Resolution in support of Medina City School District 3.9 mill Emergency Operating Levy
The Board of Directors of the Greater Medina Chamber of Commerce supports the 3.9 mill emergency levy for the Medina City School District (MCSD or the District) recognizing the stated use of the revenue by the MCSD Board of Education.
The MCSD has placed a 3.9 mill emergency operating levy on the November ballot. Three mills of the levy will be used to maintain existing operations. The remaining 0.9 mill is planned for restoring certain critical programs and services such as reading and math intervention, guidance counseling and elementary and middle school elective courses.
Medina prides itself on its reputation as a unique community, comprised of various attributes including an excellent educational environment. Our schools attract employers and employees to the community; contribute to property values and factor in the future success of our students, residents, businesses and community.
The District has responsibly managed its finances in order to achieve a short-term balanced budget. In addition to preparing students for tomorrow’s workplace with innovative cost-effective instruction, the District continues to be progressive in its efforts to share services with government and other local school districts, and explore traditional business strategies such as Lean enterprise methods.
Medina County residents are fortunate that our schools’ capital improvement needs were addressed through a voter-approved sales tax that has reduced or eliminated new bond issues. The sales tax is limited to capital expenditures and cannot be used for operating expenses. As we have seen in our own businesses and homes, expenses continue to rise with the cost of fuel and other variable costs.
The MCSD has diligently cut costs over the past several years. Unfortunately, those reductions ultimately impact the quality of education to our students. Many of the programs we have lost affected the foundational learning skills and threaten the District’s ability to sustain its academic excellence.
As business leaders we understand a well-educated workforce is essential to innovation and economic development. If MCSD cannot maintain its existing level of service to our students we recognize the long-term consequences of settling for meeting the minimum education requirements. Our future workforce must have the best possible foundation in order to become the productive, skilled workers needed in an evolving, global business world.