HAMILTON, Ohio — A levy for Ross Local Schools has once again failed, meaning cuts that will impact students and staff across the district. Unofficial results show 59% of residents voted against the levy with about 2,820 votes.
The levy was voted down twice in 2022, both times by a wide margin. Superintendent Chad Konkle said to parents in an April 13 letter that the district is "experiencing a substantial financial crisis," with officials already preparing to make around $756,500 in cuts — including to school staff positions — regardless of the levy.
Failing to pass the May 2 levy means Konkle will ask the school board for additional cuts to staffing and teaching positions, extracurricular programs and key activities. Konkle said before the election that a third failure would "tear into the fabric of our district."
The list of non-athletic extracurricular cuts would net the district a necessary $100,000 but is comprised of many activities traditionally sought on college applications.
Ross Local Schools students will also outright lose:
- Good Morning RMS, a weekly news program produced and edited by Ross Middle School students and broadcast to the student body every Friday morning.
- RMS and RIS newspaper programs
- RHS and RMS student government
- Homecoming floats will not be built
- National Junior Honor Society would have no adviser and students will not be able to apply for any associated scholarships
- Power of the Pen
- Science Olympiad
- The 8th grade Washington, D.C. trip
- Science Club
- History Club
- RHS and RMS Hope Squad
- K-8 music performances
- RMS chior and show choir and RIS choir
- Elda and Morgan student council
In addition to that, several other activities are listed as "might be eliminated or based on participation fee."
These activities include:
- Yearbook
- Varsity and JV academic teams
- National Honor Society
- Mock Trial
After the district's levy defeat in August 2022, the individual school sport "base participation fee" was raised to $825 per sport, with no individual or family cap. Now that fee could increase, or teams and programs could be eliminated.
The district consistently ranks high on the annual Ohio School Report Cards, boasting a 93.6% graduation rate from the high school in 2022.
The newest proposal was the district's highest ask yet at 9.44 mills per $1, amounting to an annual cost of $330 for every $100,000 of property value for the levy, which would span five years. According to Zillow, the average home value in Hamilton, Ohio is around $250,000, which means the average homeowner living in Ross Local School District would have paid closer to $825 per year or $68.75 a month for those five years.
Because the levy failed, the district will be in a spending deficit immediately. However, the passage of the levy would have only saved the district from that fate until 2027 — two years before this levy would be set to expire, according to a five-year forecast of the district's budget presented to the school board on April 12.
Ross Local School District's annual operating budget is $29 million. According to the presentation made to the school board, Ross received around $11,241 per student; other school districts in the area, like Fairfield City Schools, Hamilton City School District Northwest and Southwest Local Schools and Talawanda City Schools received on average around $360 per student more than Ross.
If Ross Local School District received the average its cited peer schools received, the district would have received $920,160 more in 2022 revenue.
The presentation said Ross Local School District's student population was at 2,556 students for the 2022 fiscal year.
By contrast, in 2022, Ross spent $11,021 per student, netting the district just $220 per student. According to the presentation, the district spent more than peer schools on employee salaries, wages and benefits but less than peer schools on services, supplies and materials.
At the end of the presentation, the slideshow outlines two options for Ross Local Schools moving forward in the event the May 2 levy fails: Repeat the levy once more in November or reduce another $4 million in expenditures over the next two years.
