Westerville residents voted November 8 to replace and make permanent a levy that was originally approved in March of 2012.
The levy means the Westerville schools will be able to keep collecting $16.5m annually, rather than losing the money at the end of 2017, as this was when the 2012 levy was set to expire.
The new measure is not a renewal, but a substitute tax, so it will apply to new construction as well as existing properties. School Superintendent John Kellogg said the new tax will bring stability to the school system, and added that administrators will work with teachers to ensure that students in elementary schools develop good literacy abilities. He also wants teachers to develop their own skills to support their students as they learn the skills they will need to succeed in college and in the modern world.
Taxpayers said they would like to see the taxes go toward hiring more teachers and keeping up maintenance on the schools. Resident Peg Duffy said she would like to make sure there are enough teachers so classes like American Sign Language and honors classes are not cut. She would also like to see more money allocated for maintenance so that repairs can be made in a timely manner, rather than deferred until the only option is a major renovation.
Systems like this can benefit by working with flyer printing companies, which can create informative mailers for district residents.
