SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio — As the Nov. 7 election draws near, a Political Action Committee in Shaker Heights is pushing voters to reject a ballot initiative that would give the school district money to renovate schools and expand its pre-kindergarten program.
"Saying no to the plan does not mean we're saying no to the students," Helen Sheenan, who has lived in Shaker Heights for over 30 years, said.
Sheenan is the treasurer of the Committee for Shaker's Future, a PAC against the school district's Issue 13 ballot measure.
"We just want a better plan," Sheenan told 3News.
If passed, Issue 13 would generate over $121 million from taxpayers through a bond issue to renovate school buildings for all the district's pre-K through eighth grade students. The bond issue is bundled with a permanent improvement levy and an operating levy that helps pay for an expanded pre-K program, which would be housed at the district's Ludlow building.
"Shaker Heights School District has the highest tax rate in the state," Sheenan, whose two daughters attended Shaker Schools, said. "For people who are on a fixed income, renters, people who really want to be in Shaker Heights are going to be pushed out, and it's also going to keep people from moving in that are the middle class."
According to the "2022 Aggregate Property Tax Rates by School District and Levy Purpose" from the Ohio Department of Taxation, residential and commercial real property is taxed at a rate of 86.45 in the Shaker Heights School District. That is the highest "Total Class I (Residential & Agricultural) Rate" of all the 611 school districts listed in the state.
On the other side, The Committee for Shaker Schools has set up a website to urge residents to vote in favor of Issue 13.
"To ensure the much-needed improvements, the bond issue will involve an increase in taxes for residents within the District," their website reads. "While this may raise concerns for some community members, it is essential to recognize that this investment is vital for the future of the students and the overall development of the district."
Shaker Heights Superintendent Dr. David Glasner says now is the time to upgrade the district’s school buildings.
"Our school buildings are excellent and are very well maintained, and they're very old," Glasner stated. "We really need to update and modernize our school buildings to meet the needs of modern students, education and teaching."
According to Glasner, the ballot initiative would cost taxpayers an extra $296 annually per $100,000 of property value.
"That is the net effect," Glasner said. "We have 1.5 mils coming off of people’s tax levies next year. … The bond dollars will be levied over time in what we call separate tranches, so the folks are not going to see that $296 hitting their tax rolls right away. It really comes in over the next eight years."
The Committee for Shaker's Future would like the district to create a long-term facilities master planning committee to evaluate the most cost-effective way to renovate buildings. District Leadership counters by saying they've spent years getting feedback from the community to make sure this is the right plan.
Shaker Heights Schools also qualifies for 37% co-founding from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission for most of the construction cost.
"While we can't know for certain what the future will hold, we think that 37% is probably the highest contribution that we would be eligible to receive or very close to the highest contribution," Glasner explained. "That 37% from the state is something that has an expiration date on it, so we want to make sure that we are taking advantage of those dollars now while they are available."
A June news release from the district outlines the renovation plan to school buildings if the measure passes, saying that "the first segment includes renovating Ludlow to accommodate an expanded PreK program; renovating and expanding Woodbury as a Middle Years Building (Grades 6-8); renovating Boulevard, Lomond, Mercer and Onaway and converting them to include Grade 5; building an addition to Fernway to accommodate Grade 5."
The high school will be addressed in a future ballot issue, per officials.
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