“As soon as I saw that it didn’t pass I was like OK what are we going to do,” Jennifer Sander said.
Sander is the PTO president at Ridgeview Junior High School in the Pickerington Local School District. She says a much-needed district levy was voted down, Tuesday.
Sander believes one reason it failed is because of voter fatigue on past levies and the fear that money hasn’t been used in the right way.
This levy, a $95 million bond over 38 years would have cost tax payers $8.46 per month per $100,000 on their home market value. It would have paid for renovations for Central and North high schools and built a new junior high school. The measure lost 50 percent to 44 percent. Sander says it was needed for safety upgrades and for a booming population.
“The subdivisions are being built left and right,” she said. “If you drive in Pickerington you can see Pickerington’s growing. The schools have to expand to accommodate those kids.”
Another reason, she says, very well could have been the COVID-19 pandemic and not being able to go door-to-door or have public hearings on levy pros and cons. Along with that, she says, some people have been out of work and might not have the extra money.
“We have families that have lost their jobs and are trying to figure out how they’re going to put food on the table and now you want to ask people to pass a levy that’s going to be more money out of their pocket,” Sander said. “That they can’t figure out how to pay for groceries.”
Some, though, have suggested the denial of the levy was the voters way of getting back at the district for lack of equality.
In July, Damicka Bates had her promotion rescinded at Tussing Elementary after a social media post was critical of police. In September, Fairfield Elementary principal Ruth Stickel had a critical post regarding Black Lives Matter. She was given a written warning.
“I could definitely see that being a reason that maybe people were just like ‘You know what, until you get your act together and start treating everybody the same punishment for the crime, then maybe we won’t pass this ballot’,” Sander said.
Sander hopes the district will regroup and put another levy on the next ballot.
Levy Committee Chair Gayle Saunders says any future bond issues will be a decision made by the Board of Education and district leadership.