Northwest Locals Schools say if a school levy on the November ballot doesn’t pass, all sports and music extracurriculars will be cut in the district, including Colerain High School football. The Northwest High School Knights would also see their stadium go dark.
It’s more than sports and music, though. The cuts will include teachers, meaning class sizes will get bigger. Transportation is not on the table now, but officials said moving back to the 2-mile, state-mandated transportation limit could be on the table if the district doesn’t pass a levy.
The cuts approved by the board of education if the Nov. 5 levy fails total $9.1 million. The plan for reductions if the levy fails includes:
If it passes, the 7.5-mil levy will cost the owner of a $100,000 home an additional $262.56 a year or about $22 a month. District officials have said a levy failure would be “catastrophic” because the district would face an $8.5 million deficit.
“All sports will be eliminated, no exceptions will be made,” district officials say.
This is a new levy which will run side-by-side with an existing operating levy.
The district has not raised taxes since 2007. The existing levy, last renewed in 2017 by more than 75% of voters, is for 5.04 mills. Renewal levies have a set dollar amount and that amount never changes. The amount of funds received in 2012 and in 2017, were based on the 2007 amount.
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So if the new levy passes, the owner of a $100,000 home will be paying a total of $411 a year in property taxes for the school district.
Other than the cuts, officials do have a back-up plan if the levy fails: ask for an even bigger levy in March.
If the November levy fails, officials say no cuts will be made immediately. The cuts will happen in August 2020, after the backstop levy campaign, which could make many cuts unnecessary if it passes.
The Colerain High School football team has gone undefeated in six seasons since 1994 and won a state championship in 2004. The team hasn’t had a losing season in 28 years. The team has a 4-1 record so far this school year. The Northwest Knights, whose Boosters helped rehab the Castle, the high school’s stadium, in 2016, had its last winning season that year.