MYTHS and UNTRUE NARRATIVES
Levy Myth/Untrue Narrative:
- If it fails now, we can just try again in November and the impact isn’t that severe.
Levy Fact:
- PERMANENT cuts will happen May 3rd for the 23/24 school year. Then, we rely on the board to vote to put it on the ballot again in November or March and need to pass it or ANOTHER round of cuts will be made before the 24/25 school year.
The cuts are significant and Forest Hills will not look the same if this levy fails. Up to 15 teachers, many of whom are our neighbors and send their kids to our schools, will lose their jobs. Programming which helps set a solid foundation for our youngest learners will be eliminated. Gifted intervention will be impacted. Class sizes will be larger. Case workers at the High Schools will be reduced, putting the compliance and regulation back on already overscheduled Administrators. This puts our district at risk of compliance issues and does not allow us to cater to the needs of all our students, as we have done in the past. Start times in Middle and High School will be earlier. It has been proven that sleep at this age is crucial to the mental wellness of our students. Middle School and High School student pay to participate fees will increase immediately and will likely increase again if we can’t pass a levy before the 24/25 school year.
Levy Myth/Untrue Narrative:
- Hearing that our enrollment has been declining? Why would we need a levy when enrollment is declining?
Levy Fact:
- Student enrollment fluctuated over the last 10 years with no significant decline per Ohio Department of Education (ODE) and costs to educate are rising.
Over the last 10 years, enrollment has been pretty flat, with dips and peaks year over year. Enrollment in preschool has actually INCREASED 70%. Looking at Total Year-End Enrolled Students from ODE, there were 7,261 enrolled students in FY 2013 and 7,127 in FY 2022. So, district enrollment has shown NO SIGNIFICANT DECLINE. When small decreases happen over long periods of time, it usually affects only certain grade levels, in concentrated areas, at specific schools. Grade level teachers are then reduced or reassigned, resulting in a cost savings. Also, it costs more to educate students compared to 10 years ago. Rising costs of inflation and cost of goods isn't the same as it was 10 years ago, etc.
Levy Myth/Untrue Narrative:
- "Can’t the district 'just learn to spend within our means'. They’ve made terrible financial decisions to put us in this place. They are mismanaging money."
Levy Fact:
- No evidence of mismanagement. In fact, the state awarded our district AGAIN for clean and accurate record-keeping.
- State Funding to schools is declining and local levies provide ONLY fixed dollars while inflation increases operating costs.
Reports of mismanagement are only based on speculation. There is no evidence and in fact, the state auditor proves otherwise. The Forest Hills has once again earned the distinguished Auditor of State Award for having a “clean” audit report. Clean and accurate record-keeping is an important aspect in the district’s obligation to families and taxpayers to operate in a fiscally responsible way. To learn more, click here: http://bit.ly/3FKGemM
This is not an overspending issue, this is a funding issue. The district is operating at a 2019 income level in 2023. The costs to operate are rising and the unconstitutional state funding model including HB 920 ignores inflation, causing the 5 year forecast to show deficit spending. Consider the cost of fuel alone to operate the buses.
The district is funded through state taxes (26.5%, 5% less than 5 years ago) + local taxes (70.5% - 88% of which comes from the local residents, 12% comes from business because unlike Mason, we have a relatively low business footprint to bring in more business tax revenue to relieve the tax burden on local residents.)
To balance a budget, they either have to cut, increase revenue or do both. They are doing BOTH. They have cut $2.7 million from the budget since 2018 and $750,000 in reductions will happen before the 22/23 school year ends - in administration, summer school offerings, etc. See details here: https://youtu.be/ys7Yp86l0UI
After that, there is NOTHING LEFT that won't impact the classroom and risk the quality of education delivered. If the levy fails, $1.8 million in cuts would happen BEFORE the 23/24 school year if the May 2nd Levy fails AND we would STILL need a levy to pass. These cuts DO NOT prevent the need for a levy in the future.
