By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green City School officials will know by mid-morning on Wednesday if the newly counted provisional ballots will push the school levy into the win column.
But at the board of education meeting Tuesday evening, the possible rejection by district voters still stung. The unofficial results of the Nov. 5 election – without the provisionals being counted – showed the school’s income tax levy losing by 150 votes (6,875 to 7,025.)
“The results are still unknown,” Superintendent Ted Haselman said Tuesday night.
On the eve of the provisional votes being added in, Treasurer Matt Feasel presented the district’s five-year general fund forecast as required by law.
If the levy fails to pass now, and loses again in a second attempt in May, the district will be in the red by 2027.
“If we get good news tomorrow, this whole thing changes,” Feasel said of the impending red ink.
If not, the district will have to look at major cuts.
“This board may have difficult decisions to make,” Board President Tracy Hovest said at Tuesday’s meeting.
Hovest pushed back at the notion that Bowling Green City School District is doing a poor job of promoting all it has to offer to attract students to the district.
“We are putting our name out there as a force to be reckoned with,” Hovest said. “We are competing. It’s really, really hard to compete with an unfair school funding system.”
“We are underfunded by the government, and sometimes at the ballot box,” she said.
The lack of support from a “significant portion of our community is disheartening” to staff and students, Hovest said.
“Student needs are higher than they have ever been,” she said, adding that the district won’t give up. “We’ll continue to strive for excellence.”
Tuesday’s meeting began with accolades being presented to student athletes, student thespians, seniors who went as counselors to the annual fifth grade camp, and teachers who earned statewide recognition for the district’s positive behavior program.
“I’m not sure what else we can do to show our community that our schools deserve support,” Hovest said.
Board member Ardy Gonyer, who recently attended the annual meeting of the Ohio School Board Association, said BG Schools are already meeting the recommendations for districts to share their good news with voters.
Haselman holds regular “coffee chats” with residents, and the new communication coordinator Jen Campos is sending out newsletters and posting frequently on social media about successes such as the district’s improved state report card.
“We are engaging the community,” Gonyer said. “These are things we’re already doing in the district.”
Bowling Green City School District had asked voters to support a 0.75% continuing income tax for daily operations. It was the first new operating levy for the district since 2010.
Voters were cautioned that when communities don’t pay to operate their schools, teachers lose their jobs and students pay the price, with consequences such as teacher layoffs, fewer course offerings, cuts to after-school activities, and bigger class sizes.
“This is a need, not a want,” Haselman said.
“We have to balance our budget – by increasing our revenue through a levy or making major cuts to programs and personnel,” he said.
“We’re in the education business. So 80% of our budget is people,” he said, adding that voters will be given specifics on what people and programs might be cut. “So people can decide what they want their school district to look like.”
