Perrysburg Schools faces an important levy vote Nov 5

“It’s not about dollars or nickels anymore, it’s our students.”
– Sue Larimer (School Board Representative)

With the amount of growth in the community, adding the equivalent of the entire Ottawa Hills School District to PEVS from 2008-now, the upcoming Perrysburg Schools levy may not come as a surprise to voters. But, for some, the price tag does.

The levy carries a price tag of $46.08 a month for a home with a value of $200,000. Should the levy pass, the district would accumulate $16 million over the span of four years. Yet the expense individual families feel from the tax may lessen as people and businesses move into the district.

Superintendent Tom Hosler has often compared levy costs to ordering pizza.

“Imagine going for pizza with three friends, ordering three pies that costs a total of $30. Half way through dinner, more friends show up and they have a few slices and help share the original $30 bill. Everyone’s costs go down,” Hosler explained.

Perrysburg Schools will be on a fixed rate, meaning they will not receive any additional money when more people move into the community); the community will simply have more people paying into the same pot as new residents move in.

And, after a recent performance audit from the Auditor of State, Perrysburgers learned their tax effort is lower than surrounding districts.

“As shown in Chart 4, the District’s FY 2017-2018 local tax effort was below the local peer average, signifying that it receives a less mean-adjusted local taxpayer support than local peers,” says the audit report.

**Chart over PEVS’ peer schools tax income; State Audit report for PEVS**

Should the levy not pass, cuts would be made throughout this school year and the year following. Perrysburg’s plan would be to

• Eliminate 49 teachers
• Eliminate 10 custodians
• Eliminate 9 student support staff members
• Eliminate 9 support staff members
• Eliminate 8 technology and administrative support employees
• Eliminate 7.5 operational employees
• Eliminate 6 administrators
• Eliminate 24 new general and special education teacher positions budgeted due to projected growth over the next four years
• Eliminate the General Fund subsidy of extracurricular activities, including athletics and performing arts
• Implement a salary base and step freeze for FY 2020-21 through FY 2022-23
• Renegotiate collective bargaining agreement provisions beginning in FY 2021-22
• Decrease employer cost of medical insurance

Overall, this plan would result in a 14% cut across the district.

But on the flip-side, here’s what the school board and superintendent Hosler plan to add if the levy passes:

• PHS Social Studies Teacher
• PHS ½ time to full-time Chinese Teacher
• PHS English Teacher
• PHS Math Teacher
• PHS Robotics Teacher
• PHS French Teacher
• Adding ASL to PJH
• ACT and SAT Prep. Specialist
• PJH athletic “B teams”
• More STEM in Elementary
• + More

The community will vote on Tuesday, November 5th, 2019.

The mission statement of Perrysburg Exempted Village Schools is “Ensuring all students achieve their greatest potential.”

“No matter where they go, they’re always a Yellow Jacket.”
– Superintendent Tom Hosler

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