Some may not like the decisions made regarding the transportation center or central office, but neither of those decisions caused us to need this levy. There are 13 other southwest ohio schools who need a levy because of the state funding model. This isn’t an ‘us’ problem.
Forest Hills is incredibly resourceful spending a lower cost per pupil vs competitive schools and neighborhoods AND delivering high performance results. A full explanation of the ROI we get as a community here: https://youtu.be/3_Ue_A-BqwM
Levy Myth/Untrue Narrative:
- Planning to vote NO because you don’t trust this board or trust them with your money?
Levy Fact:
- The time to vote to express displeasure with the Board is in the NOVEMBER election
- Not passing the levy will force staff cuts, and hurt the schools and students, not the board.
The levy funds the operating budget, things like the number of teachers employed, buses, building maintenance and extra-curricular activities and those funds are managed by the Superintendent and his administration, not the board. A NO vote on this levy will only hurt the students and staff, not the board. If the levy fails, SIGNIFICANT budget cuts that will negatively influence classroom size and performance have been outlined that will impact the classroom beginning in the fall of 2023 and will not preclude another levy in the future. Should that levy also fail, further cuts will likely need to be made in academics as well as transportation and extra curricular activities.
Levy Myth/Untrue Narrative:
- Planning to vote NO because you’re upset the board canceled Diversity Day or implemented the Resolution of Kindness? Or the wasted tax dollars on the lawsuit about the Resolution of Kindness?
Levy Fact:
- A vote NO cuts funding for safe spaces for all students, like sports, theater, band and activities where students find belonging.
There is an election in November for 2 board seats. You can impact change there. A vote NO on this levy will only hurt the students and staff, not the board. If the levy fails, SIGNIFICANT budget cuts have been outlined that will impact the classroom beginning in the fall of 2023. The students and teachers are not the ones who wrote or implemented the resolution, unfortunately, the students and teachers will be the victims of the “NO” vote on the levy.
Levy Myth/Untrue Narrative:
- Think selling the transportation center and buses would avoid the levy? Hearing the transportation center was overpriced? Hearing if we sell central office it would avoid the levy?
Levy Fact:
- Selling assets impacts operations, it doesn’t solve the Ohio funding model gap and therefore doesn’t help us avoid a levy.
Despite the negative narrative from some, the choice to purchase the bus garage in Newtown was the right move. The board looked at over 10 different possible sites to move the buses when they needed to be moved off the AHS campus due to lack of space and safety issues. No site to move the buses cost under $4 million including our own land around the old administration building. Getting a preapproved, EPA tested, already made for large vehicles area in a non-residential area for around 3 million all in was a triumph. Selling the transportation center would not avoid the levy and the district would need to seek space for our buses and personnel currently housed at the transportation center. Putting the buses back at AHS is not possible. There is not enough space for the buses nor enough space for the personnel.
Selling central office would also not avoid a levy. There is no longer space available at the old administration building for the staff housed there. We have nowhere to put these employees, hold training and meetings to collaborate across disciplines and schools. There is nowhere within our current building configuration that would hold these employees so we would need to purchase something else that would include additional capital investment that we don’t have. Any capital investment purchases have already been accounted for through the PI fund and are listed in order of priority on the district's website.
Levy Myth/Untrue Narrative:
- Hearing we have too many people working in the central office within administration?
Levy Fact:
- Forest Hills Cost per student, including administrators, is lower than average of area and is cost effective for the size of our district & number of schools.
Forest Hills is a very efficient School District. Our overall cost per student ranks us in the bottom 44% of Ohio School Districts, lower than all of our neighboring Districts while our student performance ranks us in the top 10%. We have what we need for our configuration and are running as efficiently as possible. $750,000 in additional cuts are being made, $300,000 of which is in staffing at the central office. There literally is not a single public school district in Ohio with whom we can actually compare apples to apples (based on both student enrollment and building configuration).
