Lorain Schools to keep all-day preschool, middle school dance, support staff thanks to levy passage

The Lorain schools district has come through on a promise to keep all-day preschool, elementary and kindergarten staff, advisers for clubs and student organizations and the middle school dance program after voters passed the district's recent operating levy. All-day preschool will stay, as will four elementary school counselors, seven kindergarten paraprofessionals and supplemental contract positions for club, committee and student organization advisors. Lorain Schools Superintendent Jeff Graham said Friday that the district wanted to make sure it kept the promises it made to voters, while also making sure it still had enough funding to get through to the end of 2030 with a positive number. Based on state, federal and county funding, "we should be good until 2030," he said. Graham said "it's important to meet our kids' needs as early as possible" with all-day preschool. Keeping four elementary school counselors will make sure that the district's eight traditional elementary schools will continue to have someone dedicated to that role rather requiring schools share them, while every kindergarten classroom will have a paraprofessional staffer. The middle school dance program also was rescued, allowing dance programming to remain for students in grades six through 12. "Our students and families were very, very clear that dance is important," Graham said. "It's important for our kids to have a connection to our schools and this is how a lot of kids get it." The district said in a news release Friday that it promised "every dollar possible would go toward protecting opportunities, support systems and experiences for our students." Staff jobs are more than just positions, they are "relationships, opportunities, support systems and experiences that help shape the daily lives of our students," the district said in the news release. Issue 5 was an 11-mill property tax levy for school operations. It passed by only 169 votes, with 3,098 votes for the levy and 2,929 against, according to official results from the Lorain County Board of Elections. The levy will generate $10.6 million per year for five years and cost the owner of a $100,000 home $385 per year. It was not enough to stop cuts made earlier this year, but enough to keep the district's budget in the black. "Our goal is to continue to work hard to earn the trust of our community," Graham said. "We can't thank our community enough for being willing to support our children and our families." The credit for the district's success goes to them and school staff, Graham said. "We have an amazing community and a great staff. We're completely blessed," he said. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.