Brunswick Schools puts last-ditch levy on May ballot

BRUNSWICK — Brunswick Schools will put a levy before the voters one last time this spring before drastic planned cuts will have to become a reality. At Tuesday's board meeting, school board members unanimously voted to put a 10-year, 5.9-mill levy on May's ballot. This is a slight increase from the 5.5-mill levy the district has put on the last three ballots that have failed each time. The board voted 4-0, as Nancy Zelei missed the meeting after testing positive for COVID-19. If passed, the levy will cost homeowners $17.21 a month per $100,000 property valuation and bring in $7.53 million over the life of the levy. Passage of the levy would allow the district to avoid any further cuts and would also allow high school busing to be reinstated after it was cut in May following the second defeat of the levy, board President Rich Nowak said. Because of the levy's most recent failure in November, district Treasurer Mark Pepera was required to submit another reduction plan to the state, similar to what had to be done following the levy's defeat in November 2020. Brunswick is considered to be in a "precautionary financial state." Should the levy fail, the district's Plan B calls for between $3.5-4 million in cuts before the 2021-22 school year. Superintendent Mike Mayell detailed approximately how much money would be saved by cutting different elements within the district. He said that reductions could come from staffing and services simply by laying out without services there is less need for staffing and with less staff there can't be as many services. With 86 percent of the district's budget allocated to staff, Mayell said about 10 percent cuts apiece to certified teachers (35 to 45 positions), classified/support staff (20 to 30) and administration (3 to 4) are possible with approximately 68 to 90 total staff members in danger of being cut. Mayell said another $1.8 million could be saved by closing one of the district's elementary schools and redistributing the students with an additional $1.24 million in possibly savings coming from eliminating teaming at the middle school. "Middle school teaming is just a great thing for kids," Mayell said. "It turns a big school into a bunch of small schools. Although this is not what we want to do, it's what we have to do to make the $3.5 million (in cuts)." Between the staffing cuts and closing an elementary school, Mayell said he would not be able to guarantee that any given student would have class sizes of less than 28 to 30 students. Another $925,000 could be saved by cutting early-bird offerings ($125,000), reducing administration, counselors and support services ($300,000), cutting busing to the state minimum ($400,000) and reducing athletics and extracurriculars ($100,000). In total, all of these cuts would save the district approximately $3.975 million. Both Nowak and Mayell stressed to the community these cuts are not threats, but rather a necessary step to take to balance the budget, avoid deficit spending (which the district has done for the last two fiscal years) and continue operating. "Obviously, our hope is that this passes," Mayell said. "If it does not, there is going to have to be another major round of cuts starting with the 2022-23 school year. Those cuts, all we have left is electives. Music programs, art programs, physical education programs, middle school and high school sports – there are no other options. We're at the point that this district is changing if we don't get the community support for additional funding." Contact reporter Jack Kopanski at (330) 721-4063 or jkopanski@medina-gazette.com.