MARYSVILLE, Ohio — The Marysville Exempted Village School District could reduce or eliminate a significant number of staffing and extracurricular activities for students if a new emergency levy doesn’t pass in November.
Last week, the Marysville Board of Education approved a 5.5 mill tax levy to be placed on the Nov. 5 ballot.
The school board says the district is facing a projected deficit spending in the next five years because of rising costs, increasing enrollment and losing key funding. The district’s last new money levy was passed in 2008.
Marysville Schools had a levy on the ballot last year but was rejected by voters. That levy would have helped the district avoid a more than $9.6 million operating deficit.
If the levy passes, the district says it would generate an additional $900,000 in revenue. The money would help fund day-to-day operational expenses like utilities, bus fuel, classroom supplies and staffing.
District leaders say the money would provide the potential to reinstate the following:
- Supplemental contracts for extracurriculars this winter
- Transportation for academic and extracurricular trips this winter
- Class size caps for the 2025-26 school year
- Kindergarten: 26 students
- Grades 1-6: 28 students
- Grades 7-12: 30 students
If passed, the levy would cost homeowners $192.50 annually per $100,000 of home value.
The school board also approved a resolution to implement a contingency plan if the levy fails in November. If the levy is rejected, the district will increase the fee to participate in athletic and extracurricular activities starting this winter. It would also eliminate the school resource officer program.
Board members also outlined changes for the following school year if that happens:
- Maintain class size established when the 2023 levy failed
- Class size for Kindergarten: 28 students
- Class size for grades 1-6: 30 students
- Class size for grades 7-12: 35 students
- Maintain hiring freeze
- Reducing positions in elementary schools
- Reduction of art – three positions
- Reduction of music – three positions
- Eliminating technology aides – more than four positions
- Reducing physical education – three positions
- Reducing positions in the intermediate school
- Reduction of arts – one position
- Reduction of music – one position
- Eliminating technology – one position
- Eliminating STEM – one position
- Reduction of physical education offerings
- Eliminating drama program
- Reducing positions in the middle school
- Elimination of Foreign Language – two positions
- Elimination of Family Consumer Science – one position
- Elimination of Fab Lab – one position
- Elimination of Robotics – one position
- Reduction of Physical Education offerings
- Elimination of Musical supplemental
- High School reductions:
- Elimination of Core Content Elective Courses – 5.5 positions
- The Superintendent will work with high school administration to reduce course offerings including but not limited to Advanced Placement, content electives, and courses with enrollment of less than 20 students.
- Elimination of Fab Lab – one position
- Elimination of Building Aide – one position
- Elimination of Musical, Drama, Catseye, Mock Trial and Technology Club supplementals
You can read more about the school levy here.