Seventeen school districts in the four-county region of the Miami Valley have placed tax issues on the Nov. 6 ballot, with 11 seeking new money, including Beavercreek, Centerville, Fairborn, Huber Heights and Xenia.

The Xenia and Vandalia-Butler school districts will return to the voters this fall after their ballot issues were defeated in Tuesday’s special election. Statewide, only 23 percent of new money requests by school districts were approved, according to the Ohio School Boards Association.

Xenia officials had a quick turnaround after voters on Tuesday rejected a 1.5 percent earned income tax for operating expenses that would have replaced a 0.5 percent standard income tax. They were among area districts that met Wednesday’s 4 p.m. filing deadline at the county boards of elections in Montgomery, Greene, Miami and Warren counties.

Instead of trying the earned income tax again, the Xenia Board of Education decided to come back to voters with a 6.5-mill emergency property tax levy.

“We heard what voters said, and we’re trying to adjust,” said Mark Manley, Xenia spokesman. “Some have suggested we implement a sales tax, but school districts simply do not have that capability. Law requires our levies either be by property tax or income tax.”

Xenia’s levy failed by a margin of 74 percent to 26 percent and set in motion the next tier of cuts at the Greene County district. Those cuts, which went into effect immediately, include six teaching positions, two elementary school counselor jobs and a licensed librarian position, as well as the elimination of elementary school music and physical education classes.

“Classroom teachers will be expected to provide some basic (music and P.E.), but it will be integrated with the regular curriculum,” Manley said. “The exposure for the children will be inadequate.”

These cuts will save $552,000, and are part of $2.6 million in two tiers of cuts proposed in the spring that will add up to a total of $10 million in budget cuts made over the last two years.

Manley said the Xenia community needs a crusade for the children.

“People might think they’re voting against the administration or the board, but the impact is on our students,” Manley said. “It is a critical year, and if we don’t pass in November, the stability of our schools will be impacted.”

In Tipp City on Wednesday, in the wake of the district’s levy failure Tuesday, Superintendent John Kronour’s attempts to convince the Board of Education to return to the ballot in November fell short.

Less than 24 hours after unofficial results on a 7.95-mill, five-year emergency levy showed a defeat by 63 percent to 37 percent, the board voted 3-2 to not have a levy in the next election.

“I want to make sure everyone is aware we are going to be faced with dramatic cuts,” Kronour said.

District officials expressed surprise at the percentage of voters who cast “no” ballots. Board members said the vote may have been due to a continuing tight economy or voter backlash against any new taxes.

Board member Carla Frame said people attending a levy forum weren’t complaining about the money, but talked more about district events such as an elementary school redistricting approved last spring.

Voting “no” on a motion to place a smaller 6.5-mill, three-year levy on the November ballot were Frame, Scott Dixon and Tom Merritt. Kate Johnsen and Frank Maus voted “yes.”

The district, which already approved cuts for 2012-13 in the spring, will face even more cuts in areas such as personnel, programming, and busing. With no levy in November, the next time the district would start receiving additional local money would be Jan. 1, 2014, if a levy is passed next year.

Vandalia-Butler voters also rejected their district’s levy on Tuesday, 56 percent to 44 percent. The district placed an identical 6.99-mill operating and permanent improvement levy on November’s ballot.

“We have not discussed immediate cuts, but we will meet in the next several days to discuss next steps,” said Bethany Reiff, Vandalia-Butler spokeswoman. “We are going to push hard to make our case that, absent new revenue, we will be forced to eliminate entire programs at the end of the school year.”

If November fails, Reiff said cuts will be much deeper than the $3.5 million the district already planned to make by the end of the 2012-13 school year.

Rob Delane, deputy executive director for the Ohio School Boards Association, said it’s not surprising to see so many districts seeking additional money.

“One just has to take a look at the last several years where school districts have been cut in school funding pretty significantly,” he said, adding that at the same time their expenses continue to rise.

“The problem though is the economy impacts all the people. You can hear people say we support our schools and we love our kids but they also have a difficult time parting with their precious dollars,” he said.

He pointed to the statewide results from Tuesday’s special election, in which all five renewals were approved but only six of the 26 ballot requests for new money passed. That compounds the problem, forcing school districts “to have to continue to go back or make drastic cuts.”

Beavercreek City Schools is returning to the ballot in November with a 6.7-mill operating levy that would generate $10.9 million annually over five years to offset the district’s projected deficit.

It will be the district’s fourth straight attempt to pass a levy, with the most recent defeat occurring in March.

Passage would help restore programs and services that have been cut since the beginning of 2011. The district’s $12 million in cuts eliminated administrative, teaching and support jobs. Transportation also was cut for all high school students and for middle school students within two miles of their school buildings.

“Despite $12 million in cuts, we are in a deficit situation and this deficit will only continue to grow without additional funding,” Beavercreek Board of Education President Al Nels said.