A petition circulating in the Valley View Local Schools community is requesting the resignation or dismissal of the district’s longtime superintendent, Sherry Parr. In its first week, more than 825 signatures had been collected, according to petition organizers.

Two of the organizers of the petition, Jon Vincent and Angela Valenti, said one of the primary reasons for the petition was Parr’s failure to answer specific questions about the district’s declining finances.

“We had a $7 million surplus in 2009, and now we have $800,000 — where is the money going?” asked Vincent, a former educator with the Montgomery County Educational Service Center who has worked at Valley View as a substitute. “(With the economy), it’s not like all of a sudden nobody saw this coming.”

The district’s five-year forecast, filed with the Ohio Department of Education in May, shows a fund balance of $6.9 million for fiscal year 2009 and a projected balance of $777,763 for fiscal year 2012.

Parr, who said Tuesday that she had not seen the petition but had heard about it, referred all financial questions to Treasurer Dan Schall.

“It is the superintendent’s job to educate children, and the treasurer’s job is to manage the finances,” she said. “The board hires each of us individually. Somehow I’m being blamed for the shortfall, and I don’t know where that’s coming from.”

Schall, who started with the district in January, said the shortfall can be traced back to a decision by the school board in 2009 not to renew an emergency levy.

“It was the recession, and major employers in the area were doing layoffs,” Schall said. “We’re living in somewhat volatile financial times. A lot of us would have made different decisions about finances if we’d known how it would turn out.”

In May, the district announced what were characterized as $2 million in cuts and announced a November levy that would generate $1 million for the district.

At the July 27 board meeting, the board approved a resolution for a levy collection of $1.5 million, causing some residents to ask if and why that number had been increased.

“There has always been a $3 million hole to fill,” Schall said. “The cuts made were $1.6 million, not $2 million, so I don’t see the levy amount as being changed. Also, we now know there are some unfunded mandates coming from the governor.”

He noted the third-grade reading guarantee and new teacher evaluations were two of those mandates.

Another reason cited for the petition was to address the “culture of retaliation” some say Parr has fostered.

Valenti, who has nine children in Valley View schools, said she had been a “huge supporter” of Parr’s before she started regularly attending board and community meetings April 9. Her perspective also was altered by talking to members of the community and employees.

“I have not had a single person refuse to sign because the supported Sherry Parr,” Valenti said. “The only ones who refused have family members in the district and have fears about signing. I don’t think we’re going to pass a levy as long as she’s here.”

Parr called the accusations of retaliation “ridiculous.”

“The thing I’ve heard throughout my career as an educator is when parents say they don’t want to say anything to a coach because then they won’t get playing time, or don’t want to say anything to a teacher in case my child would be retaliated against,” Parr said. “My comment to them is that parents have to advocate for their children.”

Parr said she was not considering resignation.

“The school year is about to start, and I’m excited about this school year,” she said.

Parr said, in her 10 years at Valley View, the district has steadily grown academically and has the lowest property tax rate in Montgomery County. That tax rate is low in part because Valley View is one of two Montgomery County districts (out of 16) that also collects a school income tax.

Valley View received the highest rating on the state report card for 2009-10 and 2010-11, and Parr said the preliminary report for 2011-12 looks promising.

“We’ve met all the indicators, and we know we’re ‘Excellent,’ we’re just waiting to hear about whether we’re ‘Excellent with Distinction,’ again,” she said.

Jesse Reed, school board president, said the board was aware of the petition and plans to review it as a board. The petition is scheduled to be presented to the board at its next regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 27 at Valley View High School, 6027 Farmersville Pike.

“The community’s opinion is very important to the board,” Reed said. “The focus always has been and always will be on making decisions in the best interest of the students of Valley View, and that’s something that hasn’t changed. All is not burning down in Valley View.”