CENTERVILLE — Voters in Centerville voted to reject a levy that would have benefited Centerville City Schools. It’s a decision that will force the district to make cuts.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, Issue 18 was a proposed 3.9-mill operating levy that would have generated $11.2 million each year for the district’s ongoing operation expenses.
“The operating levy was going to allow us to really focus that money on our day-to-day operations and what we do on a daily basis to provide educational programming for our staff and students,” Superintendent Jon Wesney said.
Wesney told News Center 7′s Taylor Robertson that with the levy being rejected, the district has 41 positions that will have to be cut.
On top of cutting positions, the district will also increase school and pay-to-participate fees, reduce service contracts, and raise building and rental fees.
“We’ve looked at a variety of things across the district. We had the board approve two phases of (a) reduction plan,” Wesney said. “The first phase had to do with retirements and resignations.”
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Now, with the levy failing, the district is looking at the second phase, which Wesney said includes an additional 26 positions.
They’ll now be looking at all areas of operation to see what will need to be cut.
“Whether it be contracts of other vendors that we use, or maybe looking at providing or hiring vendors to do some of the work, maybe through our maintenance department or different things like that,” Wesney said.
News Center 7 spoke to parents outside of Cline Elementary about the upcoming cuts. One father said he was disappointed that the community voted “no” because he thinks that if they are going to invest in anything, it should be in the schools.
The next time the district can get a levy on the ballot is in November.
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