“We are so happy,” said Bill McGlothlin, district superintendent. “But the celebration will be short-lived. We go back to work tomorrow to do our job — educating our children — and by doing our job, maintaining and gaining the trust of our community.”
The district’s four previous attempts at passing and operations levy in the past 2 1/2 years all have failed by progressively smaller margins. Last November, a 6.7 mill levy failed by 41 votes. Voters have not passed an operating levy since 2003.
In 2008, voters did pass an $84 million construction bond issue to build a new elementary and middle schools and to renovate the district’s other schools. None of that money can be used to pay operating costs.
Tom Forsyth, a frequent critic of the district, said he was disappointed when told the news. Forsyth said he considers the campaigns one-sided and doesn’t believe the information shared tells the whole story. “The (teacher and staff) unions campaign for the levy,” he said. “Those that oppose the levy have no vehicle to organize a campaign,” he said.
While there was no organized opposition, in public forums and letters to the editor, levy opponents argued the district needed to live within its budget and not add a further burden on taxpayers, many of whom are in the military or have military related jobs at or around Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Opponents pointed to the effects of military sequestration and the recent government shutdown. In addition, they argue the district has achieved the highest ratings for student test performance from the state each of the past 13 years without any additional taxes.
Levy supporters said the district is paying 2013 bills with a 2003 income and cannot expect to continue that indefinitely. While students have tested well in the past, cuts in the number of teachers and programs will soon catch up.
“The Board of Education will be evaluating the programs that were cut,” McGlothlin said. “But we don’t want to bring back the same-old, same-old. We want to bring back better.”
According to the district’s five-year forecast, it has been dipping into its cash reserves since the 2009-2010 school year to keep the schools operating. As a consequence, the district forecasts it would start the 2015-2016 school year with only $5.2 million in reserves to cover the district’s anticipated $74.8 million operating budget
According to the Ohio Department of Education, per student funding in Beavercreek has increased by 6 percent from October 2006 to October 2012. During the same period, cost per pupil has increased 24 percent.
During the past two years, the district has cut its operating expenses by $7.8 million, nearly $5.7 million of that came from personnel cuts, including 74 full-time equivalency teaching, staff and administrative positions and 13.8 full-time equivalency interventionist positions.
In addition, administrators, teachers and support staff agreed to a 2 percent pay cut for the 2011-12 school year. Base and step pay were frozen for 2012-13, and health insurance premiums increased. The most recent two-year contract continues the pay freeze, but includes performance-based bonuses. The cost of those bonuses is to be offset by decreases in district health care costs. Those decreases could include increased employee deductible and other measures to be negotiated by Jan. 1.
Beavercreek teachers’ average salary ($62,954) is above the state average ($58,119), but is below that of Beavercreek’s “comparable districts” ($67,200), according to the state.
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