mills as a continuing operating levy request and 1.25 mills as a five-year, permanent-improvement levy request.

If approved, the levy would have cost homeowners an additional $191 annually per $100,000 in property value and would have generated $12.1 million per year for the school district, with $2.3 million per year of those funds dedicated to permanent improvement.

"The board now has the opportunity to be back on the ballot in August or November," said Superintendent Melissa Conrath. "In addition, we need to begin looking at making reductions as we enter the 2006-2007 school year."

Conrath said the school board has not yet discussed cuts or logistics of another levy.

"If you look at the amount of reduction needed to balance the budget without additional revenue, we wouldn't be able to reduce the budget without cutting personnel," she said.

District Treasurer Jonathan Boyd has said that without funds from the levy request, the district could face a budget deficit of close to $23 million by June 2009.

"I want to see how the other districts are doing," Seigel said. "If they're all winning and we're losing, we obviously have a problem. But if all these issues fail, it sends a signal to the state legislature that property taxes won't cover it anymore."

Seigel led the past two levy campaigns, both successful. Voters last approved a levy request in May 2004 for 6.85 mills.

"We've lost these before and in a district like this, there is a voting block that needs to be convinced," board member Bob Horton said.

Horton said the district needs to switch the focus to maintaining quality while minimizing costs.

"This isn't an indictment that the community isn't dedicated to education," said Greg Gerard, a Worthington resident and parent. "The people value the schools. I think there are larger issues afoot.

"I think people are crying out for someone to be more creative while still meeting the needs of the child and the changing needs of the community."

Despite some organized opposition, Horton said, there isn't one person to blame for the levy failure.

"People on a fixed income, which we have a lot of in this district, want tax relief and the only escape is to the vote down a school levy," Horton said. "That's the No. 1 issue we'll have to address thoroughly in the future."

Representatives of Educate Worthington, a community faction that questioned if the district could sustain a biennial pattern of levy requests, were surprised at the levy outcome.

"I am surprised to say the least," said Mike Alfred, Educate Worthington co-chairman. "I really didn't expect it not to go through because levies usually succeed here without close margins."

When asked about future involvement in levy campaigns, Alfred said he hopes to continue working with the district.

"This will hopefully not be the end of the dialogue with the district," Alfred said. "I hope this is the beginning. The district, leadership and staff need to work and find a meaningful way to change this. I just hope the leadership takes this seriously."