'No one can afford to lose $261,000:' Clearview Schools looks at options after levy failure

LORAIN — Clearview Schools will stay in the black without its levy renewal, but that doesn't mean the district can go without, according to its superintendent and treasurer. A 2.86-mill emergency levy failed in May and November of this year. The issue raises $261,855 for the district annually. There was some confusion when the issue failed earlier this month, but Superintendent Jerome Davis said the district still has a year to get the levy passed without having to put it back on the ballot as new money. The 10-year emergency first passed in November 2012, with collections starting in 2013. "Unfortunately I don't think a lot of people realize, as much as we say it over and over and over again, as much as any district around here says it, it's a renewal ... they're not paying anything more than what they're already paying. They're not losing anything," Davis said. "But if we had to do a new levy, then that would add more money coming out — right now nothing new is coming out." If the levy fails again, Clearview could be forced to consider a reduction in force, Davis said. According to the district's five-year forecast submitted in May, even without the renewal levy, the district is expected to have a more than $15 million cash balance through 2024. Treasurer Mary Ann Nowak said as long as she's in the district its budget won't hit red — even if the levy fails again. But it's still not ideal to lose the funding. She compared it to a starting teacher's salary. At about $41,500 in Clearview, a loss of $261,000 could mean a cut to seven teachers total. There are 105 teachers in the district. "No one can afford to lose $261,000 — it's a lot of money," she said. "Would there be adjustments? Yes. How can there not be, $261,000 is a chunk of money. Schools can't afford to lose a nickel. We scramble for grants at the four corners of the Earth and those grants supplement our state and local revenue. So if grants are reduced, or your state funding is reduced or your local income is reduced, it all has an impact." The district benefits little from the new school funding formula, Nowak said, so any additions in per-pupil revenue won't offset another loss. State legislators approved the new school funding plan as part of the biennial budget this year. The state's school funding system was declared unconstitutional in 1997 by the Ohio Supreme Court. The new funding formula remedies flaws included in the High Court's decision, including weighting a district's expenses to come up with per-pupil funding amounts. "Our demographics are such that we won't be harmed," she said of the new school funding formula. "But we're not going to have a windfall either." Clearview's enrollment is also down this year — around 1,500 compared to 1,700 years prior. Federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, which Clearview received about $5.2 million between the three rounds, cannot be used to shore up the school's general fund. Those funds were in part used to purchase one-to-one technology for students, and academic coaches to help get students back on track after two years of remote schooling — but long-term upkeep on that tech or other programs will need to come from the schools' general fund. In the primary and general election, Clearview's levy failed by only a handful of votes — but both elections had abysmal voter turnout. The district serves portions of Lorain and Elyria Township and all of Sheffield Township. "Clearview has always been known as the school that has a family atmosphere and there were times in the past where people wondered, 'Oh, levies didn't pass, where's that family?' And then like a family, everybody got back together and did what they needed to do to make sure we stayed where we are. While right now it's always not good to lose money, being able to pass this levy will help us to maintain things that we've recently (added)." Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.