Levy Myth/Untrue Narrative:
- Hearing we have too many administrators at the middle and high school?
Levy Fact:
- Safety is a priority. The ratio of administrators to students is relative to the need to deliver the support and leadership needed to the staff and students in each building.
The District’s personnel-to-student ratio is both a management and a safety issue, and given the District’s already low overall cost per student ratio, is both recommended and encouraged by professional staff trained to create this kind of structure. To be clear, things do change, new techniques and technologies appear that reduce the need to some staffing and accordingly, next year’s budget calls for a $750,000 reduction in staffing which includes a $300,000 reduction in the Central Office. This will happen regardless of whether or not the Levy passes. You may be hearing that cutting administrators is a viable option from neighbors speculating, but this is not something that would be recommended or encouraged by the professional staff trained to make these decisions. Let’s listen to the experts on this one.
Levy Myth/Untrue Narrative:
- Can we shut down one elementary to save costs?
Levy Fact:
- No. Expansion would be required, a bond levy would need to be passed
- Research during consolidation showed no significant reduction in operational costs
We are currently at about 90%+ capacity at all our elementary buildings and have increased enrollment in our preschool by 70%, so we don’t physically have enough space to close a school and distribute the students to other schools. Space goes beyond the classroom. For instance, at Sherwood, we currently don’t have enough parking for our teachers. Increasing the amount of students at each school would also cause traffic and congestion issues within the neighborhood and impact the entire community.
Levy Myth/Untrue Narrative:
- Why isn’t fixing the pool at Anderson on the list?
Levy Fact:
- The cost was prohibitive versus other needs and did not meet decision criteria to serve a limited number of students.
- A separate community fund may be the better approach
It’s important to note that the majority of public schools in Ohio DON’T have a high school pool. We were lucky enough to have TWO. That said, we know this isn’t ideal or what we are used to as a district. And we know it’s an incredibly expensive fix. So, look to the board and the community to bring forth creative solutions through fundraising and sponsorships. The board and administration have confirmed the levy will not address the pool.
Levy Myth/Untrue Narrative:
- If/when the levy passes, will the board vote to consolidate?
Levy Fact:
- Consolidation is neither free nor cheap, requiring a new bond levy and costing between $140-$200 Million.
- Community strongly opposed to additional bond investment & crowding
This levy was not designed to include exploring/funding high school consolidation. It was designed using the current school configuration. Furthermore, the capital investments we've made in Anderson High School plus the investments to capital improvement projects we will fund through passing this combination levy would, in our opinion, make it fiscally irresponsible to sell Anderson High School. The PI Fund part of this levy will fix the roofs, asphalt and other needs at Anderson as well as other schools. There is a list in order of priority on the district's website.
We do not believe the administration or board have any plans to explore consolidation further if this levy passes, but we can't answer for them. We would suggest that you ask the board specifically at [email protected]
Levy Myth/Untrue Narrative:
- Teachers are paid too much. Is this levy just to give them bigger raises?
Levy Fact:
- We are in need of a levy regardless of if the teachers get a raise or not.
- COLA raises are a common practice in many professions.
- Investing in our teachers leads to retention of the best which leads to excellent outcomes for our students and communities. We see a direct result here: 2 top ranking HS, 6 Hall of Fame Elementary Schools, Excellence in STEM, etc.
- Our teachers agreed to a freeze in 2011 and have been asked to do more and more since then. They are incredible partners and an integral part in the success of our community.
Levy Myth/Untrue Narrative:
- This levy is going to cost me way too much after the 2023 reassessment of property values by the Hamilton County Auditor.
Levy Fact:
- The reassessment of property values will not affect levy cost per household because the levy is based on property values at the time the board voted to put a levy on the ballot. So what is on the auditor's website is correct. Please visit https://wedge3.hcauditor.org/, search for your property, and click "Levy Information" in the menu on the right side of your property page.