Voters in the Chardon School District have passed a 5.9-mill levy by an unofficial final vote of 3,856 to 3,416,
according to the Geauga County Elections Board
. The levy will cost homeowners $206.50 per $100,000 in property valuation, delivering about $3.7 million to district coffers annually. This will be the first time new money has been afforded since 2006. Moments after Tuesday’s passage was declared, Superintendent Michael P. Hanlon said, ‘We are absolutely thrilled. We certainly want to thank the voters for their support of Chardon Schools and our students. Their vote of confidence has positioned our school district to begin the important work of restoring programs and services to our schools and to continue the work of addressing important state initiatives.’ After the defeat of a levy in November 2012, several cuts and reductions were implemented. At a meeting in October, board members were cautious about announcing the return of programs if the levy should pass. ‘If we’re fortunate enough to pass this levy, we will restore as much as we can within our capability, but there are variables,’ board member Paul Stefanko said. ‘We have to be careful we don’t bring too much back that we can’t afford. It would not do justice to bring back a class or curriculum then have to drop it the following year,’ he said. Program restoration considerations announced at the October meeting include:
* Advanced and elective programming at Chardon High to ensure college and career readiness
* Course offerings at Chardon Middle School to increase instructional time
* Guidance and support services for students
* Technology support for instruction and student achievement
* Elementary programming for instructional support services, art/music/physical education, programming to support exceptional students (gifted education)
* Pay-to-participate at 2013 levels If the levy had failed, the district would have had to address an immediate projected shortfall of approximately $200,000 in fiscal year 2014.
