11 districts have levies on May ballot

Eleven Dayton area school districts will have tax issues on the May 7 ballot, including six that saw requests for new money defeated in November.

Kettering, Huber Heights and Vandalia-Butler city school districts formally withdrew by Wednesday’s deadline at the Montgomery County Board of Elections. The elections board was presented with a final issues list.

Districts with new money requests on the May ballot include Centerville, Brookville, Jefferson Twp. and Valley View in Montgomery County; Fairborn in Greene County; Carlisle in Warren County; and Covington, Tipp City and Tecumseh in Miami County.

Brookville also joins Milton-Union and Piqua in seeking renewals.

Centerville, Jefferson Twp., Valley View, Fairborn, Carlisle and Tecumseh are returning to the voters after November defeats.

Huber Heights, Kettering and Vandalia-Butler removed their levies after the governor released a new funding plan in February. Under the plan, some school districts will receive increased funding from the state, while funding for others will remain flat. But officials for all three districts indicated they may return to voters later this year.

Kettering City Schools Superintendent Jim Schoenlein was the first to announce in February the district would withdraw its additional 5.9-mill levy because of the improved funding outlook in Gov. John Kasich’s proposed education budget.

“The governor’s proposal is just that, a proposal,” Schoenlein said in an email Wednesday. “The new funding formula must now pass through the legislature. Who know what will happen there? Our plan is to wait until the legislative process is through in July, see then how we fare under the new funding formula, decide how much new money we need to run our school district, and be back on the ballot again in November.”

Bethany Reiff, spokeswoman for Vandalia-Butler, which recently pulled its 6.99-mill levy, said the district likely will be back on the ballot in August or November.

“The state money is a help but it’s not a fix for our deficit so we’ll still need funding,” she said.

Vandalia-Butler and Huber Heights City Schools also saw their levies defeated in November.

Huber Heights removed its 9.95-mill levy from the May ballot, but Superintendent Sue Gunnell has said the board will vote March 21 on the first reading of a resolution to place a 5.95-mill operating levy on the Aug. 6 ballot. The second reading will be presented at the board’s April 11 meeting, she said.

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