GREENVILLE — Greenville City Schools will have the renewal of an existing 5.50 mill levy (Issue 7) for voters to consider on the Nov. 3 ballot.
GCS Superintendent Doug Fries emphasized that this is not a new tax, but an already existing levy.
“It comes up for renewal every five years,” Fries said. “It represents no new taxes, just a continuation for another five-year cycle.”
The levy has been successful in passing all six times it has been on the levy. It will also allow the homestead reduction factor to continue for qualifying residents.
The levy is for general operations.
“This money has always been spent for district maintenance, school buses, school books, technology, salaries and whatever it takes to keep the daily operations going for the good of the students,” Fries said.
Some of the things for voters to consider include:
Over the past seven years, the district has become a one-to-one technology district, providing IPad devices for every student and teacher in the district. This is provided totally by district general funds or grants. No technology fee has ever been assigned to any family.
Last year, the district successfully refinanced the bonds at the K-8 building and high school renovation. In restructuring the financing for both buildings, the district tax payers saved 18.35 percent over the life of the bonds. This is an overall savings to the district tax payers on those two projects of $10,528,594 over the life of the bonds.
During the pandemic last spring, our transportation, food service, para professionals, custodians and administrators worked together to serve 16,750 free student lunches to students who ordered them.
“We continue this year to have curbside pickup of lunches for remote students who order them at no charge through December this year,” Fries said.
The Greenville school district does not incorporate an athletic or extracurricular pay to participate fee.
“We are working hard to maintain this practice so all kids can participate in extracurriculars without and established fee,” Fries said, adding more than half of the schools in the Miami Valley League have such a fee.
